Locked in by choice: because a city of Rome is championing open source software

Five years after a European Union adopted a process designed to giveaway open bodies in Europe from exclusive software, supervision authorities opposite Europe are deeply contingent on Microsoft program and services.

However, some government agencies have managed to migrate to open source alternatives. Their projects are mostly difficult, temporary, and, carried out underneath a radar, in an try to shun lobbying both from Microsoft and other tools of government.

Rome is one of Europe’s cities advocating open source as a improved choice to Microsoft. City councilor, Flavia Marzano, argues that open source should start on a desktop with open source alternatives to Microsoft Office.

“To those who use a mechanism for small some-more than to revise text, to calculate something in a spreadsheet, to benefaction something to their councillor, regulating Libre bureau is really easy,” she says.

More importantly, Marzano argues that cities like Rome should have control of their possess program and their data, and open source record creates that possible.

Proprietary program leaves supervision bodies open to a risk of retailer lock-in, and a intensity of outrageous charges if they wish to pierce their information to other IT platforms, she says.

“If we have exclusive software, we can’t review it, we can’t control [it],” she says. “I am thankful to [accept] solutions this businessman offers me since we don’t have a source code. A open management should not be blackmailed by a vendor.”

The pierce towards cloud computing, has not, as some would argue, finished a discuss over a advantages of open source program for a open sector.

“At a finish of a day, those who are opposite open program can contend that cloud computing has solved a problem. It’s not true.”

Read a full story by investigate Europe on Computer Weekly here

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Article source: http://www.computerweekly.com/video/Locked-in-by-choice-why-the-city-of-Rome-is-championing-open-source-software

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