Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 16:43:12 +0200 From: Johann Visagie <wjv@cityip.co.za> To: chat@FreeBSD.ORG, freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Free software and politics (Forwarded from lucio@proxima.alt.za) Message-ID: <19980723164312.C21310@cityip.co.za>
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The following was posted to a mailing list dealing (more or less) with
general Internet industry events here in South Africa. The posting is by an
old net.acquaintance of mine - a NetBSD man, he.
However, I found the idea intriguing, and I wondered if anyone in the FreeBSD
community might not have useful input.
Bear in mind that:
(a) SA hangs precariously in the balance between first and third world.
(b) SA is going through a bit of a financial crisis.
(c) The SA Government and civil service are still reeling from the incredible
changes which took place in this country but a few years ago, and are
therefore in a state of flux.
(d) There are many (MANY) initiatives underway by both the SA Government and
the private sector to bring telecommunications (and the net) to
disadvantaged (and still very poor) rural communities. The possible
implications for, say, health care (to name but one field) you can
probably imagine.
The posting has resulted in a fairly lively thread, including the predictable
flames (including one from a Microsoft employee) about "free" software having
a higher cost of ownership, no support, no continuity, etc. etc.
UniForum SA is the SA arm of UniForum, and it handles the registration for
the co.za domain. It is therefore sitting on a large cash cache (haha), and
for some time there has been lively debate about how it should apply this
money.
Does anyone have any statistics / stories about free software / open source
software being successfully applied in government / civil service anywhere in
the world? I do seem to remember something about the US Post Office using
Linux...
----- Forwarded message from Lucio de Re <lucio@proxima.alt.za> -----
> It has been suggested, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, that UniForum SA (no,
> I don't currently have a bee in my bonnet about them, as you'll see)
> should be petitioning the South African Government to mandate the use
> of one or more flavours of Free Unix and other Open Source Software in
> Government Departments wherever it is not absolutely essential to use
> proprietary software. This mandate should even require Government
> Departments to investigate the possibility of using Free Software to
> replace existing proprietary systems, and in addition should require
> careful consideration of submissions to ensure that they facilitate,
> rather than preclude, later migration to Free Software.
>
> The concept is nothing short of genial, specially in the cash-strapped
> situation our government finds itself. Irrespective, then, of a role
> UniForum may be able to play in this issue, I'd like to open a
> discussion as to whether this is as desirable as I perceive it, what
> its merits and disadvantages are, and how (a) Government should embark
> on such a project and (b) how we can lobby Government to do so and (c)
> how Government can rely on the local community to ensure that the
> necessary support is available.
>
> Just an idea, but one that has now been bugging me for a while, and
> definitely required venting.
>
> ++L
----- End forwarded message -----
-- V
Johann Visagie | Email: wjv@CityIP.co.za | Tel: +27 21 419-7878
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