Hi Effie, Thank you very much for your insight. I've added some comments below.
On 20 May 2012, at 13:03, Effie Ciantar @ GMail wrote: > Before approaching politicians with what we want to tell them about Open > Source, we need to put ourselves in their shoes and ask ourselves what > they would want to know about this issue. Amen! > Can we > come up with some indicative figures, eg. from some other countries or > from the business sector? Several papers have been published by local/national governments on their transition to open-source, we should definitely check them out. > Technical comparisons between Open Source and Propriety Software, or the > philosophical virtues of Open Source is unlikely to ignite politicians' > imagination. Amen! > > The rapid development cycles (e.g. twice a year for Ubuntu vs only once > every so many years for Windows) could also be of some concern, although > one could go for Long Term Support versions. Exactly - a government would definitely go for an LTS. Indeed, I don't even think they'd go for Ubuntu at all. I see them more as RHEL or CentOS users. > Another risk they might be concerned about (if they are savvy enough) > could be what might be considered to the the lack of financial incentive > for long-term commitment for such software to be still around in 5, 10 > or even 20 years' time as compared to the great financial incentive > there is for large companies to survive. This is again why I think the government would opt for an enterprise distribution should this ever happen. > Also, to minimise risks in general, we could suggest starting with a > pilot study by adopting a single software product in a single department > that uses non-specialised (generic) software (e.g. Libreoffice in the > Ministry of Justice) Yes. Technically, quite a few schools and government departments already use open-source software, especially utilities. This would be a more natural transition. > 3 – The Action: > > Finally, we need to point out to politicians that the biggest stumbling > block for this change to take place is the Tendering Process, which has > to change to allow Open Software to 'compete' with propriety software. > With all the conviction in the world, nothing will happen unless such > practices change. A local or international company would have to place the tender. Many times open-source alternatives are not considered just because there is no representation and hence no tender submitted. Natural choices coming to mind would be RedHat representatives in Malta (Philip Toledo Ltd., ICT Solutions Malta). Also remember that the government, starting this Summer, shall be transitioning all Windows XP computers to Windows 7. So we can't really push an OS change in the middle of another OS change. Going for some open-source software to go with the transition, however, is much more viable. K > > Effie > > > On Tue, 2012-05-15 at 06:03 +0200, Daniel wrote: > >> we can put it on the agenda for next Saturday's meeting...... >> >> >>> Well, if there's a time when politicians are willing to listen, it's >>> now. After the election they'll feel safe with 5 years ahead of >>> them. If we can get statements of support we can use them later, >>> reminding them of their support for OSS. Besides, there are several >>> grassroots movements at the moment like the one against ACTA. I'm >>> sure most politicians would want to be on the right side of any such >>> movement. >>> >>> I think we should contact all parties to arrange a meeting. We'd >>> need to have some concrete proposals first - maybe a position paper. >>> This could mention things such as OSS in education, adopting open >>> standards for government services (especially if we can identify any >>> services which currently do not), etc. >>> >>> Ramon Casha >>> >>> >>> On 14 May 2012 19:51, Daniel <[email protected]> wrote: >>> Thanks Ramon. I agree 100%. Just a question: why we Maltese >>> are most of the time passive, being a Maltese gemgem in >>> small groups, and never trying to change at least some small >>> things ? We cannot change MPs overnight (no illusion), but >>> if we never try then we lost the battle already. I prefer to >>> die on the battlefield, trying at least, rather then being >>> at home repeating the same negative attitude..........maybe >>> that's why many countries did protest on the first of May >>> (about working conditions) and Malta was the only nation >>> which did not protest!!! >>> >>> It's up to us to make our voice meaningful and loud enough >>> to be heard by the local media. We can start as well talking >>> to our friends who work on TV, radio or newspapers....... >>> >>> One final note: when I was a child I expected my parents to >>> do all the dirty work. As an adult I don't expect anybody to >>> do my work. especially working hard for the principles I >>> believe in. And I don't count the value of my principles by >>> the amout of response I get. If nobody hears me, then after >>> a self evaluation, I keep trying on and on. My favourite >>> writer wrote: I was born a fighter and not a loser! >>> >>> Daniel >>> >>> >>> >>>> If we do and say nothing at all, we will be giving them >>>> the message that we don't really care about these things. >>>> If they've got people like Microsoft and others lobbying >>>> to get their closed-source solutions into government and >>>> nobody saying otherwise, they will go with what Microsoft >>>> wants. >>>> >>>> >>>> Ramon Casha >>>> >>>> >>>> On 14 May 2012 09:12, iain <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> They will just tell you what they think you want >>>> to hear. Unless >>>> something is done beforehand, why should you >>>> believe *anything* they >>>> tell you they'll do after the elections? >>>> >>>> On 12/05/12 19:13, Daniel wrote: >>>>> How about organising a meeting with both parties >>>> in view of the >>>>> forthcoming elections regarding their policies >>>> of open source? >>>>> >>>>> Daniel >>>>> -- >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> MLUG-list mailing list >>>>> [email protected] >>>>> >>>> http://linux.org.mt/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mlug-list >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> MLUG-list mailing list >>>> [email protected] >>>> http://linux.org.mt/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mlug-list >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> MLUG-list mailing list >>>> [email protected] >>>> http://linux.org.mt/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mlug-list >>> >>> >>> -- >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> MLUG-list mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> http://linux.org.mt/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mlug-list >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> MLUG-list mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> http://linux.org.mt/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mlug-list >> >> -- >> >> _______________________________________________ >> MLUG-list mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://linux.org.mt/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mlug-list > > _______________________________________________ > MLUG-list mailing list > [email protected] > http://linux.org.mt/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mlug-list
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