Re: [libreplanet-discuss] libre software for Berkeley, CA?

[Felix Posselt]

On Mon, 13 Mar 2017 22:35:22 +
ng0  wrote:

> Thomas Lord transcribed 3.6K bytes:
> > 
> > Do any readers of this list have experience helping a city,
> > particularly a mid-sized US city, begin to transition from
> > proprietary software systems to libre systems?  If so, I would
> > be grateful to hear your experience and advice.  
> 
> I think it could be worth it looking into the case of Munich. For the
> FSFE this has been the showcase city case for a long time, still is.
>
Hey,

Munich isnt much of a showcase anymore.
The current Mayor and his party want to get rid of it and remigrate to
MS Windows
(Right now the Death Sentence hasn't been spoken yet, and the Fsfe is
doing their best).

The thing is, in the 13 years of GNU/Linux in Munich, the IT-Solution
was never satisfying.

Staff and Politicians often complained about Incompatability with
Everyday-Software. Microsoft and Microsoft-Associates often tried to
convince the City to remigrate by presenting cost-analysises.

Politically, the Mayor and the Party that supported Linux aren't the
leaders anymore, so it actually could be replaced by MS-Windows.

Because at the End, GNU/Linux was chosen from a freedom and
independence perspective, and the new Mayor prefers productivity and
convenience, basically an age old MS-GNU/Linux argument.

Felix

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Re: [libreplanet-discuss] libre software for Berkeley, CA?

[ng0]

Thomas Lord transcribed 3.6K bytes:
> 
> Do any readers of this list have experience helping a city,
> particularly a mid-sized US city, begin to transition from
> proprietary software systems to libre systems?  If so, I would
> be grateful to hear your experience and advice.

I think it could be worth it looking into the case of Munich. For the
FSFE this has been the showcase city case for a long time, still is.


> I live in Berkeley California, and will soon be discussing libre
> software with some city officials.  Currently, Berkeley
> exclusively uses proprietary software in its offices.  Elected
> officials use a corporate email service with poor privacy
> policies to keep in contact with constituents.  City Council
> meetings and other important meetings are live streamed, but the
> format requires recent versions of flash, and the vendor who
> provides the streaming service both has poor privacy policies,
> and refuses to support formats libre viewers can handle.
> 
> Most immediately, I will try to help one elected official adopt
> libre, and more privacy-respecting solutions to keeping in
> contact with constituents.  I'm not sure what direction to
> prioritize beyond that.
> 
> Does anyone have related experience or suggestions?
> 
> Thanks,
> -t
> 
> Thomas Lord
> l...@basiscraft.com
> Berkeley, CA USA
> 
> p.s.: Perhaps of relevant interest is this ordinance from the
> Berkeley Municipal Code, adopted in 2011.  It provides both
> constraints and support for adapting libre software:
> 
> 
> 2.06.170 Technology standards.
> 
> A.  To provide for the accessibility of electronic information
> on the City’s website, the City shall:
> 
> 1.  Meet or exceed the guidelines for accessibility specified by
> the Federal General Services Administration pursuant to Section
> 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 794d) as it may be
> amended from time to time.
> 
> 2.  When feasible within resource constraints, use open,
> non-proprietary, standards-based data formats on public facing
> information systems. When platform-specific formats must be
> used, provide an alternate format or a viewer to consume the
> file types.
> 
> 3.  Make audio and video available for both download and
> streaming using open, cross-platform, standards-based formats,
> accessible by a broad range of computer operating systems and
> portable devices.
> 
> 4.  When feasible within resource constraints, avoid web content
> types that are not compatible across browsers (such as Flash).
> 
> 5.  Make substantive website changes trackable in an open,
> cross-platform, standards-based journal format (such as RSS).
> 
> B.  Nothing in this Section shall require programming a computer
> to respond to a request for information or to release
> information that would violate a licensing agreement or
> copyright law. (Ord. 7166-NS § 1 (part), 2011)
> 
> 
> 
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Re: [libreplanet-discuss] libre software for Berkeley, CA?

[Nico Rikken]

Hi Thomas,

I have no insights in endorsing free software to mid-sized US city 
officials, however I have tried convincing IT and non-IT managers in 
Dutch primary education, to favor free software over proprietary 
solutions.


Like Kees I've also been trying to get more FOSS adoption in The 
Netherlands.
Just like Munich, adoption is very much dependent on personal 
preference of the (local) government, or of the appointed CIO.
Also, having spoken with political parties, they remember that FOSS was 
a hot issue in the 2000's in The Netherlands, but as it isn't so hot of 
a topic any longer, they do not act on it.


I managed to convince a couple of parties to take on additional 
requirements when some software discussion was on the table. In this 
case some subproject website. That was low hanging fruit for both the 
political party, and the web developer. It was something like "served 
website should be based on open standards" and "website should have 
good accessibility features" (both required by law in The Netherlands, 
but regardless they were mentioned), and "open source software for 
hosting the website". I haven't taken the time to review the actual 
results, so certainly plan for some follow-up.


Some other interesting information:
- EPFSUG http://epfsug.eu/ intending to bring Free Software into the 
European Parliament. They also have a mailing list.
- Lennart Huizing is working with https://oseno.nl/ to get more Free 
Software in the Dutch governement 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goPK9vi4e6w


Kind regards and best of luck with your effort,
Nico Rikken
FSFE Team NL



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