Free, Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) is a growing movement with direct applicability to the school environment. It is typically more standards conforming and much lower cost (usually free of all licence cost) to deploy, offering significant educational and administrative benefits. BECTA’s case studies show savings of 30% to 60% of ICT budget where it is used, other case studies can show savings in real cash terms of £60,000 to £120,000 per annum for a mid to large high school. This talk describes what options are available, puts the intellectual case for the use of FLOSS and illustrates it with case studies where its sustainability is clear and savings can be demonstrated not only in licensing but also in the administrative costs.
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