On Fri, 2004-07-02 at 15:13, Joel Realubit wrote: > check this out: > > http://www.inq7.net/inf/2004/jul/02/inf_1-1.htm > > some guy says local linux skills are 'scant'.... perhaps someone on this > list (or companies like Q-Linux?) could talk to the PNP about their > opens-source concerns? this could prove to be an excellent opportunity > to promote Linux and open-source in general...
Actually, during the "The Government CIO Open Technology Briefing: Understanding the Issues Behind Commercial and Open Source Software in Government" forum held at Rizal Ballroom B & C of Shangri-La Makati Plaza Hotel last July 1 hosted by Sun Philippines and Microsoft Philippines (isn't it ironic?), the speakers who talked for Microsoft were trying to inject into the minds of the government CIOs who attended the said forum that the commercial software is much better, well tested, secured, reliable and stable compared to Open Source Software. They also point out that in commercial software, the companies and the government can blame or they will know who to blame/run to when the software will have a problem, bugs, etc. But in an Open Source Software, you don't know who they can blame for any problems of the software they're using. I wasn't able to control myself not to ask Mr. Wilson Chua regarding on his presentation because he really did his assignment and well prepared when he gave his talk about securing I.T. infrastructure. He discussed how insecure Open Source and Linux because of the reports and surveys he presented during his talk. He even emphasized that in reality, there are more Linux servers that were cracked, crashed, etc. compared to MS Windows servers. He also discussed about why it takes time before Microsoft releases security patches. He pointed out that Microsoft has this so-called the "Vulnerability Timeline" where their developers really discuss, study and test first before they release the said security patches. And that's where I asked him about that "Vulnerability Timeline". My question to him was: "Assuming you are the owner of a well-known E-Commerce site that currently running MS Windows and IIS and you've heard that there is a major security hole on the IIS. What will you do then with your site considering the fact that Microsoft will still have to follow the Vulnerability Timeline process and there are already some sites that gets cracked? Will you decide to wait for Microsoft to release their security patches and your site will still be up or let your site stop from operating for a moment as long as Microsoft releases their security patches?". By the way, the former Regional Director of Red Hat ASPAC, Mr. Chris Sharp is now the Regional Director of Microsoft ASPAC. Just FYI. Marvin -- Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List [EMAIL PROTECTED] (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph) Official Website: http://plug.linux.org.ph Searchable Archives: http://marc.free.net.ph . To leave, go to http://lists.q-linux.com/mailman/listinfo/plug . Are you a Linux newbie? To join the newbie list, go to http://lists.q-linux.com/mailman/listinfo/ph-linux-newbie
