LinuxSA Mailing list archives

  From: Aristotle <aristotle@ihug.com.au>
  To  : Richard Russell <richard@yellowgoanna.com>
  Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2001 22:49:30 +1030

Re: Good news maybe ?? IT Minister

I like it - especiall the use of 'while we recognise that ... we also 
need to understand ...' arguments - I think this gets more people on side.

My only concern is the use of technical terms and informal language - 
such as 'virus .. in one hit'.  I suggest we use more formal and more 
non - technical / generic language - such as 'security technologies' or 
Internet 'access technologies' - if we are to 'know our enemy' we must 
recognise that our audience will likely not be technically inclined or 
interested.

I think then if we can de-tech this letter and formalise it more - then 
we can use it as a template for the government, opposition, media, etc - 
and then we can promote a uniform voice on behalf of the 'open source' 
community.

BTW - I have an EXCELLENT article in Foreign Policy on the Internet and 
how it can be likened to 'the commons' in political theory - but that 
corporations and governments are now walling it off.  A good read on the 
Internet and open source from a political / social point of view if 
anyone would like a copy.  It's interesting how often I have seen open 
source and even Linux in particular appear in political and 
philosophical magazines of all pursausions - I don't think we realise 
just how much history we could be making if we get our act together and 
speak with one voice - and how much danger we are in of sinking in to 
irrelevance - or becoming relevant only to us die-hard fans - a bit like 
Macintosh really.  Good product - sweet FA marketing or lobying.

Richard Russell wrote:

> OK, it seems a few people are keen on a letter...  
> 
> here's my first draft, written on the spot, without revision, late at
> night (how's that for a disclaimer -- if it's crap, tell me, I have
> the excuses already prepared!)
> 
> note also that I am not sure of the factual correctness of anything I
> have written here -- I may be thinking of state government ... please
> correct me and provide references if you can...
> 
> -----------
> Dear <Minister for IT and/or Telecommunications> [this may need to be
> two separate letters addressing the two separate issues that we are
> concerned about, depending on the "significantly different ministry"
> John Howard's been touting],
> 
> Firstly, congratulations on your winning of Government and subsequent
> appointment as Minister for IT and/or Telecommunications.
> 
> We are IT employees, employers, students, hobbyists, academics,
> programmers, systems administrators and users who share a common
> interest in Open Source and Free Software. We choose to use this
> software in preference to commercial offerings for many reasons,
> including cost, quality and (most importantly) freedom. It frees us
> from the confines of restrictive (and expensive) software licencing
> agreements, and allows us to modify and improve the software we use as
> we see fit, thereby benefiting thousands of other users, while we
> benefit from their modifications.
> 
> However, we are concerned about the some of the directions that the
> Government's IT policies have taken in recent years. Three major areas
> of concern are:
> 
> 
> 1) That access to Government online services is restricted to users of
> commercial software such as Microsoft Windows with Internet Explorer.
> We often find that Government sites block users of other operating
> systems or browsers, or that the sites are customised to use special
> features of specific browsers, and are unusable unless that browser is
> used.
> 
> Examples of blocked sites:
> 
> Examples of sites that don't work correctly on all (most?) browsers:
> 
> We request that the Government adopt a policy that all online services
> are accessible to users no matter what their choice of operating
> system or browser. This allows more people to use Government services,
> and it encourages competition in the software marketplace.
> 
> 
> 2) That major Government IT contracts are often exclusive, to the
> detriment of competition. This includes moves such as standardising on
> Microsoft Office software throughout Government departments, with no
> possibility for variance, even where a better solution for a specific
> problem exists.
> 
> Examples:
> 
> We request that the Government adopt a policy that all contracts are
> designed to foster competition, and encourage the best solution for
> the problem at hand to be used, as opposed to requiring a single
> solution for all classes of problems. Diversity should be encouraged
> in Government IT, for the dual purposes of fostering competition and
> developing a more resiliant infrastructure -- it is an accepted fact
> that while uniformity can bring some cost advantages, it accentuates
> any weaknesses to the point where a single weakness can allow one
> virus to cause so much damage in one hit.
> 
> 
> 3) That Government software projects themselves are usually closed
> source. We believe that by encouraging the release of source code for
> Government-sponsored projects, not only will the community benefit
> from the use of this code, but the Government will benefit from the
> community's use of this code. This applies specifically in cases where
> the code being developed can have some wider application, but even in
> cases where it won't, there is no disadvantage in releasing the code.
> 
> We request that the Government adopt a policy that all new (and
> preferably old) software projects undertaken by the Government have
> their code released to the community under an open licence (GPL or
> BSD). This is a situation where the collaboration between Government,
> community, and even other Governments would result in a win-win-win
> situation.
> 
> 
> Thankyou,
> 
> Sincerely....
> 
> ----------
> 
> hmmm... that was longer than I meant, and may not be easily read by
> politician types... also, I didn't touch on telecommunications issues
> -- I think that should be separate anyway, as we could easily get far
> broader support for that one...
> 
> Anyway, IMHO, the above are the three main Open Source related IT
> issues facing government... anyone care to comment?
> 
> rr
> 
> 


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