[H-GEN] Legislation to support open source software.

[Arjen Lentz]

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Hi Ewan, Harry,

On Wed, 2003-09-17 at 10:24, Ewan Edwards wrote:
> > > This is a revised version of a Bill that didn't gain sufficient support
> > > due to the efforts of political lobbyists.
> >
> > Don't tell me MS have Aussie politicians in their pocket as well.
> 
> I think its not just MS management who don't yet understand all the technical, 
> economic, and social benefits that the open source model has to offer.

I believe it was (amongst others) the Institute for Software Choice
(ISC) that opposed the bill. ISC is a Microsoft supported group that
keeps an eye on Open Source stuff and the like.

But also, the bill just ran out of time in the last parliamentary
session.

And, the original actually had a preference clause for Open Source - no
wonder it got hit on by closed-source software vendors! Rightfully too,
IMHO. Even AUUG commented on that, and as a result the new bill provides
for equal consideration, not preference for any particular type of
software.

I think the latter is a very important thing. If anything (and perhaps
you could note this back to Mr Johnstone?), bills and software tenders
could aim for keywords like "open standards", "open file formats",
"future-proof investments", "publically audited security measures"....
the term "Open Source" need not even be used at all!

Those terms focus on the end result, what is important to the customer.
Open Source may be one means to get there, but it do not preclude
closed-source software per-se. A closed-source product, say a word
processor, that utilises open file formats, would be equal.
It would satisfy the format criteria, as well as being "future proof" -
I.e. in many years time, can the customer still access today's
documents, or will buying this software now create a problem later?


Regards,
Arjen.
-- 
Arjen Lentz, Technical Writer, Trainer
Brisbane, QLD Australia
MySQL AB, www.mysql.com

Melbourne 1 December (5 days): Using & Managing MySQL Training
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