Malaysian Government Prefers Open Code

Suresh Gnasegarah writes "All Malaysian government technology procurement will now have a preference for open source software (OSS), under the Malaysian Public Sector Open Source Software Masterplan. The masterplan's near-term targets includes: 60% of all new servers able to run OSS operating systems, 30% of office infrastructure -- like e-mail, DNS, proxy servers -- on OSS, and 20% of school computer labs to have OSS applications such as productivity suites installed. Looks like old Bill's scare tactic that OSS software kills jobs didn't quite work. Another victory for the open source software movement!"

Comments

Re:funding?

[bertboerland]

In the Netherlands a big municipality (Amsterdam) is paying for the development of a CMS and releasing modules under teh GPL. See the "web in a box" site of BIA

Re:About Arthur

[zhenlin]

It's highly unlikely that you will find one. I speak as a Malaysian.

Their sales come from corporate and other large-scale users, like my school and my father's offices. My school paid over RM185,000 (RM3.80 = US$1.00 exactly, due to pegging) in licensing fees this year.

Re:pretty much a no brainer

[raju1kabir]

Malaysia is rather rabidly anti-western and anti-American.

Malaysia is no such thing. Some scraps of circumstantial evidence:

• The Malaysian flag is an homage to the American flag.
• 1/4 of the programmes on TV come straight from the USA. This morning I was having breakfast at a little place down the street and everyone was watching WWF reruns on TV with rapt attention.
• American music and movies completely rule their respective markets (though Chinese pop puts up a good struggle).
• Malaysians cheerfully welcome westerners to the country.
• Every day I see people (Malaysians, not tourists) walking around with obviously American t-shirts.
• Malaysia makes an awful lot of money manufacturing high-tech goods for western companies and this is no secret to anybody.
• A&W Root Beer restaurants are all over the place; every mug and promo paper boasts explicitly of the Americanness of the place and yet they're packed with Muslim families having dinner out.

You are probably confusing an entire country with a few zany speeches by former Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir.

This would not happen in Japan, for instance.

It's come close to happening in a lot of western countries like, say, Germany.

Re:About Arthur

[Daengbo]

I now live in Korea, but for the four and a half years that I lived in Thailand, I saw exactly the same thing that you do... I think the difference between the two countries in Linux use will diminish as time goes on, because the Thai government started policies like the one in the story about three years ago, and longer than that for some projects like SiS (School Intranet Server, based on RH).

I have also purchased many Linux CDs at IT malls like Panthip Plaza (though I prefer Zeer Rangsit) sitting right next to the newest release from MS, and costing three times as much. The cops take a cut there, so the CDs run about 150 Baht each (US $4.50), maybe less with a discount. That means that LinuxTLE, Mandrake, or Fedora will cost me 400 Baht, while the guy next to me buys Windows for 150. I try to complain that my software is legal, and that they should cut me an extra discount, but it never works.

What's even worse is when the guys don't check the MD5SUMs (or even know what they are...) and give you that "no exchanges" policy. Sometimes it would just be easier to pirate software than to try to purchase legal stuff.

Re:Glad to know OSS won on better products

[flossie]

Governments should choose the best software for the job, period.

And if you read the article, you would see that the Malaysian government has stated:

"in situations where advantages and disadvantages of OSS and proprietary software are equal, preference shall be given to OSS."

If open-source software is better they will use it; if proprietary software is better, they will use it; if there is little to choose between them, they will prefer open-source because of all the other (economic and strategic) advantages that this brings.