On 7/17/06, Tito Mari Francis Escaño <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
On 7/15/06, Dean Michael Berris <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Yes, these are big plusses. However, the predicament that we are > currently in -- the government currently using non-open source > solutions that _already work_ and open source solutions (locally > grown) that work but not as well as I personally would like -- we need > to be pragmatic about it. I suggest we look back to the root of incompetency in programming of our computer-related courses in the country: lack of exposure to open source computing and development platforms :)
Makes sense -- I would like to see more open source software being used and exposed in the educational institutions. I however would like to see open source software grow mindshare and acceptance at its own pace, _without_ the aid of government so that in the end, open source solutions will be considered alongside proprietary solutions based on its own merits and not because it was mandated by government.
> > If a local firm can actually get a fair playing field with regards to > getting a contract sourced to them by developing open source solutions > for goverment software requirements and then develop _quality_ > software, that would be a good thing. However, right now, not all open > source development firms in our country owned fully by Filipino > nationals are qualified to bid for government software requirement > projects. If that can be somehow addressed, perhaps that will be a > good thing. But right now, I don't know a lot of firms that can > deliver in case the government _will_ require or favor open source > software for all software requirements in government. I think we have different channels or target of the argument, and I believe that the proposed bill will enable and encourage local open source developers to jump the gun and develop for open source platforms and propose open source solutions to the government.
Maybe. I would like to think that the local developers should just jump the gun anyway and build open source solutions without waiting for government to favor or even require open source software.
> Yes, but this is like sitting in an Ivory Tower. Sure, it would great > to think of the ideal case, but in the real world "training" is > paramount to "doing" -- meaning, there is no better training than > actually doing it. The proposed bill in my opinion is an enabler for the government, if not a check in balance of government spending on computing facilities.
If it was meant to be an enabler, then it should not be to mandate government to use only open source software. If it's a check and balance on government spending on computing facilities, then it should be a bill on the financing of IT projects, and not the promotion of open source software.
> > But please, don't get me wrong -- I would want to see the Philippines > be treated as one of the premiere software development source > countries alongside India and the US. However, I don't think it's the > government's job to make that happen: it ultimately has to be done by > us, the entrepreneurs and the youth that will drive the economy and > growth of the nation, and eventually in the future run it. Until then, > I personally will do my share -- but I don't let myself get > disillusioned by the politics that is involved with getting anything > done in _our_ government today and avoid making mistakes (IMO) such as > requiring or unconditionally favoring open source software in the > government. If the government does something about a problem, we complain, much worse if it doesn't raise a finger. What gives? Maybe the government has already known that it needs technocrats to handle tecnical matters so it created DOST for that purpose. Yes politics is a hindrance to get proposals moving at a pace we desire it to be, but like the presence of evil in our midst, we better see it as a fact of life and live with it rather than rant about it.
What gives? I no longer believe in the current government nor its capability to do anything effectively especially if everything the legilative branch did is dilly dally, debate endless and needlessly, and every month there is always news of a coup d'etat. Therefore I do what I need to do to survive and help in the advancement of the IT industry in the country -- but I've stopped b*thching and whining about it a long time ago, and try to look forward.
> Then a bill favoring Free Software license is not the solution: the > solution would be a bill/law that will require that all software > developed for government under a valid contract have as part of the > stipulations the source code be turned over and made available for > reuse and modification by the government, or a third party found to be > suitable to extend the software in the future. This bill should not > have anything to do with open source licenses, but rather the > definition of the stipulations of contracts undertaken by the > Philippine government. Microsoft has more than 90% of the desktop computers being used in the government. Can't we have a bill that gives an option for the government to save? How bad is it for Microsoft to be reduced to at least 50% as computing platform for the government? How bad is it for the common Juan dela Cruz? It's in line with the government's agenda to save that we should have a law/bill in favor of open source software solutions, in favor of economic well-being of the country.
It doesn't make sense to lower the count of Windows based machines in government because if it works for them, why do we need to change it? And if we do put Linux on every government machine, where does the government get the support for it? Canonical, RedHat, Novell, IBM, Sun? How is that in line with the government's agenda to help out the constituency and the local economy? -- Dean Michael C. Berris C/C++ Software Architect Orange and Bronze Software Labs http://3w-agility.blogspot.com/ http://cplusplus-soup.blogspot.com/ Mobile: +639287291459 Email: dean [at] orangeandbronze [dot] com _________________________________________________ Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List [email protected] (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph) Read the Guidelines: http://linux.org.ph/lists Searchable Archives: http://archives.free.net.ph
