Tag Archives: open source software

Iain Roberts

Can councils rise to the Open Source challenge? Should they?

By Iain Roberts | Wed 1st September 2010 - 3:33 pm

There was an interesting little piece in the Guardian few days ago suggesting that local authorities could save £51 million by moving some council employees to Open Office* and ODF**, and away from Microsoft Office and their document format, with the total savings rocketing to £200 million if every council employee in the country moved over.

This sensible proposal came from Cllr Liam Maxwell who’s reponsible for IT in the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead, and I’m sure Cllr Maxwell would be the first to acknowledge it’s not a new suggestion. The office suite – as a commodity …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | 10 Comments
Iain Roberts

Government websites to use Open Source “wherever possible”

By Iain Roberts | Fri 4th June 2010 - 11:52 am

In response to a question from Tom Watson, Government minister Francis Maude asserted that Government departmental websites should “wherever possible” use Open Source Software.  This is very significant change in emphasis from the previous government, which merely said that open source and proprietary solutions should both be considered on an equal footing.

The implication, if this policy is implemented, will be departments having to justify not using open source for their websites should they choose to go down the proprietary route.  We await seeing how this turns out in practice, since warm words from the cabinet office don’t necessarily translate …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 16 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Peter Martin
    "In the decade since that day.......We have missed out on roughly 6-8% of growth" Where does this figure come from? In any case, we didn't actuall...
  • Richard Flowers
    Dear Rebecca, It is you who gives me hope and lets me take Pride. Thanks to your tireless work, and other members of the Plus committee and community, you�...
  • George Thomas
    Have just come from the latest post discussing Welsh Lib Dems struggles to a post regarding better transport. Does this mean support for retrospective funding f...
  • Tristan Ward
    “Let’s start by arguing that the economic benefits of the Single Market far exceed having to accept freedom of movement into the UK, and take it from there....
  • Chloe
    'Needless to say the poorest in British society paid the price for this' I remember canvassing , the poorer the area the less interested they were. Membership ...