Dean I allowed some time for bigwigs to reply but none forthcoming. It is my understanding that the finance and IT people from the various synods have been 'cooperating' for some years now. Sometimes this means shared software or shared information. More recently, for example, NSW synod (and maybe VIC as well, not sure) have helped spread the risk of Northern synod's insurance so that our premium's can be reduced.
Andrew -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Dean Tregenza Sent: Tuesday, 15 June 2004 4:27 PM To: 'insights' Subject: RE: Government, The Smith Family and Software Promotions > One example of why we need to use Word was that > "Parliamentary inquiries ... ask for submissions to be in > Word format". So, instead of questioning why you should have > to pay for $600 worth of software to submit something to > parliament, and wondering how the poor might ever afford to > make a submission, we allow our government too create an > artificial barrier, in this case expensive software > controlled by a single organization, instead of promoting > communication. > Further to the "parliamentary inquiries" - my recollection was that in general there is no specific requirement for submissions from most governments... so I checked it out... from the Commonwealth Parliamentrary Committee website http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/documnts/howsub.htm "Where possible, hard copy submissions should be typed on A4 paper. This helps with reproduction of the submission. Where typing facilities are not available, hand written submissions are acceptable, but care should be taken to ensure that they are legible and suitable for photocopying. It is helpful if an electronic version of a hard copy submission is provided on computer disk as well as in hard copy. This assists committees to publish submissions on the Internet. The preferred electronic format is Microsoft Word." And from the NSW Government website "There is no set form for submissions to a Parliamentary committee. They may take the form of a letter, paper or report." see http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/web/phwebcontent.nsf/9526e74bef304 38dca25682400132800/74d5f635fb8d3599ca256a310021ff7a?OpenDocument The use of "open source" software does not preclude the UCA or anyone else from making submissions to to above at least. I still use Microsoft software as required. But I believe in using the right technology to meet the specific functional requirements of any project ~ even a pen and paper! It is certainly clear that the "open source" software discussion needs to happen in the church - this is a conversation on my agenda for future. But why stop there? We should be having a conversation about the possible sharing of "corporate software" such as accounting systems between Synods... hmmm... big can of worms? Shalom Dean Circuit Rider - http://www.spirited.net.au/ ------------------------------------------------------ - You are subscribed to the mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put in the message body 'unsubscribe insights-l' (ell, not one (1)) See: http://nsw.uca.org.au/insights-l-information.htm ------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------ - You are subscribed to the mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put in the message body 'unsubscribe insights-l' (ell, not one (1)) See: http://nsw.uca.org.au/insights-l-information.htm ------------------------------------------------------
