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Google Workspace is free to schools. Therefore it 'costs' significantly less than running the infrastructure to service accounts for several 100's to 1000's of
by sbuk 4y ago
Google Workspace is free to schools. Therefore it 'costs' significantly less than running the infrastructure to service accounts for several 100's to 1000's of staff and kids using a FOSS solution. Of course, there are other email providers, but they are rarely free. They'll also still need to put security solutions in front of it, or indeed Exchange Online, because the offerings are rudimentary to say the least, but they are more solid out-of-the-box than OSS solutions and provide for a lower overall TCO and cost-to-serve. Pragmatism, where technology decisions and tax-payers money are concerned, should trump ideology every time.
- mavhc 4y agoIt's pragmatic to not continue the monopolies that cost the taxpayer money on an ongoing basis. The point is to not pay Microsoft money to promote Microsoft's continued monopoly, which will mean you have to pay them money again next year. Any school paying for closed source software when they could be funding a company to make open source software is doing it wrong. Same with textbooks. 100s of 1000s of schools all paying for something they won't own and will have to pay for again in the future.
- rgrieselhuber 4y agoYou bring up a good point, which is other costs beyond financial. Mindshare, attention, and privacy costs also need to be considered and a case can be made that the people should not be funding these costs for corporations. Especially with very little oversight or insight into what they are paying for.