__/ [ Oliver Wong ] on Tuesday 25 July 2006 20:46 \__
> "Mark Kent" <mark.kent@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:b61ip3-016.ln1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>> If this is government, then anyone even considering allowing proprietary
>> code is probably already "owned" in some way. The only way you
>> guarantee real choice is through the use of OSS. As government money is
>> the people's money, then government should not, under any circumstances,
>> be lining the pockets of lock-down products, as not only will they
>> impact the government, but they also impact everyone who has to deal
>> with them, which is, err, everyone. The only pro-choice position is to
>> be relentlessly pursuing open-source GPLed solutions, so that /everyone/
>> gets to make a choice.
>
> So according to you, you're only pro-choice if you deny certain
> entities
> from choosing between OSS and CSS?
This strikes a nerve. Governments extends to the realm of
academia and schools, too. I have always been utterly
dissatisfied with the fact that poor students pay
extortionare tution fees and lecturers get paid miserably.
The only ones to gain millions are Microsoft, who deliver
shoddy software that clogs up our network, prevents good
research from being done, and leaves people uninspired,
unproductive, and in need of nighttime jobs.
>> If external organisations or people then choose
>> to spend their cash on proprietary solutions, that's fine, and up to
>> them, but if proprietary solutions are chosen by government, then the
>> freedom to make a choice is taken away from everyone else.
>>
>> I find it rather amusing to note that in another posting, you claim that
>> you don't even consider the government when thinking about office
>> software, and yet, when government procurement is mentioned, suddenly
>> you're all about wanting proprietary software in there. Wonder why that
>> should be?
>
> I'm not sure if "government procurerement" has a special meaning above
> "the government is getting something", but from my understanding, the
> article is basically saying that the Philipine government is in the process
> of writing some sort of OSS bill, with no details as to what the bill is.
>
> I then asked something along the lines of "Does anyone here have any
> guesses as to what the bill might be legislating" because I don't follow
> politics in general, let alone Philipine politics, so I have no idea what
> goals or motives the Philipine government might have. As a side remark, I
> said something like "Gee, I sure hope they don't make it illegal to use CSS
> software." I thought it'd be obvious why I said that, but one example
> reason would be that it'd be considered a criminal in the Philipines if
> that were the case, seeing as how I use closed source software.
>
> I'm not "all about wanting proprietary software in there". If you read
> my post, I didn't say anything about what people, or the government, should
> or should not use. All I said is that I hope people will still have a
> choice as to what software they can run on their computers.
>
>>
>> What is your relationship with Microsoft?
>
> I use and enjoy some of their products.
>
> Even if I said "You got me! I'm actually a employee of the Microsoft PR
> and Advocacy division." what would it matter? I'm still free to post my
> opinion in this newsgroup forum, and my opinion is: "I don't like the idea
> of governments making it illegal to use closed source software." You are,
> of course, free to disagree with my opinion: "No, I like it when the
> government forbids the general public from using closed source software."
> We can debate about the merits of these two positions, or we can just
> realize that I'm entitled to my opinion and you're entitled to yours.
Oliver, while I see your point and respect it, please /do/
bear in mind that Microsoft has ties with the US government.
I can't imagine why /any/ non-US country should permit
obscure binaries run them (disclosure of code is
insufficient). And speaking of the US, given some of the
recent wiretappings and controversies, no US citizen should
trust his/her government either. Microsoft harbours nannies.
Best wishes,
Roy
--
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