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."

Comments

Re:Well if Fox News says so

[asoap]

Then it must be true. Except for the approximately 85% of the time when it's some kind of propaganda or outright lie.

What'chu talking about Willis?

Fox news is fair and balanced! Even there fancy shmancy graphics say so. Therefore it must be true. Isn't that enough for you?

Just because they are the only news company in the world that mixes opinion editorials and news seamlessly doesn't mean anything.

+5 Sarcasm

Re:fox... fair and balanced!

[LinuxOnEveryDesktop]

It isn't like fox is trying to hide who he is.

Sure... Fox never hides anything, or lies, right? I mean, except for their super-biased, right-wing, crappy reporting. Well, no, I take that back. You can't call what Fox does reporting. Any resemblance with proper journalism has long, long gone. Fox is simply a mouthpiece for right-wing zealots who live in some sort of alternate universe where black is white and white is black. And the war in Iraq was totally justified ('these people threatened to kill my dad! Boo! They must be terrorists!') and going perfectly great (nevermind the civil war in Iraq, thousands of casualties, or the enormous budget deficit that is going to make us totally dependent on China, if it hasn't already).

Yeah, right.

Thanks, fox and friends. You're well underway to destroy our free society.