…To your point of cost savings, consider staff time. That is the ultimate, the real value of open source. Userful is secure: if time is any indicator, the product has been tested since 1999. It is not out of the box, beta software; it is turn-key solution: and it works relatively well. And for that matter, our friends at Microsoft have offered more worms than the myth of commercial software’s value can be measured.

Envisionware’s pricing for 8 would cost me almost $10,000 without privacy protection or remote administration. One point to all of this: I am not running Linux boxes with just Linux; there is functionality and administration here. That has value to the Library.

Being the director, the bottom line is very important; you are balancing patron needs and security, with finances–and trying more importantly to save jobs. Userful is not Firefox or OpenOffice; it is a public computing environment. Further, we have 2 Windows boxes–just in case of emergencies.

Cost savings is not measured in dollar figures alone. It includes staff time, better functionality, and less problems. Keep in mind, when Tyngsborough ran 3 MS OS, patrons never knew what they were getting. For example, one math professor loved to write formulas on the computers, but only one older machine had a software to do this. When one talks of interface confusion, I am confused. When you bring in your new Vista machines or Apples, the same problems will occur; as a patron, I might be used to Windows XP or Apple. That is the dilemma of public computing. There is no perfect answer. But presenting a consistent and easy interface helps.

The cost of public computing is not basic software; it is the hardware, staff $$, and administrative software.

The best approach toward dis-service is good customer service; the more you engage your patrons, the better you can measure their needs and frustrations, while presenting an approachability to the public. Further, if you can redistribute staff efforts to other efforts, you can improve the public’s overall experience and satisfaction. As computer cost continue to drop, there might be a time when the internet connection alone might be needed–I doubted it, but! The task is to begin “redistributing resources” to other efforts such as e-government and historical digitization. Ultimately, after 3 years (late into our 2nd now) we will reevaluate. Technology is not what makes a library great; it is the people who serve and how they serve that community. You can dis-service your community without talking about Linux…

In order for open source software to produce a real benefit to the library or the patrons, there has to be something more than just a cost savings. The software itself has to be better or safer (ie- Firefox v. IE, which are both free).