State to Save Billions on Software:

Crippling Licence Fees Will Be Avoided by Using Free
Open-Source Programs

http://www.bday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,1 266306-6099-0,00.html>

Information Technology Editor

When Microsoft introduced a new licensing model for its
software late last year, simmering resentment within
government finally boiled over.
For months the State IT Agency had winced at the
incessant expense of buying software licences for
hundreds of thousands of staff spread across government
departments. Now the agency has declared that it will
ditch expensive brand name software in many cases and
switch to opensource alternatives.

The move should save at least R3bn a year, says agency
chief information officer Mojalefa Moseki. The policy
should also help to create a new generation of
programmers skilled in developing their own
applications.

The beauty of open-source software is that its
underlying code can be accessed so that end users can
modify it to suit their needs or build new applications.
Equally compelling for cashstrapped governments is that
many of the programs are free, with suppliers making
their money by supporting the systems.

"Government spends close to R3bn a year on software
licences alone," says Moseki. With support and upgrade
costs added, the total bill was a punishing R9,4bn last
year. "Barely a cent of that is spent in SA because all
the companies like Microsoft, Sun, IBM and Lotus are
multinationals, so the money goes abroad. SA is a
consumer of software, but we can develop it ourselves."

Moseki says the small-scale introduction of open-source
in some departments has already saved R10m. To make sure
a fullscale switch is sustainable, the agency will work
with universities and private companies and set up a
resources centre with the Council for Scientific and
Industrial Research (CSIR) to help develop programming
skills.

SA has a pool of very talented software developers, and
government's commitment to open- source will create an
opportunity for them to flourish, he believes.

CSIR CEO Sibusiso Sibisi agrees. "Our ultimate goal is
to stimulate the birth of companies and an entire
industry based on open source software," he said.

Arguments that open-source software is too unstable to
run mission-critical systems are proving groundless as
the technologies have improved steadily, driven by
talented developers eager to break free from costly
bigname brands.

Governments in France, Germany and Peru are advocates of
open-source, along with the state authorities in
California.

The growing tide has persuaded companies including Sun
and IBM to offer open-source, knowing they can still
make money on the hardware to run it and ancillary
services.

Moseki says the departments using open-source software
in SA have seen increased security and more up-time, as
the software is supported internally with no need to
call in an outside company to resolve any problems.

Microsoft stands to lose heavily from government's move,
although it will not specify how much business it earns
from the state. And last year it launched a project to
give free software to all 32000 government schools.

Last week the company followed up with the surprise news
that it will open its source code to governments
worldwide so they can enhance the security of its
software. That is a calculated move to entrench its
position in government markets. But Microsoft's move has
come too late to affect the agency's decision.

"The logic for open-source is so compelling that after a
year of debates we decided to stop talking and declare
government an open-source zone," says Moseki.

Microsoft's country manager Gordon Frazer argues that
governments must evaluate each application individually
rather than routinely opt for open-source over
commercial software.

"It's a very popular technology today, but ultimately
it's not a sustainable business model. What happens when
the developers who find it exciting today move on to
something which will pay the bills?"

He says there are higher expenses for the management,
upgrading and security of opensource software.

And while government's idea of training open-source
developers is admirable, it will not create new jobs but
will simply replace thousands of existing jobs for
people who now work with proprietary software, he
argues.