---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Abelito Suizo <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: secretary general <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2007 04:42:56 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: house bill on free and open source software The bill is worth all commendation for its good intentions, and rings a clear bell for the entire Philippine computing community to grasp, nay, embrace the stark reality that penury indeed breeds one or even an entire people to accept measures that had always borne value since the start, but were considered crass in times of plenty. My grandmother used to put it so succinctly in Spanish, when she laid not-so-tasty food on the table - "tiempo del hambre, no mal pan" - in times of hunger, there's no such thing as bad bread (please forgive Spanish grammar, or my memory). Truth is, FOSS has come of age, and come to think of it, should have manifested its relevance for the Philippines five or six years ago, even without aid of legislation. The main reason why FOSS has not achieved market ascendancy over proprietary software was that it lacked a champion from the private (read - business) sector. This isn't to say that DOST and a host of other private individual and bodies failed in evangelizing the computing community - they've done a tremendous and laudable job, and to their credit have enlarged the user base for OpenOffice, LINUX and its various flavors, and a sluice of customized apps that certainly cut a big slice off the income pies of imperialistic SW companies. The crux of the whole matter concerning the bill is that pushing / forcing the usage of FOSS on government entities including educational institutions will only be successful as far as producing and establishing a user base, which, outside of it would be as "newbies" when brought into high corporate computing environments which, 'til now, are staunchly proprietary, and prefers the big names of database apps such as Oracle, SAP, etc. It will be much like forcing a medium of instruction in Pilipino in all schools and levels, and releasing them into the corporate world where the medium of communication is still English. This would simply result in creating a new digital divide in the same country, this time, between proprietary SW and FOSS. How wuch a divide can be breached, I leave to your imagination. The law, must then address the entire Philippine computing environment, and have a macro as well as a micro viewpoint. Such an approach will not miss the forest for the trees. Otherwise, it'll sound like somebody who had an axe to grind against a proprietary SW company, and using his influence to get even. The next steps should be for big private business (Large Enterprises) to be enticed/cajoled/compelled to embrace FOSS. How this can be done certainly has more than one approach, but that would be another topic.
----- Original Message ---- From: secretary general <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2007 2:17:49 AM Subject: house bill on free and open source software As this bill lays pending, may the Oro Chamber respectfully solicit your comments? You may also substantiate them with personal anecdotes or experiences with FOSS. We are coming up with a paper and we shall appreciate your inputs within the week. Please indicate if you want to be quoted or not. We shall also include it in our website. Thank you very much and awaiting for your contributions with much anticipation. HEIDI GRACE P. MENDOZA Secretary General Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce & Industry Foundation, Inc. 2|F Gabor Building, Capistrano-Cruz Taal Streets, Cagayan de Oro City 9000 T|F (088) 856-3764 ------------------------------ Never miss an email again! Yahoo! Toolbar<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=49938/*http://tools.search.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/>alerts you the instant new Mail arrives.Check it out.<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=49937/*http://tools.search.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/>
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