Dutch Gov't Doubles Back On Open-Source Goals

An anonymous reader writes "Despite a 2002 unanimous vote by the Dutch parliament to prefer open standards and open source, exclusive negotiations with Microsoft were started. MPs have started asking questions already, but will add some more now that a Dutch journalist discovered that the deal will cripple the open source ambitions. The deal not only covers desktop software, but lets Microsoft deliver server software and support as well. MPs are outraged, and the EU may investigate why no mandatory public bid was started. In an open letter to the government, public organizations and open source companies like Novell raise hell. How can you ever fight bureaucrats?"

Comments

dammed balkenende

[dogfull]

never keeps his promises....

anyhow, nothing has been done yet, so let's not be too quick on judgements...

though I wonder why they did this.... licking heels of american companies hasn't helped us the last time (Joint Strike Fighter, anyone?)

And, yes, I'm from holland :)

Re:OT: What does "Dutch" mean?

[laurens]

Dutch = relating to The Netherlands (country) or it main language.
"Holland" is just a small part of The Netherlands (2 provinces: South Holland and North Holland combined).

If you refer to the coutry, its people, or its language, the correct terms are "The Netherlands (Nederland)", "The Dutch (Nederlanders)", and "Dutch (Nederlands)".

Yeah right, from somebody who lives there

[SmallFurryCreature]

The last dutch goverment left a real feeling of frustration on the voter. It left the country open to the rise of Pim Fortuyn who for better or worse was at least promising to shake up the system. Sadly he was murdered and the entire country voted for a party with an inexperienced leader because he was the safest most boring choice.

Since then "Balkenende" has shown a complete lack of leadership skill. His party has tried to force through cuts in pension plans despire massive opposotiion from the unions, industry AND the goverments economic think tank. Massive demonstations have no effect EVEN a gigantic drop in the polls has no effect. Even in cases where both industry AND unions together without threath of strikes agree to compensate the cuts for the workers involved the goverment wants to outlaw this.

This is part of a much larger problem in europe. You see for all the talk about america and its two party system and the Bushes and Haliburtons there is one thing to remember. People are talking about the problems in america. Michael Moore does make his documenturies. There is no such thing in holland or for that matter the EU.

Whenever you hear about corruption/incompetence/complacency in america the exact same thing is happening in europe. Withone tiny little difference. Nobody is talking about it.

Basically what you got is corrupt system, not the kind of corruption you see in the movies with brown envolopes but a far deeper backroom deals going unquestioned for ever corruption of the mind. Most of the people involved wouldn't even be able to consider taking "hospitality" from MS as being corrupted. They live in their own world wich has been carefully drained of everyone who questions things.

If you want to see the idea. Examine "group think" on places like /.

Re:Price is not everything.

[jbn-o]

The government (anybody's government) is a huge bureaucratic organization that is comprised of people who primarily want stability.

Peruvian Congressman Villanueva wrote a scathing letter to a Microsoft representative who tried to railroad him into an argument centered on price and how practical it would be to let Microsoft fulfill all of one's technical needs (Villanueva did not take the bait and debunked every one of the MS rep's arguments, noting in part that "it is not enough that it [the software] is technically capable of fulfilling a task"). Villanueva demanded the freedoms of free software (he was particular about which movement he sides with) and free formats for goverment use. His bill did not require free software to be used in Peruvian government work nor does it require Microsoft to change its executives.

The free software movement makes no demands who is or becomes Microsoft's executives, yet Microsoft is nervous. Microsoft has toured the country proclaiming the GNU General Public License to be like a cancer and destructive to one's "intellectual property". They are losing seats (hence their willingness to give away Microsoft Windows in some cases) and Microsoft is losing the web server market to Apache, Firefox is eating into their web browser dominance, and most importantly Microsoft provides no software freedom for their most popular programs. Even if we look at this issue in the narrow terms of market popularity, if their market lead were only vulnerable by those who somehow "convince them to hire mediocre executive leadership" they would not need to expend any effort denouncing copylefted free software.