Home Messages Index
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Author IndexDate IndexThread Index

[News] Extreme Market Distortion by Microsoft & Government

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Linux in Victorian Education

,----[ Quote ]
| What you see below is a current ad from an educational IT suppliers bruchure. 
| It features the new Acer Aspire One netbook in both Windows XP and Linux 
| incarnations. What's odd about it? The lower spec machine with the free 
| operating system costs half again as much as the higher spec one running 
| Windows.     
|
| How can this happen?
|
| Well, here in Victoria the state government has done a deal with Microsoft, 
| which as I understand it essentially means all state schools get their copies 
| of Windows paid for by DEECD. So if a public school buys a higher spec 
| netbook with Windows XP, they get a $156 discount from the government. If 
| they buy a lower spec one netbook with Linux they do not.    
`----

http://www.cafuego.net/2008/09/09/linux-victorian-education

Aspire One: Victorian Education Discriminating Against Linux?

,----[ Quote ]
| Strike me pink!  Less than a week after OSIA sent its submission to a 
| Victorian Parliamentary inquiry into how Victoria can better engage with open 
| source, Cafuego reports some very concerning goings on to do with the Acer 
| Aspire One, the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood 
| Development and apparently discriminatory treatment by the Department of 
| machines loaded with XP compared with those loaded with Linux (when being 
| sold to eligible purchasers).      
`----

http://brendanscott.wordpress.com/2008/09/10/aspire-one-victorian-education-discriminating-against-linux/

Comment says: "It looks like the Victorian Department of Education and Early
Childhood Development need to be sued."

It's not Microsoft just dumping, but the taxpayers subsidizing it 'thanks' to
government abuse.


Recent:

Quebec government sued for buying Microsoft software

,----[ Quote ]
| Quebec's open-source software association is suing the provincial government,
| saying it is giving preferential treatment to Microsoft Corp. by buying the
| company's products rather than using free alternatives.
|
| The lawsuit by Facil was lodged with the Quebec Superior Court on July 15 and
| made public on Wednesday. In it, the group says the provincial government has
| refused to entertain competing bids from all software providers, opting
| instead to supply public-sector departments with products bought from
| proprietary vendors such as Microsoft and Oracle Corp.
`----

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/08/27/tech-quebec.html


The Tragedy of the Anti-Commons

,----[ Quote ]
| Misapplication of “value for money” requirements when purchasing software
| results in poor value for money - Government purchasing policies for software
| tend to support the creation of monopolies.  
|
| Government purchasing has effects on the price paid by citizens for the
| product purchased. In some cases purchasing produces volume which permits  
| scale discounts and therefore a net benefit to citizens who also purchase the
| product. However, in the case of lock in software* Government purchasing can
| create a monopoly in the software which leads to increased costs for citizen
| purchasers and a net detriment for society as a whole. It is not appropriate
| for value for money policies to be assessed on a per acquisition basis when
| software is being acquired. Doing so will almost certainly create net costs
| for the community when considered in the aggregate.      
|
| [...]
|
| Government procurement can both create and reinforce a monopoly in goods and
| services which it is acquiring. Anecdotal evidence suggests that bureaucrats
| look at “value for money” type formulae and assess it against the cost to
| Government on a purchase-by-purchase basis. This approach is fine in respect
| of goods and services which are easily substitutable (such as hammers,
| screws, cars etc). In respect of goods which are specifically designed to
| prevent substitutability - eg devices which are not designed to be  
| interoperable it is an extremely hazardous approach. If those goods also tend
| to be a natural monopoly (such as software in general, but particularly that
| which is designed not to be interoperable) this approach is absolutely the
| wrong one.          
`----

http://brendanscott.wordpress.com/2008/04/23/tradegy-of-the-anti-commons/


Interview with NOiV's Maarten Wijnen-Meijer on Study on Gov't Acquisition of OS
Software - Pick Your Brains

,----[ Quote ]
| A Dutch study has recently been translated and published in English, "The
| acquisition of (open-source) software", by Nederland Open in Verbinding
| (NOiV), which finds that in Europe, gratis software does not require
| tendering and so gratis Open Source software can be freely downloaded without
| having to go through the usual purchase process. If service is required, that
| service would, however, require going through the normal purchasing process,  
| but as a separate matter.      
`----

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080420111512402


NL: Use of Open Source software requires no European IT tenders

,----[ Quote ]
| European public administrations that want to use software that is offered for
| free, such as Open Source software, do not need to organise a call for
| tender.
|
| [...]
|
| According to Wijnen-Meijer the translation is well-received. "At a recent
| Open Source conference in the US, copies were picked up quickly by companies.
| We also have had requests from cities and ministries in Germany and Greece."
`----

http://ec.europa.eu/idabc/en/document/7549


Related:

My Visit to Sun

,----[ Quote ]
| Phipps went on to say that one of the main reasons prospects and customers
| are uncomfortable with this open source approach is that it fails to align
| with their expectations of how software is obtained. They're so accustomed to
| the bid/procurement process accompanied by the stereotypical sales rep
| proffering half-truths about the product that they literally feel anxious
| when offered the gift of free software. Furthermore, they're so used to an
| adversarial relationship with sales reps that they are bewildered about how
| to respond to a sales approach that is more collaborative and focused on user
| satisfaction, which is, of course, a prerequisite when what you sell is
| support.          
`----

http://advice.cio.com/bernard_golden/my_visit_to_sun


UK Government: Closed Minds on Open Source

,----[ Quote ]
| To its eternal shame, the UK Government uses far less open source than most.
| Worse, it seems to have a closed mind to the whole idea. That's evident in
| the guidelines that have been released to aid in the interpretation of
| amendments to Computer Misuse Act (CMA) of 1990 with respect to “unauthorised
| access to computer material” (aka cracking)...
`----

http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?RSS&entryid=329


The UK has wasted over $4 billion on failed IT projects since 2000

,----[ Quote ]
| The Guardian is reporting that the United Kingdom government has flushed over
| £2 billion (More than US$4 billion) since 2000 on failed IT projects. IT
| projects fail.
|
| [...]
|
| And imagine if before the UK government went into these projects if it's cost
| of failure was hugely mitigated upfront by zero licensing costs and the
| chance to fully evaluate technology before adopting it.
|
| It's called open source. Heard of it?
`----

http://blogs.cnet.com/8301-13505_1-9840497-16.html


Lawmaker blasts U.K. government on Microsoft policy

,----[ Quote ]
| "A member of Parliament of the United Kingdom has launched a stinging
| attack on the U.K. government's IT strategy, saying that it has given
| Microsoft too much control.
|
| John Pugh, who is a member of Parliament, or MP, for Southport and a
| member of the Public Accounts Committee, was speaking in an
| adjournment debate on Tuesday that he had called. The aim of the
| debate, he said, was to explore the alternatives to using Microsoft
| software, including open source."
`----

http://www.news.com/Lawmaker-blasts-U.K.-government-on-Microsoft-policy/2100-1012_3-6212721.html


Open-source evolves from 'nerdy' to notable

,----[ Quote ]
| Last January, Host Europe, a company that runs the Web sites for 120,000
| businesses in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, secured an unlikely supplier
| for the open-source software it uses to run almost all of its computer
| servers.
|
| [...]
|
| "I think that the adoption of open source has been much greater in some
| of the Continental markets and in the United States," said Mark Brier,
| an open-source technician at the National Computing Center in
| Manchester, England, a nonprofit group that advises government
| on computer purchases. "Here there is no large-scale adoption."
|
| Scott Thompson, the executive director of OpenAdvantage, a
| nonprofit group in Birmingham, England, that promotes open-source
| software among businesses in the West Midlands region, said the
| spread has been limited by outmoded government procurement rules
| that favor larger, established proprietary vendors, government
| outsourcing of technology operations to companies with relationships
| to proprietary vendors, and the well-funded defense of proprietary
| software makers.
`----

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/03/technology/source02.php


Bundestag: "Open-source strategy is not in jeopardy"

,----[ Quote ]
| In April the Linux Association had smelt a rat with regard to the
| exchange tests and sharply criticized the manner in which the
| administration of the Bundestag awards contracts. We cannot "help
| suspecting that with the help of the Council of Elders the IT
| strategy of the administration of the Bundestag is being manipulated
| in a manner that excludes the technical departments," the association
| had declared at the time. A spokesman of the administration had replied
| that all procurement acts relating to the pilot project had taken place
| in conformity with the rules laid down for the awarding of
| contracts.
`----

http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/91844/from/rss09


Feds revise IT procurement model

,----[ Quote ]
| The federal government has launched version two of the SourceIT
| model contracts and user notes aimed at simplifying procurement of
| information technology 12 months after the first version.
`----

http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php?id=805606582&rid=-50


Governments slammed for anti-competitive software tendering practices    

,----[ Quote ]
| A leading Australian open source advocate has called for an end for to
| tender lock-outs of competitors to Microsoft, claiming the practice
| is costing Australian taxpayers tens of millions of dollars each
| year.
`----

http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/11496/53/


BBC Director General grilled by MPs on iPlayer

,----[ Quote ]
| During the meeting there is discussion of iPlayer’s total cost to the licence 
| fee-payer - the BBC representatives are unable to give a figure, but start 
| the bidding at £20m, excluding staff costs. Thomson gives incorrect 
| information - that Mac and Linux versions of iPlayer have the same 
| functionality as Windows versions - and has to change his evidence at the 
| end. Perhaps it was this confusion that prompted Dr John Pugh MP to follow up 
| the encounter with a letter direct to Mark Thomson today discussing platform 
| neutrality in greater detail. A copy of this letter has been passed to the 
| Open Rights Group.        
`----

http://www.openrightsgroup.org/2008/01/10/bbc-director-general-grilled-by-mps-on-iplayer/


BBC Corrupted

,----[ Quote ]
| Today the BBC made it official -- they have been corrupted by Microsoft. With 
| today's launch of the iPlayer, the BBC Trust has failed in its most basic of 
| duties and handed over to Microsoft sole control of the on-line distribution 
| of BBC programming. From today, you will need to own a Microsoft operating 
| system to view BBC programming on the web. This is akin to saying you must 
| own a Sony TV set to watch BBC TV. And you must accept the Digital  
| Restrictions Management (DRM) that the iPlayer imposes. You simply cannot be 
| allowed to be in control of your computer according to the BBC.      
`----

http://defectivebydesign.org/blog/BBCcorrupted


BBC iPlayer Protests 

,----[ Quote ]
| Who are the people responsible for creating this mess?
| 
|     * Mark Thompson, BBC director general (DG)
|     * Erik Huggers, group controller at BBC Future Media & Technology
|     * Ashley Highfield, director of new media and technology
| 
| Right now, there is very considerable concern within the BBC that the actions 
| of the Director General and his team are sending the corporation in the wrong 
| direction. The BBC has been embroiled in a number of recent controversies, 
| all linked back to the DG's leadership.   
`----

http://www.defectivebydesign.org/iPlayerProtest


Why Linux Users Should Be Furious At BBC

,----[ Quote ]
| Recently the BBC had a bit of a wake up call regarding numbers and how many 
| Linux users were really out there. Why does any of this matter? It has to do 
| with something the BBC provides called the iPlayer. Seriously, relying on 
| ActiveX is so "1990's" that it's painful, and as luck would have it, the 
| Linux users who wish to use this BBC player made sure that the BBC knew that 
| they were making the sought after content inaccessible to those people using 
| Linux.      
| 
| No iPlayer for Linux Users, But There Will Be An Alternative. Based on what I 
| have been able to gather thus far, it looks like we will see an Adobe Flash 
| option coming out soon. Then again, who really cares? Seriously, if the BBC 
| is this foolish to ignore how much Linux growth is taking place both in the 
| UK as well as the surrounding countries, then maybe people ought to be 
| looking elsewhere? Is it because this is indeed, the BBC? So there is the 
| belief that this is the people's media? Up until now, I enjoyed much of what 
| the BBC had to offer, but this entire thing is enough to have pushed me away.       
`----

http://www.osweekly.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2731&Itemid=449
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux)

iEYEARECAAYFAkjIEIEACgkQU4xAY3RXLo7X9QCfX35LrYvFA+vdplvgnNZAy1bw
ZBQAn1A/Z1kt0gkZLcDZiLJEk5LYIcfu
=nPC/
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Author IndexDate IndexThread Index