On Tue, 11 Jul 2006, Dean Michael Berris wrote:
There is a big problem when _requiring_ or _unconditionally favoring_ a certain product/service especially in government which is supposedly democratic, and which supposedly is adhering to the free trade and free market economy: discrimination.
There is a BIG difference between REQUIRING and UNCONDITIONALLY favoring. The former allows conditions, the latter does. And requiring is not the same as favoring.
When you start discriminating software based on the licensing and not the functionality and the actual value of the software (not monetary, but in terms of how much utility it provides) then it's like discriminating against a contractor because they have different religions.
The analogy is faulty. The license by its very nature can actually determine part of the functionality, utility, and cost of the software. Open source licenses, in particular, give users powers and flexibility they otherwise would not have with closed-souirce software.
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