Indian State Saves $45 Million As Schools Switch To Open Source Software (factordaily.com)

From a report: The Kerala government has made a saving of Rs 300 crore ($45 million) through introduction and adoption of Free & Open Source Software (FOSS) in the school education sector, said a state government official on Sunday. IT became a compulsory subject in Kerala schools from 2003, but it was only in 2005 that FOSS was introduced in a phased manner and started to replace proprietary software. The decision made by the curriculum committee to implement it in the higher secondary sector has also been completed now. "It's not the cost saving that matters more, but the fact that the Free Software license enables not only teachers and students but also the general public an opportunity to copy, distribute and share the contents and use it as they wish," K. Anwar Sadath, executive director IT@School said.

Comments

Cost savings bullshit from a fool...

[bayankaran]

They are talking about savings based on money they don't have.

The linked report says the assessment is based on Rs 150K ($2200) per machine cost for using proprietary stuff. No government in India will spend that sort of money on software licenses, forget about the spent on educational sector. This is imaginary stuff.

Here's the annual budget for the state of Kerala - https://kerala.gov.in/documents/10180/3793571/Revised%20Budget%202016-17_3 Go to page 4, and you can see a section for "Office Expenses" (which should include hardware, software, chairs, hammocks, water coolers, desks, fans and whatever else) for the whole state, including Department of Education - its Rs 220 CR, less than the claimed cost savings.

Its like claiming "I saved $100 million when I decided not to purchase an Airbus."

I am from Kerala. I have heard about the chappie mentioned in the report...a self aggrandizing fool.