On Tuesday 29 August 2006 20:29 Roy Schestowitz wrote:
> UA topic: open-source financial software
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | Several university bean counters will be in Tucson in November to talk
> | about their collaborative open-source financial software.
> `----
>
> http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/24273.php
Yep - it's starting, isn't it?
So the universities have a requirement for bespoke (financial in this case)
S/W.
They can buy something off the shelf, or some enterprising company can write
it for them - both solutions involving lock-in and the profit (=money)
going to the third party.
Alternatively, they can write it, or interest enough people in writing it,
or do a "part-funding". In this case, it probably ends up OSS..... but who
cares? If this is bespoke for the universities, who is it any good to
except the universities? They have nothing to lose, and a lot to gain.....
It's always going to be true of institutions (perhaps rather or more than,
corporations) - education, national government, local government, tax,
police, fire, ambulance services.......
.... and going back to what you were reporting on earlier, it is at *work*
(and in educational establishments) that people have systems installed for
them, which is where they learn about them, and it is from there that they
bring them home.
All this i-pod/DVD/games stuff is all to do with the home user. It applies
scarcely or not at all at work. Similarly stupid comments like "how
difficult" it is for the noob to install google earth on linux c.f.
Windows. Ye gods! Admins *want* to make it difficult/impossible for the
casual user to install stuff! If linux (and OSS) is really going to take
off, it's going to start in workplace/education, where there's somebody
around who knows what they are doing!
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