Seems our freedom of information laws don't apply to Microsoft and the estimated £55M schools spend on its software.

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/07/08/microsoft-gags-uk-schools

An Open Source, internal to external email mapping database using PHP/MySQL/Apache running on Linux. Python based scripts. Web based addition and editing email mapping entries, bulk import/export, user management and audited logging. Drop down domains for easy entry and restricted access if required. Rapid development and prototyping is just one of the benefits of Open Source Software.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/mailmapping

MICROSOFT FINED $1.3 BILLION
"The European Commission has fined Microsoft a record Euro899m (£680m) for failing to comply with sanctions imposed on the company in March 2004, when it was deemed to be abusing its dominant position in the software market. The fine, announced last week, which is the largest lobbied on any business by the Commission, follows a Euro497m penalty paid in 2004 and a Euro280.5m fine paid in 2006, bringing Microsoft's total bill to Euro1.68bn. Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said in a statement that Microsoft was the only company that had ever ignored sanctions applied as a result of anti-competitive behaviour."
http://short.zen.co.uk/?id=975

Competition is good in all industries and being reliant on one piece of software is really bad for your business. Many companies already use some Linux and Open Source Software (OSS) and this is increasing as more companies realise the benefits. So prepare for the future by ensuring you start using it and training your staff. The alternative is to carry on putting up with a monopoly and sending billions of dollars out of the UK every year. Using OSS, you don't pay for the software, just the support you need and the money helps local people and companies by staying in the country.

http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2007/09/24/226987/e-tailer-cuts-licensing-costs-with-linux-server.htm

E-tailer cuts licensing costs with Linux server
Author:
Posted: 15:40 24 Sep 2007

An online retailer has saved more than £56,000 in software licensing costs after moving its IT platform from Microsoft Windows to Linux.

Iwantoneofthose.com, an e-business retailer launched in 2000, has moved its Hewlett-Packard servers, which manage accounting, transaction, product catalogue and warehouse management, from Windows Server 2003 to Novell's SuSE Linux Enterprise Server.

"Under a Linux environment our server software licensing costs are a tenth of what it was costing us under Microsoft," said Angus Gow, programme director at Iwantoneofthose.com.
The business, which employs 50 staff, has also reduced IT staff costs by £15,000 per head by hiring Linux administrators rather than Microsoft administrators to manage its servers, said Gow.

As part of the project, the company replaced its Windows-compatible enterprise resource planning (ERP) system with an open-source Apache-based ERP system called "Open for Business".

The older Windows-compatible application, which cost £80,000 in licensing costs a year, had begun to crash when demand peaked at Christmas, and could not deal with more than 6,000 orders a day, said Gow. "By using an open-source ERP system, we also have no licensing costs," he said.

Moving to a SuSE Linux Enterprise Server has also enabled the company to extend the life of the four-year-old servers that were unable to run newer versions of Windows. (Contd)

Linux has always been top for supporting the most hardware and it now runs on a 10W PC, ideal for Schools and business use. The PC runs Ubuntu Linux and even dual boots to the One Laptop per Child Linux based on Fedora. It is ultra quiet, small and very capable.

Contact us if you want to see one for yourself. The cost savings in a School or Business would be huge, so go Green today!

If you need to be convinced about whether your school or business should switch to Open Source Software, take a look at this Italian news clip on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2kM6bTh_XY

Open Source is not just about free software, it is a methodology of peer reviewing and not re-inventing the wheel. Open means you can freely use, modify and sell the software if you want (you must allow the source to be distributed with your binary software if sold). This means people can learn, improve and benefit from your work. Most people will just use the software, which is generally free to download and pay for support options. By using the software and reporting problems, the code improves and quickly becomes stable and secure. The best example of Open Source Software is the Linux operating system which is a powerful and very stable system. Linux and OSS application software have surpassed Vista's features and it is free! No wonder Microsoft spend millions advertising where people are looking for Linux information. Try Firefox for your browser, Thunderbird for your email and OpenOffice.org for your office suite (they run on Windows as well as Linux). They are quality software and by using them you will lessen the stranglehold Microsoft has on the PC industry and promote competition, innovation and open standards.

Video introduction Click here

nvu - Web page creator (HTML editor) http://www.nvu.com

Scribus - Desk Top Publisher. Create brochures, booklets and books. http://www.scribus.org.uk

OpenOffice.org - Writer, Draw, Base, Calc, Impress, Math. Complete office suite compatible with Microsoft Office - Word,Excel,Powerpoint. http://www.openoffice.org

Firefox - web browser http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox

Thunderbird - Email client http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird

Lightening - plugin for Thunderbird and Firefox

Pidgin - Yahoo and Microsoft messenger compatible IRC

Gimp - Image editor

Moodle - Course management system aimed at Schools.

Gedit - basic text editor

Apache - web server

Squid - web proxy

Censornet - Web content filter

Kpdf - PDF viewer

Xfig - drawing application

Audacity - music and sound recorder, editor, mixer

Skype - telephony over internet (closed source but available on Linux)

Zoneminder - CCTV application http://www.zoneminder.com

Kolorpaint - image editor and resizer

rdesktop - terminal server client

Dia diagrams - basic version of OpenOffice Draw

Asterisk - Free PBX - use both VoIP and Analogue phones http://www.asterisk.org

SchoolforgeUK Software List http://www.schoolforge.org.uk/index.php/Free_and_Open_Source_Software_Directory