The city of Madera, Calif., has spent the last year successfully
running an open-source-based network as a replacement for one based on
Cisco Systems Inc. gear.

The idea to change to open-source
technology came from Paul Wheeler, the IT manager for the city of
50,000. Many people would say Wheeler is doing something fairly
revolutionary, since open source in networking is still relatively
rare, but Wheeler doesn't see himself as a rabble-rouser or an IT
guerilla. "I'm much more old school," he said.

"I can't imagine
people in IT not going to open source," he said in a recent interview.
"It's a disruptive technology, sure ... but it can provide scalability
and ease of administration."