Toronto Municipal Open Source Revolution, anyone ?

[Keith Mastin]

>> >If they are looking for Systems Administration Software and Intrusion
>> >Detection for Linux I'll gladly throw my hat in the ring and help with
>> >the "sales" process.
>>
>> Security and ease of admistration are the real keys to acceptance of
>> this idea, Steve.  If you have the savvy and a hat to throw ... the ring
>> is forming !

They are from the IT side, but what about from the end-user's side? How
will this make life better for city office managers?

Also, consider how many present IT staff wil be beating the pavement
looking for new jobs. How do you plan on giving the city incentive for
dealing with them?

> Lets' let the ideas form for a couple of days and then get together face
> to face downtown.  I can suggest a good restaurant :)
>
> Those pointing out that we need to make sure there is interest in city
> hall are spot on.  Lets meet, get a few ideas together and see who we
> need to contact in city hall.
>
> I believe we'll do best if we contact the city on a corporate level - so
> a consortium of small businesses could lead the charge.

Absolutely, but you need to give it credibility with some sort of entrance
criteria. 'Just a bunch o' small businesses' could include Sam's
Restaurant. IMHO 'Linux Systems Admins' is too broad, should be narrowed
down to match the systems that will be installed.

Go in with a deployment plan roughed out in case you get asked. Be very
clear about the end goal and the benefits to the city (including
disgruntled workers, esp. those who have gone to M$ school for pay
upgrades), and prioratize those benefits. Place security about halfway
down the list or you'll witness a bunch of non-tech types going into
shock.

The easiest sales are pain/relief variety, so find out what the problems
are for the lusers, administration and IT. Fix those and they'll help push
for the sale. When ya go for those beers, why not do it where the city
staff hang out? They can tell you a lot more over a friendly beer than you
can surmise in a month.

-- 
Keith
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