[CLUE-Talk] ARTICLE/OPINION - An easy way to improve Colorado's economy

[bill ehlert]

  [ see **** note & link about half way down ]


--- Steve Fry <clue at ir3w.com> wrote:
> An easy way to improve Colorado's economy - Ed
> Quillen
>
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E150%257E1123977%257E,00.html

    . . .
 
> The only remaining course is to reduce
> expenditures. As a concerned
> citizen, I've come up with a plan that will not
> only reduce spending,
> but also improve the state's economy.
> 
> Start with computers. I haven't been able to

    . . .

> three years, so the state probably purchases
> about 20,000 new computers
> every year. It also seems safe to assume that
> at least 95 percent of
> these come with a Microsoft operating system
> and that at least half of
> them come with Microsoft applications like
> Works, Word and Office.
> 
> So it would appear that the average state
> computer might have about $200
> worth of Microsoft software. Run that across
> 20,000 new computers a
> year, and that's $4 million a year that leaves
> our state to enrich
> people in the state of Washington.



****  the state of rhode island is 'way
      ahead of us here!!!

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,808852,00.asp


> If the state just switched to Linux (or free
> BSD, for that matter), most
> of that money would stay here.  Further, with
> the state setting the
> example, many local governments (162,000
> employees in 1999) would
> doubtless follow suit.

    . . .

> But as a concerned citizen, I have to think
> about what would be best for
> our state, and escaping from Windows and moving
> to open-source software
> would reduce governmental expenses and improve
> our economy.

    . . .
 
> [Ed Quillen of Salida (ed at cozine.com) is a
> former newspaper editor whose
> column appears Tuesday and Sunday.]






__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now.
http://mailplus.yahoo.com