----- Original Message ----- From: Tim Churches <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2004 14:36:49 +1100 To: "openhealth-list @ minoru-development . com" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: Australia and open source
> All it means is that neither of the major political parties will introduce open > source "affirmative action" legislation or policies - that is, active discrimination > in > favour of FOSS when software acquisitions are being made. However, that > doesn't mean that FOSS won't be considered by government agencies - indeed, > govt officials must consider FOSS as part of of their due diligence > responsibilities to ensure that the taxpayer gets best value for their tax dollars. > The ACT legislation was just reminding them of that fact. I guess this is a good thing. However there are those who are opposed to FOSS who will always try to make government be vary of considering FOSS. The fact often used was that FOSS was insecure and that there is no support. However these are now being proven wrong. The issue that does remain is the licensing issue of FOSS like GPL. With the problems of the law suits involving Linux code, this can be used against FOSS. Maybe someone should make people in government, aware of the GPL and othe FOSS licensing. Using GPL does NOT mean that all products from it have to be GPL. The concerns of governments of making all the products based on FOSS, say the modifications done to make it suitable for use in Australia, will have to be put on the public domain may not be acceptable. From what I know -correct me if I am wrong, there is no absolute that the modifications have to be placed in the public domain. These issues must be worked out or.. http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/os/story/0,2000048630,20282661,00.htm Nandalal Gunaratne -- ______________________________________________ Check out the latest SMS services @ http://www.linuxmail.org This allows you to send and receive SMS through your mailbox. Powered by Outblaze
