Conclusions

• Free Software makes sense to many governments

  • The freedom to pick and choose, and customize/localize
  • Investments
    • Less total cost than proprietary software
    • Local investments in education and building a software industry are better than sending hard currency overseas.

• Successful large-scale public deployments of Linux don't “just happen”

  • Political and economic will are required
  • Big projects take time ... Extremadura started in 1998!

• Many such deployments are now in the discussion and planning stages