Open for business
Having bailed out the financial sector to the tune of several zillion pounds it never had in the first place, the UK government is understandably wondering how the hell it's ever going to pay the money back.
The usual thing politicians do when they want to get hold of some more money, but want to avoid the political consequences of tax rises, is to talk about creating efficiencies in the public sector.
Unfortunately civil servants are rarely keen on having their departmental budgets cut and public sector unions tend to make pay cuts or redundancies difficult. But Minister for Digital Engagement Tom Watson way have scored a hole-in-one for the government with his suggestion that it use more open source software and thus save money.
"Open Source software is a not a cure-all remedy and is not the only solution to IT questions. However, by levelling the playing field and allowing Open Source to be as competitive as possible we can ensure that taxpayers get maximum value for money from Government IT, something that is more important than ever during the worldwide financial climate," chipped in Watson.