Whitehall tots up millions in Linux swap

NEWS It has emerged that the government's decision to swap Linux for Microsoft could cost them dearly. Following Tony Blair's controversial visit to a demonstration of Microsoft's XP OS, a government insider has revealed that the exchange from Linux servers to Microsoft servers for websites, including the gateway portal, could bump up costs by 30 per cent. The internal source has based this figure on the costs of web servers - at around £700pa and the price of hosting provision - up to £10,000 a year per server now that the system has been converted back to a Windows platform. Looking at the costs of the government's online activities, it is clear these projects could become grossly expensive. Over the last year, while the government switched its systems over, it spent £15.6m on the gateway portal alone. The switch also means that visitors running Linux cannot now access gateway.gov.uk, the governments web portal. In contrast, the site's forerunner, open.gov.uk, was renowned for its accessibility. But while the move away from an open source operating system might hitch costs, Patrick White, of the British Web Design and Marketing Association, explained that the issue is one of skill set availability rather than licence costs. He said: "Microsoft people cost more than Linux people but these type of [Linux] skills are not necessarily easy for the government to get hold of."