<Robsaid> However, in the case of Govt. the goal is not just commercial but social as well. Govt.'s mandate is to deliver broad benefits to the community as a whole.
FOSS is unique in that it actually contributes at this level! </Robsaid> I don't agree that more value accrues to society when the government artificially (policy) supports F/OSS. I'm more interested in government running IT systems with quality, competency and best practises. As a member of society, I put higher importance on public institutions running good software systems that serve the purpose effectively without putting society at risk than I do on any particular type of software license. Regards, Mark Burch -----Original Message----- From: silicon-beach-australia@googlegroups.com [mailto:silicon-beach-austra...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Rob Manson Sent: Wednesday, 5 August 2009 10:40 AM To: silicon-beach-australia@googlegroups.com Subject: [SiliconBeach] Re: Should the Australian government be supporting open source? Hi Mark, FOSS IS special...especially in the case of Govt. support. If we were just discussing commercial support (e.g. VC, internal investment, etc.) then you may have a point (although I'd be willing to debate that too). However, in the case of Govt. the goal is not just commercial but social as well. Govt.'s mandate is to deliver broad benefits to the community as a whole. FOSS is unique in that it actually contributes at this level! Proprietary licensing models do not - they have an benefit asymmetry biased towards the IP owner/exploiter. In fact in some examples (e.g. proprietary document or API formats) they have a negative social impact by hiding or controlling public sector information. Is this really what we want from our Govt.? -- Rob Manson Managing Director MOB - Start something! Innovative mobile & online business http://MOBusiness.com.au m: +61423215731 e: rob...@mobusiness.com.au l: http://www.linkedin.com/in/robertmanson t: http://twitter.com/nambor s: http://slideshare.net/robman ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Don't miss our presentation on Pervasive Computing and Business Strategy at Web Directions South 2009 http://south09.webdirections.org/program/business#pervasive-computing ---------------------------------------------------------------------- On Wed, 2009-08-05 at 00:03 +0000, Mark Burch wrote: > <Bias disclosure> I’m not much of a open source fan but I’m not > hostile against it either. I’m ambivalent. > > > > I agree with your initial decision to not include this in the > submission. > > The government should be supporting innovation and entrepreneurship or > every kind. If you call out FOSS as a special case, you’re implying it > has special importance – which I don’t believe it does. > > Whether software is FOSS or not is a relatively low level detail that > doesn’t need to muddy the higher level discussions about > entrepreneurship and innovation. > > > > <This is not flame bait. I’m putting forward this view in attempt to > further the discussion at hand.> > > > > 2 cents from me. > > > > Regards, > > Mark Burch > > > > From: silicon-beach-australia@googlegroups.com > [mailto:silicon-beach-austra...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Elias > Bizannes > Sent: Tuesday, 4 August 2009 4:36 PM > To: silicon-beach-australia@googlegroups.com > Subject: [SiliconBeach] Should the Australian government be supporting > open source? > > > > > Thanks to those offering feedback on the paper - it's valuable. > > Ryan Cross said the following: > "My suggestion of providing funding to develop open source communities > didn't seem to be addressed. In the context of this paper it would > seem to address both the issues of building talent and helping > infrastructure. I understand if it is chosen to be dropped though. > -Ryan Cross 8/3/09 10:47 PM " > > A few people (well, two that I can remember) made the point about the > government supporting open source. This was one of the suggestions > that I decided to not include, but I'm willing to accept I'm wrong. > > I love open source, but I don't see the link of how supporting open > source will encourage technology entrepreneurship. > > Thoughts? > > > Elias Bizannes > http://eliasbizannes.com > > > > > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach Australia mailing list. Guidelines on discussion: http://tr.im/ujKF No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself: http://tr.im/ujMm To post to this group, send email to silicon-beach-australia@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to silicon-beach-australia+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
