Dear Larry,
Since I get quoted below I thought I should chime in.
First I am pleased vtSDA is active on this list. Maybe as we all come
together in policy concordance, Vermont can become for FOSS systems what
Washington State is for closed source monopoly software...
But on to your note.
On Fri, 24 Oct 2008, Lawrence Keyes wrote:
I'm chair of the vtSDA outreach committee, and I subscribe to the VAGUE list.
Couple points:
1. As far as FOSS software, vtSDA takes no position on whether our members
develop software using FOSS or non-FOSS technologies.
I am glad to hear this is policy. The first time I heard the vtSDA
mentioned it was referred to as a "Microsoft only" trade organization. I
attended several luncheon functions and I am pleased to have discovered
otherwise. I firmly believe that vtSDA is now more operating system
agnostic than at any time in it's history.
I suppose you could compare this view with the idea that the Vermont
Association of Home Builders does not take a position on whether its member
companies build using brick or wood.
Not a good metaphor. Are FOSS systems the bricks or the wood? Try buying
bricks in Vermont (I can hear the three little pigs in the background
singing "Who's afraid of the big bad monopolist" :^).
2. vtSDA has received funding from the state; at this juncture you could
argue that we've received the majority of our funding from the state. Funds
have come from the Department of Economic Development, and the Department of
Labor.
I would opine that this is excellent. vtSDA is an ambitious trade group,
VAGUE is more a constituency, some of the members of this constituency may
belong to your trade group, that said, as a constituency we are all
interested in how you spend taxpayer money.
About half of our state funding has been awarded through competitive
grants..that is, the state agency has gone out and said..."we're going to
spend XXX dollars on YYY thing... please write a proposal on how you would
spend these dollars if received."
Are these proposals or spending guidelines available for VAGUE members to
read, comment upon, develop or extend?
These grants have funded things like a portion of the Vermont 3.0
Creative/Tech Jam,
VAGUE actually discussed participating in Vermont 3.0 Tech Jam, that
said several ideas were floated. The consensus was, I believe, "maybe
next year".
and an initiative to rewrite the entry-level curriculum
for computer applications which is offered to high-school freshmen.
Is there any FOSS involved in this curriculum? Just Today, I asked one of
the products of the Vermont Tech Educational system if when they
exclusively taught her Microsoft Office skills had they taught her "mail
merge". She said "no". I think presenting possible information
technology curricula to VAGUE would be to everyone's benefit.
These efforts, as well as the grant application process itself,
represent hundreds of volunteer hours by our members.
I welcome this effort and it's fruit.
The other half of our state funding has come from haranguing our legislators,
writing to our newspapers, traveling to Montpelier, and generally attempting
to make our case that software has a potential for economic benefit several
times the order of magnitude as "legacy" industries such as tourism and
maple syrup, which, although part of the Vermont mind-set, do not as a rule
contribute high-paying jobs or much in the way of added monetary value by
comparison.
Why go after State money? Were foundations or business grants considered?
The state funding that we have received is a tiny fraction of what the state
puts into things like agriculture and tourism. We'd like to think it was a
good investment, and that we are spending our taxes wisely in promoting this
business segment...one of three top projected areas of growth in the U.S.
Yet once you involve taxpayers, suddenly you really need to become
inclusive of all the IT interests in the state. State money comes with
this serious consequence.
Frankly, with the economy the way it is, it is hard to say whether our
efforts to reinvent Vermont's economy will stick, but we are fortunate to be
able to say that we're really trying to bring about necessary change, and
that we very much appreciate the support we've received through the state. We
hope Vaguers will join us in these efforts.
I believe we are all on the same page as far as the goal of opening up
Vermont for software development activity is concerned. The devil is as
usual in the details. My comment is quoted below.
More about selling. Can the development of Open Source software become a
cottage industry in Vermont with a state sanctioned closed source monopoly
product orientation that extends into state sponsored trade associations?
I hope that the above dispels these concerns, but if not.. please advise.
Indeed you have done an excellent job of sales, and we are all agree that
the ideal of a cottage industry is the goal. Hell I even have a cottage
here in Barre. I even believe that we can see the role of Open Source.
That said, the sad thing about the Champlain College Media facility
opening I attended was I counted the number of systems running FOSS
systems.
That number was Zero.
Also:
Come to the Career Tech Jam tomorrow!
Come join us at vtSDA!
I hope to see you tomorrow.
Kindest Regards,
Paul Flint
(802) 479-2360
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Paul Flint
Barre Open Systems Institute
17 Averill Street
Barre, VT
05641
http://www.bosivt.org
http://www.flint.com/home
skype: flintinfotech
Work: (202) 537-0480
Fax: (703) 852-7089
Consilium
gratuitum .~.
valet /V\
quanti /( )\
numerantur ^^-^^
