the conservative party in the UK has called for greater use of open source software. they estimate that £600m would be saved annually. mention is made of the close relationship between the labour government and microsoft (big bill making several trips to see big tony over the last few years). I’m always worried when Tory policies start to sound attractive.
earlier this year BECTA (The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency) released a report on the lock-in issues relating to schools in using microsoft software. Microsoft have been dangling cheap deals in front of schools that, in the end, lock them in and prove more costly than they first appear.
from my own experience with school ICT departments, I can tell you that we are educating kids, not in IT, but in using MS products. it’s rather like the tactics employed by McDonalds, only without the clown. for my part i tried to solve the problem by buying the kids a mac and loading linux on the laptop that zac uses for school.
strangely, BECTA subsequently entered into a new deal with MS. A deal that includes a secrecy clause. All that public money and no disclosure.
Mark Taylor (with whom i have done some business in the past), chairman of the OSC said:
“We’d like to congratulate Becta for getting a discount on their season ticket for the Titanic”
