According to an article by the BBC, the UK government will very soon be making a push for open-source software, mainly in the public services. The government is considering open-source software as an alternative to commercial software, although the government said that only "when it delivers best value for money" would it be adopted. Open-source software in itself is usually free, however, developing, maintaining and supporting it wouldn't be, which is what the government is investigating at the moment
The problem with proprietary software that the government is facing is the contracts and licenses. Once the license expires, the government has to once again pay out. With open-source software, this could be prevented. Along with the financial savings, which could be as much as £600 million a year according to the article, the government would also gain the benefit of security that open-source software often provides.
The government has made no specific plans as of yet as to where changes will first be made, and it's not clear how long it will take, nor how the plans will be implemented.
Although the plans have been praised by companies such as Sun Microsystems, Microsoft, on the other hand, did not approve. Bill Gates said "The so-called (Free Software Foundation)...says that these other countries other than the U.S. should devote R&D dollars in the so-called open approach, that means you can never commercialize that software," according to an article on CNET News.
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