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  From: Glen Turner <glen.turner@aarnet.edu.au>
  To  : Greg  <grog@lemis.com>
  Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 18:09:33 +1030

Re: Sun left out of Linux meet

Greg 'groggy' Lehey wrote:

> 3.  Which sounds more balanced to you: presentations from two
>     companies making money from Open Source, or presentations from one
>     company each making money from Open Source and being threatened by
>     Open Source?

If you're after balance, it's a waste of a good hour and a half.

Someone after balance would want to know is if and in what circumstances
open source could benefit their agency; either by reducing costs,
improving efficiency or furthering the aims of the agency.

Presentations from ends of the spectrum are unlikely to improve
that understanding.  Presentations from marketing teams specifically
tasked with advancing/retarding the deployment of open source
software are even more unlikely to be useful.  The presentations
of these teams cannot be relied upon as a spin-free and solid
basis for decision making.

IBM and Microsoft are not there so attendees can form a balanced
view of open source.  There are other speakers filling that role.

IBM and Microsoft are there because government administration
fundamentally relies upon products from IBM and Microsoft.  So
the views of those two companies towards open source are of
importantance.  More so because those views are opposing, and
thus become a programme risk.  Programme risks highly worry public
servants, and rightly so.

Having presentations from the extremes doesn't hurt press
coverage either :-)

-- 
  Glen Turner                (08) 8303 3936 or +61 8 8303 3936
  Australian Academic and Research Network   www.aarnet.edu.au

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