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Open Source In Public Sector Meeting Opposition
Open Source movements have been gaining popularity everywhere, but not everyone is happy about that. Johans wrote to mention a ZDNet Asia story discussing a controversy within the Malaysian computer industry over the government's 'Public Sector Open Source Software Masterplan. From the article: " ... the government has stated that its first choice in IT procurement are infocomm technology solutions developed on the open-source platform. It states that 'in situations where advantages and disadvantages of open-source software (OSS) and proprietary software are equal, preference shall be given to OSS' ... However, some industry consortiums have stepped out to voice their concerns over this policy." Meanwhile, Anonymous Coward wrote to mention a Fox News article entitled 'Massachusetts Should Close Down OpenDocument', calling the attention of journalists to the 'huge mistake' that Massachusetts is making by switching to OpenDocument. From that article: "Officials in the state have proposed a new policy that mandates that every state technology system use only applications designed around OpenDocument file formats. Such a policy might seem like something that should concern only a small group of technology professionals, but in fact the implications are staggering and far-reaching. The policy promises to burden taxpayers with new costs and to disrupt how state agencies interact with citizens, businesses and organizations."
Then it must be true. Except for the approximately 85% of the time when it's some kind of propaganda or outright lie.
We promote free markets by encouraging anticompetitive practices, and attacking new entepenerial buisness models.
We secure free society by taking away your rights.
We create peace and foriegn support by making unnecisiarry enemies of both the world leaders and populus.
We strive for small government by spending more than any other administration in history.
This doesn't make any sense.
I beg to differ. This makes complete sense if you're on the right wing of American politics. Just say the opposite of reality until your political base believes you:
"We're going to war to get the WMD's"
"The insurgency is in it's last throes..."
"You're doing a heck of a job, Brownie!"
The list goes on and on...
Pick your spin. As the great Banky Edwards said, "Everyone has an agenda. Everyone."
I think it's a bit disingenuous for the "left" to complain about Fox News. "Both" sides have favored news outlets that reinforce their prejudices since long before Fox News existed.
When the country was founded political hopefuls weren't taken seriously unless they owned a newspaper.
In the interest of providing context, I'm a "little 'L'" libertarian. I think that "both" political parties are equally nuts. (And, in fact, largely indistinguishable by their actions.)
-Peter
...then 99 out of 100 americans are going to believe it. And what that means is that with FOX solidly opposing it, the adoption of Open Source and Free Software is doomed in America. Time to get your visas, folks.
"Well, everyone knows who Linus is, and everyone knows the source of his bias."
WE WEREN'T TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE ON SLASHDOT. We were talking about non-techies, and if you're trying to make the point that non-techies know who Linus is, you're an imbecile.
Linus is anonymous to most people, so your point that "The problem is that this guy doesn't introduce himself" while valid, applies equally to Linus.
So, now that I've eviscerated your entire point, care to try again after letting go of your silly fanboi bias?
"everyone"
Not your mom, not some DJ you rememebr for no reason other than he mentioned Linus,
EVERYONE.
You said it, and you know you're wrong about it, but you don't care.
That's a F-A-N-B-O-I.
I just went in the hall at work, asked 10 people and NONE knew who Linus was.
So, should we go at this all day with dueling anecdotes, or will you just admit your point was crap, and you're wrong?