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Re: [LUG] CCC Computer refurbishment

 

Henry Bremridge wrote:
> As this is on the web...
>
> On Wed, Mar 26, 2008 at 06:38:43PM +0000, james kilty wrote:
>   
>> Whilst the up front costs of a Microsoft Desktop compared to it's
>> Freeware Linux counterpart may appear to favour the Linux route, the
>> total cost of ownership would show a different picture. The additional
>> work required on the Linux platform to create an integrated set of
>> tools, which is out of the box functionality for Mirosoft would very
>> quickly overtake any initial purchase savings, as has been experienced
>> by Penwith. This is outside of the argument for the business to be able
>> to quickly respond to changing needs.
>>  
>>     
> OK this is the key paragraph and basically what they are saying is that they 
> refuse to compare "apples to apples " and instead want to compare "apples to 
> oranges". Lets break it down
>
> - Microsoft has an annual licensing cost, and this will be for perpetuity. 
> - Openoffice is free but has a one-off conversion cost (we can argue exactly what 
> cost, and while I would accept it is real; I doubt it is significant in the scheme 
> of things)
> - Then there are the additional costs / issues. Archival of records, tailoring of 
> the system, lower disk space etc etc etc
>
> The question is at what point does the one off upfront conversion fee become equal 
> to a perpetual low cost? If CCC believe that the perpetual smaller fee is always 
> less than a larger upfront payment, then given their credit rating I am sure we 
> can do a deal that will make us rich (and CCC much poorer).
>
> This is a classic problem and to solve it you need to find the present value of 
> the future license fees
>
> The formula in OpenOffice is "Present Value" and as an example at 6% interest, £20 
> cost pa for 20 years is the equivalent to a cost of £229.40 today
>
> Finally there is the example of Bristol who showed that converting to Openoffice 
> cost £1.6m, but staying with MS would have cost £10m or so (I have forgotten the 
> exact figures)
>
>   
>> The council does not rely entirely on the use of Microsoft products, and
>> have Unix and Linux systems deployed to run some of the most critical
>> database systems used in the authority. The council uses the right tool
>> for the right job - the Microsoft platform on the desktop where
>> interoperability and flexibility is required, and Linux to run the
>> council's largest databases where security and performance is critical. 
>>
>>     
> This seems to be copied word for word from the Devon County Council.... :)
>
>
>   
>> As a footnote, early tests for the latest release of the Office product
>> shows that when using the compatibility download, there is forward and
>> backward compatibility for files created in either Office 2002, 2003, or
>> 2007. The council has seamlessly and automatically deployed this
>> compatibility pack to all of its computers."
>>
>>     
> This is red herring. Is office compatible with international standards?
>
>
>   
Odt has ISO certfication number 26300, 

as far as I know OOXML still does not come up to the required standard, 
or fill the right criteria, despite efforts by MS

Paul

-- 

Support open file formats use ISO 26300 Open Document format
as used by openoffice.org,  http:///www.openoffice.org

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