Need ammunition to convince your boss that your workplace should adopt some sort of GNU/Linux-type environment? Here’s bullets direct from the people who should know: the famous French gendarmerie.
According to a report on the EU Commission’s JoinUp website, the Gendarmerie began moving to open source software in 2004 when it ditched Microsoft Office for OpenOffice. In 2008, it went one step further and installed Ubuntu on 5 000 machines. Today it runs 37 000 Ubuntu-powered desktops and says that each one costs 40% less to buy and maintain over the course of its life than an equivalent Windows box.
From JoinUp:
Next to the massively lower TCO, the benefits include being independent from commercial software vendors. “This is priceless.” The desktop migration allowed the Gendarmerie to structure the IT organisation, saving time, human resources and money.
Using Linux on desktops allows the police force to control costs when deploying new technologies. “It is a risk, but a controlled risk, counterbalanced by the lower service costs.”
According to the police force’s IT department, there are plans to migrate all of the remaining 50 000 machines over to Ubuntu by January 2014. Someone high up really doesn’t like Windows 8, do they?
Vive la France and its highly enlightened police force.
(Via Geek.com)
