Robert Pogson

“Ansol specifically condemns the Banc of Portugal, two municipalities and two universities, of "macroscopic illegal procurement procedures". These public administrations recently published requests for specific brands and products, Ansol points out. "This is explicitly forbidden and prevents competition. These contests are not real competitions."”

see Portuguese advocacy group: 'Switch to free software to reduce public debt' | Joinup.

Yes. I can remember clashes between staff requesting purchases and the purchasing department… When you had a gizmo that needed a spare part they would “save money” by buying a square peg for a round hole. Sometimes you could specify “Do not substitute” or explain why you could not get three quotations but sometimes what was eventually delivered weeks after you wanted it would be quite a surprise.

For generic desktop and server OS and applications, there’s often no need for that other OS. I demonstrated that today when I was asked to record a webcast. This is not something I do routinely but I found the tools in my Debian GNU/Linux repository. I used gnome-sound-recorder, ffmpeg and sox to edit out the parts I did not need and e-mailed it as requested. I could also have done the job with audacity. With GNU/Linux you can do anything and it costs so little. Why use anything else?

I recommend Debian GNU/Linux for IT. It works.

iSuppli has a cute article tracking the effect of each new release of M$’s OS on DRAM volume. They reveal that “8″ has had the least impact of any release all the way back to Lose 3.1. They suggest it’s bloat/DRAM requirements of the OS that have plunged along with emergence of non-Wintel stuff but it’s also a reflection of the willingness of the channel to plug up with M$’s stuff. ie. With “8″ the world is just dipping a toe in the pool instead of diving in.