Should UK.gov save money by looking for open source alternatives to Microsoft? You decide

Register debate series It's a lot of money, £9 billion ($12 billion). Especially for a government which finds itself — for whatever reason — in a fiscal dead end.

Between a taxation rock, a spending hard place, and a giant boulder of debt, those in charge of government finances have little room for maneuver.

Imagine, then, the idea that the UK public sector expects to spend around £9 billion on Microsoft products and services over five years under its current agreement. Some would argue that much of that proprietary software is available elsewhere, free and open source.

The MoU signed with the Redmond giant last year is set to see £1.9 billion ($2.57 billion) spent under the arrangement during each of its years.

To put that into perspective, the government's capital spending program for school building is expected to be £6.8 billion ($9.2 billion) in 2025-26 ...