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OSS Use Increasing in UK Education Institutions

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the wising-up dept.

zrq writes "OSS Watch has recently concluded its 2006 survey of UK Higher Education and Further Education institutions. From the report conclusion: A positive picture of the use of OSS (Open Source Software) emerges in both HEs (Higher Education institutions) and FEs (Further Education institutions). Although there are considerable differences between the two types of institutions, in general OSS is used more often than in 2003 and institutions have higher levels of skills and experience of OSS compared to 2003. This survey shows that it is likely that, in the future, use of OSS will continue and expand alongside the use of PS (Proprietary Software)."

3 of 118 comments (clear)

  1. I could be wrong... by bogaboga · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I could be wrong, but I find that Europeans are more pragmatic than we Americans. Heck they have the following items as better than what we can offer:

    • Better and more capable cell phones,

    • Better television experience,

    • Are way ahead when it comes to stanards, (think about their take on IE and ODF)

    • Seem to be ahead in auto technology,

    • Are way ahead in meeting the Kyoto Protocol goals,

    • Seem to get results when it comes to diplomacy arround the world

    • They were the first to propose and even act on eliminating `third world debt'

    • And now comes this OSS issue. Once again, these Europeans appear to be a bit ahead.

    But I could be wrong...though I firmly believe all the above points are correct.

  2. 2 track approach best-Linux + Windows-centric apps by hguorbray · · Score: 5, Insightful

    IMHO any state school that isn't using Linux and OpenOffice at least for general purpose computing (ie. web browsing, paper writing, etc) is wasting the taxpayer's money. Properly locked down Linux machines should be virtually bulletproof.

    Likewise, Java dev and Oracle, MySQL and PHP can all be done on Linux, as well as some school infrastructure (forums, webpages, etc)

    The only place that Windows should be needed is for windows-based multimedia and graphics applications like Dreamweaver, Flash, AutoCAD, Automedia, Digidesign, etc

    And many of those are also available on the Mac.

    Other than that it seem like only Powerpoint, VBA, VisualStudio and SQL Server as well as Windows Admin classes (Active Directory, etc) would really require Windows machines or Applications.

    -What's the speed of dark?

  3. Re:wish it was like that here by Antique+Geekmeister · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I've seen what you describe. The people behind such policies tend to see alternative configurations as timesinks and distractions, rather than as amazingly useful education for their staff about how things really work and what tools are available. Also, I've noticed that competent Linux and open source admins at small sites tend to get hired away as their skills grow. We also tend to embarass the heck out of the Windows IT staff by bringing better knowledge of the underlying problems and protocols to the staff meetings, and pointing out fixes that they may not have been aware of.

    This is particularly true of middle managers who are worried about their jobs: the open source people tend to scare the tar out of them by blowing their pet projects sky high. It's incredibly frustrating to try and get them to loosen their grip: it takes presenting them, and especially their managers, with hard numbers on the benefits of open source software to their productivity and especially to their costs.