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French Parliament Votes To Give Priority To Free Software

Posted by Soulskill on from the with-liberty-and-justice-for-all dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The French Parliament just wrote into law the first instance of Free Software priority in a public service, by adopting the Bill on Higher Education and Research. [Advocacy association April], after extensively contributing to the debate, especially welcomes this vote and congratulates Deputies and Senators for recognizing the importance of Free Software in the Public Service for Higher Education, since it alone can ensure equal access to the future public service. April hopes that this first step will be followed by other legislation in favor of Free Software. It also thanks all the persons who mobilized and contacted the Parliament Members."

25 of 98 comments (clear)

  1. About time by GPLHost-Thomas · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Priority is nice, though mandatory would be even better.

    1. Re:About time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Ah, fellow naturalists, hark the shrill cry of the proprietary software apologist. It's an all too common feral creature around here, barely camouflaged in the detritus beneath the understory of Slashdot's troll layer. It uses its paradoxically nonsensical twirps to bewilder the unwary and confuse them into wasting precious resources and time.

      Avoid it at all costs. While it's not really dangerous, it is VERY silly and annoying.

    2. Re:About time by Bert64 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      How so? Keeping their IT spending local is likely to improve their economy, at the expense of foreign countries that they would previously have bought software from...

      --
      http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
  2. Makes sense by EzInKy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Free, open source software is much more educational by its very nature than closed source shit. One can't learn from source that one can't read.

    --
    Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
    1. Re:Makes sense by Fab774 · · Score: 2

      This is valid only for computer science students. Apart from them, who is going to read the source code of the software they're using ?

    2. Re:Makes sense by ozmanjusri · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Who cares?

      Even if it's available to the merely curious, at least it helps demystify some of the most ubiquitous tools of our time. Children should be encouraged to know what's happening behind the scenes as well as how to use their apps.

      Kids don't magically morph into CS students overnight.

      --
      "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
    3. Re:Makes sense by ozmanjusri · · Score: 3, Interesting

      No. It only makes sense if you're hawking proprietary software and want to hide how it works.

      --
      "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
    4. Re:Makes sense by RoboJ1M · · Score: 2

      I think they mean that Open software guarantees that, no matter what, any student will be able to afford access to required software.
      Not just people whop can afford Winows/OSX/Office/etc.

    5. Re:Makes sense by Bert64 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The root cause of this is that those who learned to program before college did so because they were interested in the subject and usually sought out the information themselves...
      Those who first learn in college generally have no personal interest in the subject beyond getting a job, and so they invest the minimum required effort in order to get paid and not fired, same as anyone else who's doing a job they don't enjoy.

      --
      http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
  3. Hoooray! by ikhider · · Score: 2

    Now for the rest of the world! Unfortunately North American governments will probably embrace this last because of corporate control and mass ignorance. Meanwhile, Join us now and share the software; You'll be free, hackers, you'll be free. Join us now and share the software; You'll be free, hackers, you'll be free. Hoarders can get piles of money, That is true, hackers, that is true. But they cannot help their neighbors; That's not good, hackers, that's not good. When we have enough free software At our call, hackers, at our call, We'll kick out those dirty licenses Ever more, hackers, ever more. Join us now and share the software; You'll be free, hackers, you'll be free. Join us now and share the software; You'll be free, hackers, you'll be free.

    --
    "SO we bide our time, waiting for a purer kick to bloom and the future is still bleak, uncertain and beautiful" -GSYBE
  4. One nice thing that might come out of the NSA .... by WindBourne · · Score: 2

    stuff, is that Windows and perhaps OSX will die and open source will take off on the desktop. A number of nations will be thinking that if MS works closely with NSA, than they certainly have a back door there.

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
  5. What changed by fazey · · Score: 2

    I wounder what changed. First the no more internet cutoffs for piracy, and now this...

    1. Re:What changed by lxs · · Score: 4, Informative

      Not so long ago corporate shill Sarkozy was voted out and leftist Hollande was voted in.
      In some countries a change of government does mean a change of policy.

    2. Re:What changed by Stormwatch · · Score: 2

      They got a socialist president. Not saying the guy alone changes everything, but it's a sign of a shifting mentality: they had it with Murrica trying to boss them around, and just don't give a fuck anymore.

      --
      Circumcision is child abuse.
  6. Re:What about on its own merits? by WindBourne · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Good point. BUT, I think that is exactly the case. They are just saying that do not want the MS type ppl running around lobbying and buying their pols. Considering that MS and others have worked closely with NSA, and very likely that are loads more backdoors inside windows, it would make sense.

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
  7. This reminded me to check on Munich... by ls671 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Started in 2004, it still seems to be going well at first glance:

    http://www.zdnet.com/no-microsoft-open-source-software-really-is-cheaper-insists-munich-7000010918/

    --
    Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
  8. Nevertheless, French Army confirmed MS contract by alci63 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A few weeks before this vote, the French Army confirmed a global contract with Microsoft, despite advise not to do so by a security commission, for technological and strategical independance reasons. Lobbies are still here, be reassured !

  9. Re:What about on its own merits? by BlackPignouf · · Score: 2

    Also, due to limited budget, some police stations have Word installed on some computers and Excel on others.
    Want to copy/paste? Too bad.

  10. Words, but also actions? by Errol+backfiring · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The Dutch government has put all kinds of open-source-friendly laws into place as well, but does not even abide their own laws, especially when it comes to open source software. So I am waiting for the news that the French actually DO switch to open source software instead of just saying they will.

    --
    Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
  11. Re:Free or open source? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Free software = logiciel libre. Libre => liberté.
    In French, there is no ambiguity between libre and gratuit.

  12. Actually, it's the wrong thing. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If open source is so much better, it ought to win on merits. Of course, in civil service merits usually don't count, which is why they have lots of rules, and ultimately the whole doesn't achieve much of anything. So much so that bureaucracy is a byword for exactly that.

    An example of how to do it is the LiMux project. There, the city of Munich stuck out its head, made a plan, adjusted as necessary (because, due to scope turning out much larger than expected, they needed a much longer timetable), and now has a rock-solid integrated software suite to do most if not all their many, many little departments' bidding. As a side effect, they have a clear picture of what sort of thing is in use, where previously that was a complete unknown (and turned out to be much more disparate than expected). That suite is made up out of many open source parts integrated with their own glue.

    Real results always beat legislation that say someone else should something. This legislation will cause a lot of arsecovering and tickboxing and ultimately make the notion of open source part of the rules establishment, of an obstacle to be skirted, not part of the solution. And that is really quite sad, seeing its strong "scratch an itch" genesis.

    Thus I predict that French governments will not see serious open source adoption for decades to come, if ever.

    1. Re:Actually, it's the wrong thing. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      If open source is so much better, it ought to win on merits.

      It does. Proprietary software wins on lock-in, licensing and legacy.

    2. Re:Actually, it's the wrong thing. by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It also wins on ass-covering, which is a real benefit in business nad government. If there are issues with a well known piece of proprietary software, you can always blame the software vendor or even the implementer. If a FOSS-based project fails, you take the fall for taking a chance on "some free crap developed by a bunch of hippies", even if the project is implemented by a 3rd party. It's the old adage: no-one has ever been fired for choosing IBM. Proprietary software is a safe choice.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    3. Re:Actually, it's the wrong thing. by Bert64 · · Score: 5, Informative

      No it doesn't, the license agreement on proprietary software provides no warranty whatsoever on the software, you have exactly the same ability to seek redress from the vendor as you do with open source - none.

      --
      http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
  13. Re:Free or open source? by Bert64 · · Score: 2

    The business model of skype all along has been to get people locked in and dependent on the service, and then work out ways to make money from it... Wether that means jacking up prices, selling user information, or bombarding users with advertisements.
    Either way, skype is a return to monopoly telco networks from years gone by, a huge step backwards.

    --
    http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!