On Thu, 2009-02-26 at 01:43 +0000, Stuart Sears wrote: > Phillip Chandler wrote: > > On Wed, 2009-02-25 at 14:06 +0000, Simon Capstick wrote: > >> Does anyone believe the government will actually follow through > >> with this one? > >> > >> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7910110.stm > >> > >> Simon > > > > You must have missed this bit : > > > > "Open source software will be adopted "when it delivers best value > > for money", the government said.". > > Have you read the actual document this refers to? > > http://www.cio.gov.uk/documents/open_source/090224opensource.pdf > > I particularly like this part: > > <quote> > The Government will, wherever possible, avoid becoming locked in to > proprietary software. In particular it will take exit, rebid and rebuild > costs into account in procurement decisions and will require those > proposing proprietary software to specify how exit would be achieved. > </quote> > > ...that sounds remarkably like a commitment to open standards to me, or > at least taking the cost of migration into consideration when deploying > non-O/S software. That may well affect the 'value for money' criterion. > > If this opens the door for more open standards, then marvellous. > > Game On. > > oh and this bit: > > <quote> > Where there is no significant overall cost difference between open and > non-open source products, open source will be selected on the basis of > its additional inherent flexibility. > </quote> > > just one more, I can't help myself :) > > <quote> > [...] Where appropriate, general purpose software developed for > government will be released on an open source basis. > </quote> > > > Thats a cop-out clause. > > No, it's not. It's paraphrased/quoted at best. I am not a government > apologist, but this is a remarkable step forward and very positive. > > All that's really required is that they assess open source solutions > in the same context as closed source and that they justify how they > eventually spend our money. This can only be a good thing. They are not > promising to change all their desktops to Linux (or any other open > source O/S). In fact I would be absolutely gobsmacked if they ever did. > > > Ive used Linux for quite a while, and thankfully picked up a lot of > > stuff. > > > > But what support do you have for Linux ? > > > 1) - Forums. > > Not at a professional level, for anything beyond the simplest things. > Besides, google first :) > > In large organisations, it's 'call the helpdesk'. > > > 2) - Canonical Paid-for support. > > *ahem*. Linux does not only mean *buntu. > Canonical provide just one of the many options. > > Red Hat support services are in general excellent > Admittedly I'm biased, I work for the company, but I do speak to a lot > of customers. :). > Then there's Novell (and of course, even Oracle these days). > Plus anyone else who wants in, but those are the main players. > > Any proper Enterprise-level roll-out provides some form of paid support, > SLAs and so on, if only to cover somebody's a***. It mitigates the risks. > With Open Source, that's usually most of what you pay for (that and ISV > / OEM certifications etc etc). > > > 3) - Your IT department if they are savvy enough about Linux. > > They are in many public sector organisations above a certain size. > Perhaps not at the school IT technician level (although in some cases, > perhaps even there). > Once again, this is why we have support agreements and escalation > procedures. > > Just my 2p worth. I could go on. In fact I have. > > Flame-retardant suit at the ready. :) >
My last comment. We are talking about the UK Government here ? Do you actually believe anything they say ? Saying they are going to use open source software is one thing, but actually going the whole hog is a diff matter. They say one thing, which has two meanings, the one we think they are saying, and the one which will be a cop out if it goes wrong or doesnt work. Id love to see it work, but on the condition that we dont get another fiasco like the NHS computer upgrade. -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --------------------------------------------------------------
