A report funded by the European Commission has concluded that open source software could offer considerable savings to organizations with little effect on their business. In "almost all" cases, long-term costs could be reduced by switching from proprietary software. However, the report warned that a move to open source could increase short term costs due to the need for increased training for users of the software. Some proprietary manufacturers do not believe that open source is always the less expensive road. In 2004, Microsoft launched a campaign called "Get The Facts" that gave examples of where its software was cheaper and more reliable than open source products.
Full Story: BBC News
