Open Source for a Faith Based Organization

I have been involved with an Interfaith organization in the area I live; Quad Cities Interfaith. As a computer person people generally come to me for computer advise. So I've been filling the shoes of IT Director for this organization.

I worked with the organization to move them over to an Open Source Content Management System. They now have multiple content authors and constantly update the site with events, news and even their own Wiki; all using the Open Source Project I administrate ChurchLedger.com.

But the most significant was to replace their existing "borrowed" Windows computer with a new Linux system. I worked with the leadership of the organization and demo'd Freespire which I had running on my laptop.

I then laid out a cost comparison of a Linux Desktop versus a Windows Desktop. To note, this desktop would primarily be used for email, surfing the web, updating the website, developing print article and post cards.

So I laid out the following price comparison:

	Freespire Custom Build	Windows Dell -xxx
Hardware CPU/Memory/Video Card/Hard Drive...	$835.62	$999
Operating System	Free	Included
Office Software	Free Open Office	$75 Microsoft Office Non-Profit Price
Desktop Publishing	Free Scribus	Included in MS Office
Grand Total	$835.62	$1,074

As you can see. A significant cost difference. In this example I made the hardware like. At this cost difference you could throw more hardware or a nicer monitor with the cost savings. I also left out the cost of virus software you would need with Microsoft Windows.

I'll make another post to update everyone on how the implementation went and what success and pitfalls were encountered.