XAVIER School is demonstrating what most of us have long believed: an organization can safely dump Microsoft Windows and save millions of pesos by replacing it with Linux, a free and open source operating system.
The shift isn’t only about cost savings for the Jesuit-run school, which has developed a reputation as a high-quality preparatory school for college among affluent Chinese-Filipino families. It’s reflective of the progressive outlook at the 52-year-old school, which began upgrading its computer systems and network at the turn of the century.
“We began a massive upgrade in 2001,” recalls Pierre Tagle, IT consultant at Xavier. In that year, the school began replacing its aging co-axial cables with fiber-optic connections, upgraded its Internet access and started building up its inventory of new servers and personal computers.