[wplug] Can Linux save Pittsburgh?

Dave Neuer mr_fred_smoothie at yahoo.com
Sat Sep 20 11:16:47 EDT 2003


Well,

I attempted to start an open-source oriented,
solutions-based software consulting company 2 summers
ago.

Our target markets were small-to-medium sized business
and local and county governments. We actually did do
some work for Greene county.

My experience with that market however leads me to
believe that unless one has other steady sources of
revenue, working with local and county governments is
not a great way to make a living:

1) They make decisions very slowly. The time between
when you make your first pitch (and your probable
subsequent several pitches), and the time where you do
the work there will likely be measured in months, not
weeks.

2) Governments make decisions based on politics and
personality, as much as finance. Which means you
better have bullet-proof financial data around TCO and
ROI stats to combat all the skewed data pumped into
the market in the form of vendor-sponsored studies.

Because even though the gov't's IT department may
think an open source solution is a great idea, all it
takes is one influential county or city councilperson
who thinks that open source == communism or that the
fact that source is available means that the system is
completely insecure to derail a sale (unless the IT
dept has the authority to make decisions like that
w/out approval).

3) Governments often take a very long time to pay you
for work you did.

Granted, my own personal experience w/ selling to
govt's is limited, but it jibes w/ other descriptions
I've heard.

The Largo example is instructive; didn't the main
impetus for their switch to OSS come from someone who
was already employed in their IT dept?

Don't get me wrong, as a taxpayer and OSS advocate, I
think selling PGH on open source would be a great
thing. I just think someone who tries it should have a
deep-pocketed corporate customer who pays on time
first ;-)

Dave

--- Elwin Green <bekitemba2002 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Probably not. But my wishful thoughts about being a
> Linux consultant meant to make these points:
> 
> 1. I suspect that the city uses proprietary software
> to an extent which wastes large amounts of money. 
> 
> 2. I suspect that a topnotch Linux consultant who
> helps the city to save big $ with open source
> solutions could make himself/herself a very nice
> paycheck (more than enough for mortgage payments and
> real turkey).
> 
> 3. Since I'm not a Linux consultant, I have no way
> personally to test the above hypothesis.
> 
> 4. I'd love to see somebody who knows their Linux
> take
> advantage of the opportunity. For me, it's a
> fantasy;
> is there no one here for whom it could become a
> plan?
> 
> I'd love to see Largo's story repeated here. I'd
> love
> to help make it happen. As a total non-geek it makes
> me crazy to have these thoughts about what is
> possible, with no ability to make those
> possibilities
> real.
> 
> (Why don't I become a Linux consultant? Maybe I
> will,
> but in the time it would take me to get there, I
> would
> *hope* that someone else would have seized this
> particular opportunity. I'm serious: it's my tax
> dollars the city's wasting, and my police protection
> that's being cut back.)
> 
> If anyone here does decide to seek the city's
> business, please let me know offlist; maybe I can
> assist somehow...
> 
> Elwin
> 
> 
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