That's all well and good if you can afford to update. A lot of people don't see the need to spend the money for a new PC if the one they have does what they need. Any machine running 98 will likely not be able run XP, and $500US for a cheap Dell is outside some peoples budget.
I don't see how this is a case of violated freedom of choice. Sure, the governments are passing laws stating that they must use OSS, but this is hardly unusual. The government passes laws all the time stating that is must use X software, aquire Y kinds of equipment, use Z sized screws in this project, follow this procedure to buy a toilet seat, use that kind of lighting in it's office buildings, and so on.
This is how the government (tries) to keep track of itself. If it allowed each organization, each office, to do things the way it wanted, then communtication between branches would come to a crawl (even worse then now) as each tried to understand what the other was doing.
So as I see it, by passing a law to require OSS in government offices, they ARE making a choice, and IMHO, a good one. After all, this isn't a law saying EVERYONE must buy OSS, just government institutions.
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That's all well and good if you can afford to update. A lot of people don't see the need to spend the money for a new PC if the one they have does what they need. Any machine running 98 will likely not be able run XP, and $500US for a cheap Dell is outside some peoples budget.
Marketing? Ok how about SlackwarE X! After all, it sells, and it's probably about as close as I'm going to get for a while *sigh*.
Domino Guy: Ok, get ready with that camera, I'm about to set the last.. la... ahh-CHOO!
They do in my area. Whenever I change my NIC, I have to call them up and read off my new MAC so they can register it in their system.
Apparently, no country owns the moon.
It seems that these people do,
and these people do,
and these people do,
and these people do,
and these people do...
Wow, acording to google, a lot of people do! But no, no countries.
I've found Ad-Aware to be a great tool for pulling out all kinds of spyware, including Double-Click's and other's cookies.
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ to download.I don't see how this is a case of violated freedom of choice. Sure, the governments are passing laws stating that they must use OSS, but this is hardly unusual. The government passes laws all the time stating that is must use X software, aquire Y kinds of equipment, use Z sized screws in this project, follow this procedure to buy a toilet seat, use that kind of lighting in it's office buildings, and so on.
This is how the government (tries) to keep track of itself. If it allowed each organization, each office, to do things the way it wanted, then communtication between branches would come to a crawl (even worse then now) as each tried to understand what the other was doing.
So as I see it, by passing a law to require OSS in government offices, they ARE making a choice, and IMHO, a good one. After all, this isn't a law saying EVERYONE must buy OSS, just government institutions.