Is the UK Government embracing Open Source?

[fingal]

Hi - Traditionally the worst IT solutions in the UK are implemented in the public sector. Usually projects are hamstrung by bureaucracy, stupidity and a lack of overall vision. Projects which were supposed to save people time and money end up having the opposite effect ...

but ... This website has appeared and it's being supported by the Deputy Prime Minister's Department (ODPM). This is support at a very high level indeed. The Government are keen to achieve savings right across the public sector.

The question is, will they succeed in training the right people, getting them to commit to this and producing measurable results? By 'measurable' I mean cash savings and higher quality products.

Hey ... it could happen. And if it happens in large public institutions then GNU/Linux is going to start appearing on desktops in the workplace.

[gtmtnbiker98]

Being a Public Sector (US) IT Professional, I can say that my employer has definitely embraced Open Source - especially Linux. I deploy everything I can on Linux just because of the cost, security, and my sincere interest in this OS.

[Roxoff]

Wow! I'm pretty impressed that this kind of initiative is going on in UK government. I cant really see a certain software manufacturer in Redmond being too chuffed (and their turnover is larger than the UK GDP!) cue fud... cue political pressure... cue software patents (oh, hang on a mo...)

[zba78]

I guess someone in the open-source 'sector' must have given the government a healthy 'loan' not too long ago

But honestly, this seems like a good thing.

[GNOME_n00b]

I guess someone in the open-source 'sector' must have given the government a healthy 'loan' not too long ago

But honestly, this seems like a good thing.

far from it. local councils and governement agencies seem to much prefer the open source alternative. about 1/3 of government run places aleady run linux, but many on the continent have a far higher percentage of linux deployment.