This week I learnt that the Swedish Police never saved as much money going Open Source as the press have claimed!
In fact they saved 99% less [ninetynine percent!] which means that instead of the equivalent of a large number of shiny new Volvo patrol cars they saved more or less only the cost for a couple of wheel caps!
This is the problem with tales - they are often not true and as people tell the stories people start to belive in them.
The Swedish Police now admit that the savings with Open source never have materialised and they feel embarassed that they have forgotten to tell that the dream of Open Source did not bring any savings.
I fear that the true story is that Open Source has increased the total cost [due to training and integration/interoperability challenges] but we will probably never now...
The French Gendarmerie are making a similar journey and they are being very vocal about it and without being Sherlock Holmes I guess our French friends will eventually learn the same as their colleagues in Sweden embarassingly already knows.
Instead of experimenting with non-commcercial software I suggest that the polices forces in Sweden and France run software that works and delivers so that they can put their focus on fighting crime.
Regards, Per
PS. Apart from the adventures around Open Source I have the strongest admiration for the men and women in our police forces that every day help us citizens. They do a great job in a tough environment!
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