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European Commission Will Increase Use of Open Source Software
jrepin writes: The European Commission has updated its strategy for internal use of Open Source Software. The Commission, which is already using open source for many of its key ICT services and software solutions, will further increase the role of this type of software internally. The renewed strategy puts a special emphasis on procurement, contribution to open source software projects, and providing more of the software developed within the Commission as open source.
...but I wish it wasn't news!
Rgds
Damon
http://m.earth.org.uk/
Great to see they will also contribute to open source software. Software is no longer the arcane art it used to be. Almost anyone with some basic skills can contribute in some way. It's not all about coding.
Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the author.
As the quality and use of OSS increases, there will be less and less demand for commercial products. This could very well result in decreased demand and lower pay for software developers. More and more of them will contribute to OSS as resume padding, creating a negative feedback loop that makes the offshoring / H1B crisis we're currently involved in seem like a picnic. Any type of really disruptive technology on top of that - self coding apps, or OSS that allows even MBA's to create reasonably good quality apps, or businesses and governments to 'roll their own' with only 1 or 2 people - could collapse the market for coders. At this point I think skill in niche languages / industries is a safer bet than more general skills.
The tribute people have to pay to the commission for premium proprietary software won't go away, though.
I blame Charlemagne for having 3 retarded kids.
This unfortunately means OSS will be a bigger target for the NSA to get its hooks into.
And with good reason: Linux has enjoyed its biggest success in the server market, especially after IBM successfully ported Linux to run in IBM mainframes. Indeed, many of the most trafficked web sites around the run on servers that use Linux.
It's just another move to agree cheaper dealer with Microsoft. Open formats is the only way the continent of Europe will stop pissing away taxpayers' money. By law, all government documents et al, should be stored in an genuine open spec formats, and not some bribed ISO wankfest where MS can't even replicate their own turds from their own spec. Do that, let the software makers adhere to the law of the lands or fuck off and lose all govt based income. Simple really.
I work for a company that works on research projects funded by DG connect. We don't do any actual work, we do "calls for tender". Basically, we dream up stuff that contains some recent IT buzzwords and throw it at the commission. If they express interest, we slap together a consortium of development companies that specialize in delivering these"research projects". The consortium always has to be predominantly southern European (preferably Greek) plus one German company (preferably Fraunhofer) to do the actual work. It's basically welfare for Southern Europe.
What really kills me is that every project is supposed to be " open source" in order to get funding. But the commission does not use the OSI definition of open source. They mean something else entirely. They mean that the tool has to be publically available... Ie, if you build a web service, you have to make it available as an "open source" of data instead of charging for access... But only for the duration of the project (usually around 3 years). You can release your code in any way you like, or not at all. The commission doesn't care.
When they say they are going to invest in open source, this is what they mean. They are funding companies to launch free-to-use stuff in the hope that somebody will build the next Google in Europe. The open source moniker is just to keep the WTO out.
I believe this is the first time I consider an European Commission move on something to be positive.