[ILUG] Government use of OSS

[Pádraig Brady]

Gerard Cunningham wrote:
>> Anyone got an estimate of how much the government might save
>> if it went over to open source software?
> 
> On a not quite related topic, does anyone here know anything about the
> Garda PULSE system. I'm assuming its not open source, and since
> Accenture are the main providors/maintainers I can find from a google
> search, I'm guessing it's custom built. The only cost figures I can find
> is from a PQ a few years ago giving an annual cost of 12Million. I'm
> wondering how comparable this (and other computing needs of the force,
> desktops, portables) would be to the French experience.
> 
> See article on French Cops and Ubuntu at
> http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/03/french-police-saves-millions-of-euros-by-adopting-ubuntu.ars
> 
> In the interests of full disclosure, I should add I'm a journalist,
> looking to compile data for an article on IT costs.

From what I heard it was written in VB4 by Accenture and
there were no end of problems (Are there any good stories about Accenture projects?).
Then I think Microsoft consulting were called in to sort it out.
They're expensive but very good in fairness.

Pádraig.