[K12OSN] OT: any OpenOffice vs. MS Office studies/cases out there?

[Paul Nelson]

On Fri, Feb 20, 2009 at 2:22 PM, Alan Hodson <aahodson at episd.org> wrote:
> Having just heard at the highest level in my district that Open Office is "culturally unacceptable here" (border district of 63,000 students) I am wondering if there is someone in our community of users/believers that has come across data/studies that I could use disprove the MS ethos - I know than in Texas, both PlanoISD and SanAntonioISD are huge open source supporters, but I don't know if that has translated there, or anywhere else, into a document that we can hold up as a banner.
> Any ideas?
> Thanks
> Alan Hodson

There are lots of good reasons to use OpenOffice. Sometimes though you
need to move forward with a pilot project first. Get some open minded
folks to give it a try and then use the data to decide what to do
next.

One of the strongest points is being able to send home with students,
a CD with the same software they have at school. When you decide to
use a proprietary software, you deny that software to all of your
students and families in your community. When you choose an open
solution you make a gift to all your users.

The kinds of software where open source has great solutions are often
generic software packages. These days, word processing is not rocket
science. A generic solution works just fine. Once this is established
then it becomes an ethical decision when spending tax money on
software. Public servants are required to spend tax dollars wisely. To
spend money needlessly on software when there is an acceptable free
solution is a violation of public trust.

And... yes, I'd rather have an art teacher than expensive software I don't need.

;-) Paul