On 12/4/06, John Galt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
The use of "my clients" is just an analogy (*analogy is defined as a comparison between two different things, in order to highlight some form of similarity), to stress a point….that CHOICE is better than an all-sweeping legislation to MANDATORILY use F/OSS within WHATEVER government agency.
It's also a matter of exercising that choice. And since the legislature is the highest policy-making body in government, it is within their prerogative to exercise that choice. Also, there are clear provisions in the proposed FOSS bill that allow for the use of closed-source software where it is appropriate.
My point is….it is not illegal to use M$...and it is not illegal to use F/OSS. My comments do not just concern some newspaper article ranting on F/OSS but on the idea of creating legislature to FORCE the use and implementation of open-source. Since the use of either technology platform is permissible, hence a CHOICE can be made.
The bill specifically mentions technology-neutrality. It also does not specify any specific platform or you would know that already had you read the bill. For instance, software applications like GIMP and OpenOffice have versions that run on both windows and linux. Therefore, "technological platforms" are not the true issue why so many oppose this bill.
So F/OSS has advantages…I agree. I respect the F/OSS community and had never dissed on this type of technology. But so does proprietary SW not just those made by M$, but also by Oracle, IBM, and other big players and makers in the IT world. I and my fellow colleagues in the M$ Universe do not force ourselves on Gov't or "our clients" to choose M$, we recommend, PERIOD. If they (whoever "they" maybe) choose F/OSS, then tough luck for us M$ people and score 1 to F/OSS.
We also recommend, but in favor of FOSS. Our advocacy has a place here, yours does not. -- RAGE CALLAO Free Software :: empower :: educate _________________________________________________ Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List plug@lists.linux.org.ph (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph) Read the Guidelines: http://linux.org.ph/lists Searchable Archives: http://archives.free.net.ph
