> From: Richard Melville <[email protected]> > Date: Tue, 16 May 2017 13:19:19 +0100 > > > On 16 May 2017 at 11:57, Simon Geard <[email protected]> wrote: > > > On Tue, 2017-05-16 at 11:03 +0100, Richard Melville wrote: [...] > Maybe so, but the problem still returns to the use of proprietary software > in the first place. > [...] > It certainly is a problem that has built up over many years, and, in the > short term, there appears to be no easy answer. However, it cannot be > denied that the use of proprietary software is the major issue. A > colleague told me recently that his University had bought a proprietary > database which, on installation, didn't function as expected. When the > University pointed this out to the software company it was told that no > other customer had that issue, and if changes were made it would cost a > great deal more money. Again, vendor lock-in at work. Apparently, the > University is no longer in the market for proprietary software.
s/University/'University'/g > > Only free and open source software can provide value. Having attended the > Cabinet Office on a number of occasions I can say that even our Government > is finally coming round to that realisation. Microsoft Office is now being > systematically replaced with LibreOffice within Government. (I recall the rather pleasant surprise on seeing, then learning more details about, PC World using openoffice (istr not staroffice) way back in the early 2000's, on their staff PCs (back office & front-of-house).) > > [...] if the source code is open at > least there's a chance that patches can be created to bring it up to date, > or even a new program written. The market (and software) needs to be open, > not closed off in a proprietary manner, [...] - open hardware too, o/c (risc-v &c). (& readily-attainable, & for >> short-term). (There's a project here to build clfs-embedded on risc-v hardware; & incorp into book release if pssbl.) akh -- -- http://lists.linuxfromscratch.org/listinfo/lfs-support FAQ: http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/faq.html Unsubscribe: See the above information page Do not top post on this list. A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text. Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? A: Top-posting. Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style
