RE: CRIME GNU Help

From: Andrew Plato (aplato@private)
Date: Mon Jul 14 2003 - 23:08:07 PDT

  • Next message: Todd Ellner: "RE: CRIME GNU Help"

    I think any legislation that "directs" or "demands" the state to use open
    source without equally considering commercial, is a bad idea. Public
    entities should weigh both commercial and open products together. And
    whatever solution works best should be used. If that means commercial, then
    commercial it should be. Just because something is "free" doesn't mean it
    better. Furthermore, many things that are "free" aren't really free. There
    are hidden costs, like support, administration, documentation, etc. 
    
    As for quality and security, my feeling is that everything (open source or
    commercial) has its positives and negatives. You're basically choosing which
    positives and negatives you find most appealing. 
    
    The best solution is to let the free-market decide. Public organizations
    should have options, just like any other consumer. They shouldn't be forced
    into using any technology.
    
    Furthermore, from my experience, many government agencies DO consider and
    use open source technologies. I don't see why legislation is necessary. It
    would just create more paperwork and administrative overhead?  
    
    ___________________________________ 
    Andrew Plato, CISSP 
    President / Principal Consultant 
    Anitian Enterprise Security 
      
    503-644-5656 Office 
    503-644-8574 Fax 
    503-201-0821 Mobile 
    www.anitian.com 
    ___________________________________ 
      
    
    
    > -----Original Message----- 
    > From: Robert Johnston [mailto:bob@private] 
    > Sent: Monday, July 14, 2003 4:54 PM 
    > To: crime@private 
    > Subject: CRIME GNU Help 
    > 
    > 
    > Is anyone working on getting legislation passed that directs 
    > the state to use open source software before going 
    > commercial?  Giving the budget crises et al. I tried to get 
    > budget numbers on what we are paying for commercial software 
    > packages that could easily be replaced by GNU based products. 
    >  No-one has or is willing to give me any information.  
    > 
    > I just read in LJ that a couple of states had run into 
    > resistance from MS and others when trying to push this 
    > through.  I am thinking about getting some interested folk 
    > together to get see what we can do.  
    > 
    > Any comments? 
    > 
    > 
    > ***** 
    > 
    > Robert Johnston 
    > Datajockeys, LLC 
    > 
    



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