Nick Rout wrote:
http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/software/0,39044164,62035564,00.htm
**
NZ Justice Ministry wants open source
By Suzanne Tindal, ZDNet Australia
Friday, December 14 2007 09:47 AM
The New Zealand Ministry of Justice believes that open source software
is a more stable, supportable and cost-effective choice compared to
proprietary solutions.
A belief is one thing, a report is another thing, but this report in no
way confirms uptake of open source is about to happen.
I don't know if you've ever worked in a government department's IT group
- I did a brief stint. This is possibly some cost-saving stunt by the
CIO to earn his Christmas bonus before he flip-flops after Christmas to
stop his staff getting poopy if they lose their "Big Blue E" and their
baby faeces-coloured Outlook icons. Call me cynical, but in the time I
spent between three government departments I discovered that
[invariably] these decisions are dependent on a principal component
analysis involving what side the decision makers get out of bed, what
direction the wind is blowing, and the number of freckles on the barista
who made their latte on the way to work*.
As for "getting it", read SolNet Solutions' blurb:
http://solnetsolutions.co.nz/ . These guys (the ones I worked for) have
been leveraging open source for a while in Wellington and Auckland
(Australia's next by the look of it) - especially in government
departments. They are, I believe, the biggest Java shop in New Zealand
and have been very successful. But this company is still reliant on the
aforementioned dimwitted CIOs in government departments. I wish them all
the best!
Jonathan Humbug Bell.
* I miss Wellington's coffee.
