Mass. Backs Down From Open Source Stance

MeanMF writes "eWeek reports that the state of Massachusetts has moved away from specifying that open source software be given preferential treatment over proprietary systems. Instead, they have chosen to focus on software that provides the best value and flexibility. This is a major reversal from their previous direction."

Comments

Huzzah!

[Your_Mom]

This is a good thing. Yes. I said /GOOD/ thing

Why is this a good thing? Because /lots/ of software projects were put on hold since this opensource intitiative started. Everyone had to drop everything and start reviewing whether or not they could reimplement their projects on Linux. EVERYONE. Including projects that were ready to go out the door.

Plus, the 2nd problem is the person who suggested this is the head beancounter, who has no idea how stuff worked in the trenches. He was asking why people could implement a Multi-Terabye Oracle DB (which was already purchased and filled with data) onto MySQL. It just grates me.

Instead, they came to their senses and are now wanting to use the best tool for the job. *phew*

(FYI: I work for Commonwealth. I am not speaking for the Commonwealth, and all the things said above are purely scuttlebutt that I overheard.)

Umm

[NanoGator]

"This is a major reversal from their previous direction."

A major reversal would be if they said to avoid OSS altogether. Instead, they just made it fair to all involved. For all the benefits of OSS to be worth anything, the software has to do its job. If OSS is ready, you all have nothing to worry about. If it's not, then start coding.

Not a reversal at all

[sfjoe]

It seems more like a clarification to me:

The state's new Enterprise Open Standards Policy defines open standards as: "Specifications for systems that are publicly available and are developed by an open community and affirmed by a standards body."

While open standards aren't the same as open source, it certainly leans away from a Microsoft-style, vendor lock-in.