City of Austin Considering Linux

[digiSal]

From USA Today

By David Koenig, The arseociated Press

The tech hot spot of Austin is considering removing Microsoft software from some of its computers and replacing it with open-source software in what could be another setback for the technology giant's lucrative government business.
The city could wind up with Linux-based open-source systems for some functions on its 5,200 desktops and Microsoft for others, said Pete Collins, the city's acting chief information officer.

"It's going to be a hybrid solution," Collins said.

Collins cautioned, however, that a decision to drop or scale back on products from the world's largest software company could be several months away.

Some functions, such as the city council's agenda-management system, only run on MS Office. Also, Austin's licensing agreement to use Microsoft runs until the end of next year, and Collins said he wouldn't stop using the software while the city is still paying for it.

Austin is considering reducing its use of Microsoft to save money. The city is paying more than $3 million under a licensing agreement signed two years ago and faces a $30 million budget shortfall, Collins said.

[read more]
For the past several months, city technology workers have been testing open-source software on about 30 desktops. The study was disclosed Wednesday in a Web posting by an employee in Collins' department. Collins said a larger pilot would begin in January to test whether open-source software such as OpenOffice — a free competitor to MS Office — would work in other city departments.

Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft declined to comment on Austin's plans beyond a spokesman's comment that it would "work closely with Austin to explore how we can best meet their business needs."

Austin's deliberations is more evidence that the growing movement behind open-source software is spilling into the lucrative government market, which accounts for about 10% of global information-technology spending, according to research firm IDC.

In October, a top Marseachusetts official directed the state's chief technology officer to adopt an open-source policy, and foreign governments and cities, including Munich, have switched to Linux.

Microsoft software generally runs on coding that the company keeps secret. The so-called open-source operating systems are led by Linux, whose contents are public and freely available, which advocates say makes open-source systems cheaper to install and operate.

[neuromancer]

"It's going to be a hybrid solution," Collins said.

That would be better than a complete jump. What I wonder is exactly what Linux system they were running on the 30 test machines (The Study), who was runnnig the test Linux systems, and why Austin feels they will save money with Linux.

1.) Linux comes in many flavors ... were they looking at more than one or did the just run say Red Hat?

2.) Techies would be comfortable with a change. Entrenched government employees who spent a large chunk if their career getting comfortable with Windows  might not be so receptive. The employee sitting behind the counter at DMV might have a very hard time trying to shift gears mid-career. Sal, you are in tech support ... think about it.

3.) Sometimes the bottom line shifts. Linux companies are keen on contracts. What happens to those contracts once the shift is made? I'm not looking to slam Linux here but after the Red Hat scam of recent history can open source dealers be trusted to remain low cost loyal to their customers? Money is money and everyone wants it.

Just some thoughts ...

David

[digiSal]

i too would like to know what distros of linux they are using.

Entrenched government employees who spent a large chunk if their career getting comfortable with Windows  might not be so receptive.

this rings very true here at the attorney general where i am interning. The techs here have been working with all the flavors of Windows since 3.1 and DOS. A switch to Linux would be a mindtrip. As far as the users, what they know about the OS is what they train em to do. When I used to see the girls at Southwest Airlines  go crazy with command line to sale or change parseenger reservations I would freak at all the commands they knew, but its all in the training. But here, they use so much software that a switch to Linux would be catastrophic for programmers. Maybe if all a company uses is the Office Suite then a change would be much simpler.

Sal, you are in tech support ... think about it.

I do think about it. In some small way this is why i am trying to get back into Linux. I dont try and pretend i know everything about Windows, hell no i dont, but i want to broaden my horizons, sort of speak. So i want to learn more about Linux, in case i run into it out in the field. It looks real good when I apply, or get interviewed, that i say i dabble with Linux. At least, thats what i think.