In our zeal to celebrate the growing use of free/open source software in the developing world, we sometimes forget to note that Linux, etc., can be pretty great for the developed world, too. Yesterday's Financial Times held a good reminder, then, with an article detailing the UK government's procurement agency's report highlighting the value of shifting to Linux and other open source apps. The article also mentions a few other European government centers considering a shift away from Microsoft. Few of the report's conclusions will come as a surprise to anyone following the growth of F/OSS, and the standard Microsoft responses quoted at the end are beginning to sound pretty tired. Still, it's a welcome reminder that the Linux Penguin (or, my preference, the BSD Demon) doesn't just thrive in the South.

(Thanks, Tim!)