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Open Source Making Government Inroads
Posted by Ernest Miller on Tuesday, June 04 @ 11:39:10 EDT OpenSource
BBC News reports that IBM has signed a major contract to provide GNU/Linux OS computers to Germany's Interior Ministry, which oversees law enforcement (IBM signs Linux deal with Germany). A Microsoft spokeswoman was disconcerted by the news, nonsensically stating that, "Any policy that favours one thing over another isn't helpful." Slashdot (Germany, IBM Sign Major Linux Deal).

Kuro5hin has a good story on a new report from Taiwan's official news agency that the goverment is pushing a Software Libre program (Taiwan to start national plan to push free software). Not only will the program include software development, but also extensive training and education. Most interesting is that the "national education system will switch to Open Source in order to provide a diverse IT education environment and ensure the people's rights to freedom of information." See also, Slashdot (Taiwan to Start National Push For Free Software).

Might Taiwan's initiative be related to a ZDNet News report on some of the difficulties Microsoft's licensing practices are creating in Taiwan (Taiwan: MS may have violated trade laws)? This issue was discussed in depth on Kuro5hin (Backlash against Microsoft intensifies in Taiwan; MS investigated for price gouging).

Governments outside the U.S. are increasingly coming to the realization that it makes little sense to send their taxpayer dollars to Redmond, WA, USA as part of a "Microsoft Tax." Use of open source software not only saves the government money, but also helps to develop an indigenous IT industry.

Will the U.S. government realize the benefits of openness as well? Jamie Love, of the Consumer Project on Technology hopes so. He and Ralph Nader have sent a letter to the Office of Management and Budget encouraging the consideration of various policies that, through software procurement, will address quesions of Microsoft's monopoly as well as other issues (Procurement policy and competition and security in software markets). While the letter doesn't specifically recommend the adoption of open source software, it clearly a major aspect to consider.

Below are some of the practices Nader and Love want OMB to examine:

  • OMB is asked to provide information on federal expenditures for Microsoft products, determine if a software "monoculture" makes the federal government more vulnerable to computer viruses or unauthorized access to federal computers, and to consider a number of strategies to use the US government's purchasing power to promote competition and make Microsoft behave.
  • OMB is asked to consider if Microsoft should be required (as a matter of procurement policy) to fully disclose the file formats of its office productivity and multimedia programs, so that the data created in such programs could be reliably read by non-Microsoft software.
  • OMB is asked to consider if it should place a cap of the market share for any one vender of PC client software, and have the size of the cap depend upon Microsoft's willingness to open up its interface information, or port its MS Office products to additional platforms.
  • OMB is also asked to consider if it would be more efficient to buy code for office productivity products (and release into the public domain), rather than spend billions to lease software.

Ralph Nader said "The federal government spends billions of dollars on software purchases from one company that is continually raising prices, making its products incompatible with previous versions in order to force upgrades, deliberately creating interoperability problems with would-be competitors, and is well known for engaging in many other anticompetitive practices. Would a business that was spending this much money be such a passive consumer? "

James Love said "The US Government could easily solve all of its concerns over the Microsoft's anticompetitive conduct by being a smarter consumer. Taxapayers are spending millions to restrain Microsoft's monopoly, and billions to support the Microsoft monopoly. There needs to be a more coherent strategy."

Additional Resources:

The Register — (German gov deal offers Linux great leap forward in Europe)
The Register — (Taiwan govt pushes open source)
ZDNet News — (Taiwan opens door to open source)

 
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Related Links
· BBC News
· IBM
· IBM signs Linux deal with Germany
· Microsoft
· Slashdot
· Germany, IBM Sign Major Linux Deal
· Kuro5hin
· Taiwan to start national plan to push free software
· Taiwan to Start National Push For Free Software
· ZDNet News
· Taiwan: MS may have violated trade laws
· Backlash against Microsoft intensifies in Taiwan; MS investigated for price gouging
· Jamie Love
· Consumer Project on Technology
· Office of Management and Budget
· Procurement policy and competition and security in software markets
· The Register
· German gov deal offers Linux great leap forward in Europe
· The Register
· Taiwan govt pushes open source
· ZDNet News
· Taiwan opens door to open source
· More about OpenSource
· News by Ernest Miller


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