Canadian Labour Congress Adopts OpenOffice.org
The Canadian Labour Congress has migrated its 100+ users from WordPerfect to OpenOffice.org, saving $60,000 in licensing fees over the Microsoft Office 2007 option.
The article, from a mainstream newspaper, serves as an introduction to FOSS for non-tech people:
“But it’s not just about the money,” says Andrew Southworth, the network technician responsible for all IT services at the CLC. In fact, says Mr. Southworth, the philosophy and principles behind open source software also struck a chord with the CLC and aligns with its community-based activities.”
Author Paul Chin recognizes both the financial motivations and the philosophical reasons to adopt and use FOSS for organizations:
“To proponents of open source, it’s not just about the source code that’s freely available to the general public. For many adopters, it’s about freedom. Open source represents minimizing dependence on large software companies that generally prevent users from changing or adapting their products, either by keeping the source code secret or by strict copyright rules. It also allows for greater flexibility and control over customization.”
September 15th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
Very cool. Every little victory, whether large or small, counts. I don’t push OpenOffice simply because it’s not Microsoft, but because it provides for more competition in the marketplace, which is good for everyone.
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Dustin Puryear
Author, Best Practices for Managing Linux and UNIX Servers
http://www.puryear-it.com
October 1st, 2007 at 6:14 am
It’s a very cool move. Most unions in Canada are “Microsoft shops”. If the labour movement begins to “advocate” the use of FOSS, it could provide a very good “push” towards free and open source software.
Unions have more in common with the FOSS community than with proprietary software.