Open source gets European boost (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

The European Commission has added its voice to the debate about the use of open source software.

A report funded by the Commission concludes that the software could offer considerable savings to organisations with little effect on their business.

The report found that in "almost all" cases long-term costs could be reduced by switching from proprietary software produced by firms such as Microsoft.

However, it warned that a move to open source could increase short term costs.

This would be largely be due to increased training for users of the software, said the authors of the report who are based at the United Nations University in Maastricht.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6270657.stm

I especially like the last para of the article, which is aimed at schools. I've worked at universities which basically sold out to Microsoft in exchange for (initially) cheap user licenses.