Research for the local authority IT managers' body, the Society of IT Management (Socitm), revealed that 60% of 99 local authorities surveyed expect to increase their use of licence fee-free "open source software". Only 1% said their use was likely to decrease, 35% expected it to stay the same and 4% didn't know.
The society sent questionnaires to all its members, which include 95% of the UK's local authorities.
The survey, published in today's Financial Times, comes as four local authorities prepare to launch the Open Source Academy, a £1.3m research project funded by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
The project will test whether open source users save money, by publishing the experiences of councils moving to open source. Even though it is free to use, some critics say it costs more to implement and support open source than paid-for alternatives, wiping out savings on licence fees.
Les Timms, the IT manager for the project's lead authority, Birmingham council, said Socitm's research fits with his experience of open source usage.
"It's increasing all the time," he said. "It is already becoming the standard for web server and remote support software."
Birmingham is moving 1,000 desktop computers used in its 40 libraries to open source software, including operating system Linux, which rivals Microsoft Windows.
"I think there is a genuine acceptance that operating systems such as Linux are a real alternative," said Mr Timms. "The security model is tighter, so I think a lot of IT managers are looking at it very seriously."
As well as being free to use, the lines of programming in open source software are freely available for inspection and alteration, allowing peer review of security problems.
The Open Source Academy also includes Bristol council, which is moving 5,500 users to StarOffice, an office productivity suite rivalling Microsoft Office; and Cheshire council, which plans to extend the life of computers running Microsoft Windows 98 by moving them to Linux. Shepway council will act as project manager, with other organisations including Socitm providing support.
Autor: SA Mathieson
Quelle: Guardian Unlimited, 09.05.2005
