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More on Massachusetts' Push for Open Source

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the uphill-battle dept.

pbaumgar writes "With more than $32 billion in sales last year, Microsoft Corp. doesn't usually worry about losing one customer. But this one may be different. In a memo sent last month, Massachusetts Administration and Finance Secretary Eric Kriss instructed the state's chief technology officer to adopt a policy of 'open standards, open source' for all future spending on information technology." Follow-up to this story.

4 of 310 comments (clear)

  1. How is this not an abuse of power? by BizidyDizidy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'm not saying I'm an MS-apologist, but shouldn't decisions based on taxpayer money usually be based on cost analysis? A Blanket policy against MS, without allowing for a competitive bidding process or even alternative analysis doesn't seem right.

    I know you all want OSS to win, but not by cheating. Shouldn't all have to compete on a level field, especially when we're the ones paying for it?

    --
    The safest way to approach lava is to have another person with you and he goes first.
  2. Essential? by loconet · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "Microsoft's risk of losing the public sector market altogether is small, at least for now.

    The company's products are just too essential, and many open source alternatives too ineffective for many of the kinds of big database jobs governments require.
    "

    What MS database is so esential to the "big database jobs" government requires? Access? SQL Server? .. give me a break. Talk about being vague and inacurate.

    --
    [alk]
  3. Open protocols/formats by teslatug · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Why don't they simply mandate open and free protocols and file formats. It would essentially be the same as there is no way that Microsoft would open theirs up. At the same time, Microsoft could not (with a straight face) complain that the government is being unfair if that were the case. This also has the benefit that those that need/want/find more beneficial closed source products can still do so.

  4. It's a step in the right direction... by petermdodge · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I approve of Open-Source in the public sector for one fundamental reason. The People (used in the broad collective sense) should be able to know what their government is doing and how their doing it, and with the source freely available, it's a lot easier to do a much more detailed analysis of their software side (not to mention more legal) than poking around with their M$ products.

    I say more power to Massachusetts. One MS beats down another ^_^

    --


    Peter M. Dodge,
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