Molly,
I wish you all the best, and a happy and productive
time in Tunis. I agree that we should all try hard to
promote Open Source and give it some "legitimacy" in
the eyes of those who have fear and doubt.
We have succeeded to include in our governments
e-government initiative, that they will look at Open
Source solutions along with proprietary ones on an
equal basis.
The Agency setup by the government - the Information
and Communication Technology Agency also accepts the
same and I am in the e-health committee.
How successful this will be in the actual
implementation in the near future, remains to be seen.
The need for some organizations to support open source
ventures is a must.
This goes for all countries as this will become a
country by country, city by city advocacy. Every
city/country who adopt open source successfully will
be a great strength to all others.
Since the future is unknown. let's work for the
present. Your initiative is one of them.
Nandalal
--- Molly Cheah <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Nandalal,
>
> Others have responded to your questions. I wouldn't
> worry about OSHCA's
> impact at this juncture. I wouldn't even worry about
> Governments'
> responses to the use of open source because judging
> from the trends of
> its support by the likes of IBM, Intel, Sun etc. its
> a matter of time. I
> was at a discussion meeting called by a Malaysian
> Govt Agency promoting
> open source to the public sector, that included the
> attendance by
> Microsoft, BSA etc. The perceived "reluctance" to
> embrace open source
> was shown in a survey to be actually due to lack of
> support and
> maintenance topping the list amongst other reasons.
> And we know Govt
> depts can't rely on open source gigs to provide
> support and maintenance!
> At this meeting it was so pathetic to hear the fear
> and worry expressed
> by the business people who rely on proprietary
> softwares for their
> business. They forget that they can change their
> business models.
>
> Just for your information, another NGO I work with
> here received
> RM300,000 almost after it was formed earlier this
> year for its
> activities and had been told that we will get
> another RM1million before
> the end of the year to disburse to our NGO members
> for their projects.
> This is for tobacco control.
>
> Rgds,
> Molly
> Nandalal Gunaratne wrote:
>
> >I support this as well, but what does this support
> >mean in the short and long term?
> >
> >In the recent FOSSSL international conference I
> spoke
> >about using Open source in hospitals - Lighting up
> >hospitals with LAMP. But I have very few people
> from
> >government or IT industry supporting these views.
> >
> >What organization can approach governments and
> large
> >corporations to make a strong case for FOSS, that
> is
> >both convincing and acceptable?
> >
> >OSHCA is too small a voice in my opinion and was
> >nearly stilled for good.
> >
> >Nandalal
> >
> >--- David Chan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >>I support (that's 5)!
> >>David
> >>
> >>--- Molly Cheah <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>>Thanks Tim, Adrian and Fred for your responses. I
> >>>don't want to flood
> >>>the list with individual responses. However,
> >>>Christian made a good point
> >>>on seeing OSHCA
> >>>
> >>>"as international umbrella organisation of
> various
> >>>national organisations and, of course, of Open
> >>>Source Software projects
> >>>in the healthcare domain."
> >>>
> >>>I think this is an excellent idea. My recent
> >>>involvement with International funding
> >>>
> >>>
> >>organisations
> >>
> >>
> >>>shows the absence of such an organisation (maybe
> >>>
> >>>
> >>I'm
> >>
> >>
> >>>not aware of one, if it exists). WorldVistA is
> >>>wonderful for promoting VistA. In view of the
> MDGs
> >>>where health and healthcare plays a crucial role,
> >>>such a need is now more acutely felt. I was at a
> >>>recent meeting (FOSSAP II in Cambodia) attended
> by
> >>>some 20 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>Their
> >>
> >>
> >>>need for affordable systems is beyond
> description.
> >>>The need for funding for customising, deploying,
> >>>training, support, research etc of open source
> >>>health applications, particularly for primary
> >>>
> >>>
> >>care,
> >>
> >>
> >>>public health and hospitals is so important.
> >>>However, I'm seeing individual hospitals,
> >>>
> >>>
> >>healthcare
> >>
> >>
> >>>facilities trying to write proposals for
> >>>justifications for funding. Its sad. I can go on
> >>>
> >>>
> >>and
> >>
> >>
> >>>on and on, but I won't.
> >>>
> >>>Let's have such an organisation focussed on
> >>>promoting open source applications in healthcare
> >>>
> >>>
> >>and
> >>
> >>
> >>>then we can prioritise what we need to do.
> Target:
> >>>To help achieve the Health MDGs' targets and
> >>>goals... They are so well defined and achievable.
> >>>
> >>>I need more than 4 e-mails expressing
> support.....
> >>>:)
> >>>
> >>>Rgds,
> >>>
> >>>Molly
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>Christian Heller wrote:
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>>Hi Molly,
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>>Since last week, I had discussed with Brian
> Bray
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>the transfer of
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>>>OSHCA.org to OSHCA if we agree to start the
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>process of reviving OSHCA
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>>>and he has agreed to this.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>I agree and support the idea, although I will
> not
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>have the time to
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>>actively contribute and don't know if I will be
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>able to attend meetings.
> >>>
> >>>
>
=== message truncated ===
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