Has Free Software Saved Any Schools?

morcego asks: "I think everyone remembers the case of PCs for Kids, the Australian group that donates computers for the poor children, when Microsoft asked them lots of money for the software on the computers they donated. I am trying to convince schools to start using free software, and I have heard arguments like 'all free software initiatives in public schools around the world have failed.' I know this is not true, but I need cases to show them. So, do you know of any school (public or not), or other educational institution that has been saved from paying large amounts of money (and closing its doors) by free software?" For those interested in this topic, you'll probably want to read up on the latest salvo in the Microsoft private antitrust settlement. It sounds like education, and Open Source, may now have an official relationship, and things are now getting kicked into high gear. While it's good to hear about the "SchoolForge" coalition (no relation to SourceForge or NewsForge), what educational resources are currently available to schools from the Open Source arena?

Comments

My company just hooked up Wentzville, MO

[Mustang Matt]

www.wentzville.k12.mo.us, hosted on SuSE 7.3 running apache.

We setup their email, we also setup DHCP, NAT, and a firewall.

We're going to replace all of their existing novell junk with linux.

They will save a ton of money over the years with the new setup (vs paying novell licensing fees).

They are very happy with it as well.