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  From: Greg  <grog@lemis.com>
  To  : Glen Turner <glen.turner@aarnet.edu.au>
  Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 18:26:47 +1030

Re: Sun left out of Linux meet

On Friday, 31 January 2003 at 18:09:33 +1030, Glen Turner wrote:
> 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.

We'll see.  The national press will report, and so will I.

> 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.

Indeed.  That's pretty much what people are expecting of the seminar.

> 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.

I think you've just deflated your own argument.  People will know that
they come from both ends of the spectrum (well, Microsoft comes from
one; IBM is all over the place).  It's easier to interpolate than to
extrapolate.

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

There's nobody else filling the role of a software vendor.

> IBM and Microsoft are there because government administration
> fundamentally relies upon products from IBM and Microsoft.

If the suppliers were the ones that the Government relies on, the mix
would be different.

> 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.

Don't forget that IBM is one of the largest resellers of Microsoft out
there.  The question isn't that simple.  There are also other factors
about Microsoft's invitation which I don't think appropriate to
discuss in this forum, but which suggest to me that NOIE has a valid
reason for inviting them.

I'd be interested in seeing your views on who should have been
invited.  Being involved in it makes it look suddenly very different.
They *have* invited us, and they've invited Gartner, who also probably
don't have too much to profit from one or the other viewpoint.  But
what would the seminar look like without at least one big vendor of
Open Source products?  I can understand NOIE choosing IBM over Sun,
who only recently decided to support Linux (probably after they
started drawing up their initial programme).

Believe me, I'm cynical enough when it comes to assessing the views of
government departments.  I've also been cynical enough about
salespeople, people who wear suits, people who wear shoes and so on.
Unfortunately, every time I've had to work with people in these
categories, I've discovered that my preconceived notions were way off
mark.  It's the case with NOIE too.

Greg
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