FOSS for Steamboat Springs
ZDNet reports on Steamboat Springs’ adoption of FOSS for city IT.
“The city administration is open to new technologies and for some time has been using OpenOffice.org, Firefox and various other open-source applications. It’s been using Linux servers for five years and is considering a move to Linux desktops. Open source also has proved invaluable to Steamboat Springs and its neighboring towns in enabling e-government services.”
Particularly interesting to me at this moment, Kent Morrison, manager of information systems, tells his interviewer, “this year we intend to retire Exchange and replace it with an open-source application.” I can’t wait until I can say the same thing!
Morrison also explains: “We have had people say, “We want to do flow charts, can you buy me (Microsoft) Visio?” So we said, “Take a look at OpenOffice Draw.” It’s not 100 percent stable, but it’s enough for what most people want to do with a flow chart. The people who asked that question are now using that application.”
Patience and a little firmness, along with the willingness to help guide users, are among the most important traits of a successful FOSS migration! Keep up the great work in Steamboat Springs!