[TriLUG] OC OSS

[Mike Shaw]

Any chance they can talk to Wake County and wake them up?

-- 
Rorschach: By the way, you need a stronger lock. That new one broke
after one shove. - Watchmen


On Wed, Apr 1, 2009 at 7:18 PM, Carl Crider <c.crider at gmail.com> wrote:
> *Open Source / Web 2.0 cost avoidance.* There is a movement supporting the
>
> use of open source and web 2.0 applications in K-12 education. The
> convergence of
>
> web technologies and the growth of new virtualization solutions makes this
> an
>
> exciting time to manage a computing enterprise. In 2006 the district made
> the
>
> decision to stop purchasing new and upgraded licenses for Microsoft Office
> for
>
> teacher and student computers. The cost to upgrade all computers to the
> latest
>
> version of MS Office is $297,000. We do not plan to upgrade to this product
> across
>
> the district. Our current focus is to identify open source or Web 2.0
> solutions to
>
> replace costly proprietary software. This cost was most recently avoided by
>
> installing the free, open source product called “Open Office” at Carrboro
> High School,
>
> on all High School teacher laptops, and at Morris Grove. At $50 per
> workstation for
>
> MS Office, this saved the district over $17,000. During the past few years
> the
>
> district has not purchased much software. We are requesting that our
> customers use
>
> free, web 2.0 products such as iTunes, Audacity, Tuxpaint, Photostory, and
> Google
>
> Sketch-up. This is a trend that is embraced by most schools.
>
> Current: There is a minimal software budget at the district and within
> schools. In
>
> most cases, this has been transferred to support on-line resources or
> hardware
>
> needs. Reduction: None.
>
> *Operating system savings.* Following applications, the next level of
> opportunity for open
>
> source is at the desktop operating system. Purchasing a thin client or
>
> netbook with Linux rather than Microsoft could save the district $20-50 per
> device.
>
> This represents a savings of $8,000 - $20,000 per year. We are open to
> testing this
>
> model in our schools to determine the impact on accessing resources and the
>
> engineering requirements to support this platform. This will become a
> project
>
> assigned to one of our technical staff in the months ahead. The goal will be
> to
>
> determine the costs and benefits of accessing web-based applications on a
> Linuxbased
>
> netbook. Until we perform this user case study on how well this platform
>
> meets the needs of students and teachers, we cannot project the savings.
> This
>
> information will be shared with the Technology Advisory Committee in May.
> For a
>
> more detailed description of several of the cost avoidance and saving
> initiatives,
>
> please see the linked document: Tech Cost Avoidance.
>
> Current: $8,000 - $20,000. Reduction: None - Note: Any savings resulting
> from
>
> the use Linux will be used to increase the number of access devices for
> students.
> --
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