Libre Ofice -

Marta turned to Kline. “You were saying?” Six months later, Ventas del Mar cut over. The total cost of the migration was $87,000—mostly for Rohan’s coffee budget and new RAM for the oldest computers. The $12.4 million stayed in the treasury. They used $2 million to give every teacher a laptop. They used $500,000 to expand the public health clinic in the northern fishing village.

“I want to migrate the entire government to LibreOffice in six months,” Marta said. libre ofice

Years later, a journalist asked her: “Wasn’t it risky, betting your country on software written by volunteers?” Marta turned to Kline

The previous government had signed a ten-year enterprise deal with a giant tech corporation. That deal was now expiring, and the renewal quote had tripled. The island had 75,000 public sector workers—teachers, nurses, tax collectors, librarians—all using a proprietary office suite. To upgrade them all to the latest version, plus the mandatory cloud add-ons, would cost more than the annual budget for the national university. The $12

Marta knew they were right. But she also knew the alternative: firing nurses to pay for software that let ministers write memos.

Five percent. On a 400% price hike.