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UK Govt Warned: Don't Buy GPL

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the just-download-it-instead dept.

JPMH writes "ZDNet is reporting that a UK IT industry body backed by Microsoft, IBM, Intel, BAE Systems and other high-tech heavyweights has urged the UK government not to commission open-source software, and particularly not software covered by the General Public License. According to Intellect, which lobbies for about 1,000 UK IT companies, the requirement of open-source licences for software funded by the government could have a negative impact on competition for contracts, the quality of the resulting software and even the confidentiality of government departments. In particular, Intellect recommends that the government drop the GNU General Public License (GPL), the licence upon which the GNU/Linux operating system is based, from its list of acceptable default licences for government-funded software, and steer clear of the GPL generally."

9 of 806 comments (clear)

  1. Fifth post? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    No GPL? Wah.

  2. What Do You Expect From Tony Blair, Future Wife by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    of President George W. Bush et al

    Cheers,
    W00t

    1. Re:What Do You Expect From Tony Blair, Future Wife by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      I like italian women with hairy armpits.

  3. ITS SIMPLE VOTE CP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    This is what happens in a capitalist society. This november give the communist party another shot.

    They aren't all like Kim Jong. Just look at the good its done for China and Vietnam. Communists support Linux and OSS, they fight for the citizens rights without taking them away, and almost everybody is guaranteed a job. Now with capitalism you're a slave with your rights constantly under threat.

    Please think before you vote.

    Vote Communist.

  4. I doubt it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    I mean, look at what IBM did with castro last week.

  5. That's it! Your ass is mine! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    I'm sick of you first posting, troll spewing Anonymous Coward! I will meet you anywhere in the world you little shitnose! You talk real tough into a keyboard! Let's see how you do when we're standing nose to nose. Let's settle this in meatspace.

  6. Re:Hard to buy by azzy · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    The UK isn't part of the euro single-currency zone, so your 2 eurocents isn't worth anything ;)

  7. I agree, the GPL is not the appropriate liscense by buffer-overflowed · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    for government funded software development.

    Usage, yes, any liscense should be fine for government usage(bar some extremes), but for development it should be fair, free and open to everyone or noone (except the institution that made it).

    For government funded software, the liscense used should be something like BSD. Companies pay taxes too, why can't they profit from those dollars (or in this case pounds).

    Money spent on software funds development of that software, so this proposal would preclude the purchase of any software not under the BSD liscense (or a workalike).

    --
    The key to the enjoyment of pop music is to replace any instance of "love" with "C.H.U.D."
  8. No probs in T.O. by mrobinso · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    This is _so_ not an issue in Toronto.

    If the City of Toronto bought $43Million worth of software from Bill, they would ignore the licensing altogether, only use $3Million worth, and send Bill a cheque for $85Million.

    If you sent them a piece of software and say "Hey, this is free", they've have to hold a $12Million public enqiry to find out what the hell went wrong.

    Notwithstanding the above, the City lacks the skill to alter any piece of gpl'ed software sifficiently to make the license an issue.

    --
    -- Karma whore? You betcha. --