On Dec 14, 2009, at 4:39 PM, Vickram Crishna wrote: > I just wondered, is this out of choice or have we developed this as we go > along? Can we ideate along ways to nip proprietary initiatives in public > expenditure areas in the bud, before they reach the tender stage? It seems to > me that the competition (which granted has had 2 or more decades to hone its > tactics) has a well developed systemic approach to getting business done its > way.
It will involve snooping Govt offices and intervening with the tender specifications before the tender documents get out. A better way is to influence and lobby and ask state governments to come out with policies. I guess Dr Naga, Venky et al are already doing a great job there. But yes, there is a need to cover more brains and minds quickly in this arena. Second, is that I am sick and tired of seeing tender specs and requirements that mention software solutions like MS SharePoint servers etc. If document management is the goal, specifying MS Word in the tender is not only useless, but also wasteful. I've seen too much public money spent on idle boxes and software licenses catching dust. But that is not all - few of these solutions actually work for the intended purpose. And, many times there have been Free & Open solutions that work perfectly at much lower cost. How to kill these two birds with a single stone, proactively? Well, a central software/productivity clearance center can be set up. The job is to help state governments spec out requirements minus the software packages required. If the idea is to build a bridge, governments have no business saying whether it has to be a suspension, cable-stayed, girder etc. The design and solution in question has to "evolve" from situational and other needs. Also, success stories of already implemented solutions can be put up and circulated. Copy pasting already working solutions (with customizations) will not only save time and money - but the saved budgets can be used to go the next level of productivity and software enhancements. I think this will be a good way. If a cat is identified, I am all ready to go pitch the and bell it by pitching the story. Bouquets and brickbats for the idea are welcome. > Writing letters is definitely a good idea, and necessary, I agree, I am > thinking of a more structured approach, with regular initiatives that open > doors previously closed here. It is a good idea, but I don't hear many stories of tenders being modified. By the time another tender is raised, the letter is forgotten. > Such things probably entail more expense (because it is ongoing) than > volunteers should be expected to bear. Perhaps the other initiatives proposed > recently, such as deploying FOSS in education by providing teacher training > in the states that have announced such moves, can generate some of this > support. Another great idea. Cheers, Amol Hatwar _______________________________________________ network mailing list [email protected] http://lists.fosscom.in/listinfo.cgi/network-fosscom.in
