If you know software programming well enough to write a new word processor with a secret file format, do it now, put it on sale and price it one million Euro per seat. Should that law be approved, you'll just have to send
Christmas greetings to all Italian Public Administrations to force them to buy your software.
Disappointed (so far) by Italian Open Legislation experiment
http://stop.zona-m.net –
Net censorship campaign backfires
http://www.theaustralian.com.au –
"SOUTH Australia's history of spectacular clashes between politicians, the judiciary and the media found a new chapter this week when a mess of eggs ended up on the face of the Attorney-General, forcing a humiliating backflip over internet censorship..."
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Two thousand open source applications for the public sector
http://www.osor.eu –
The European Union's Open Source Observatory and Repository (OSOR.eu) as of today is offering public administrations access to more than two thousand free and open source applications.
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Library (of Congress) Explores Ways to Release Open Source Software
http://www.digitalpreservation.gov –
In the spirit of transparency and community, the Library of Congress has established an internal process to create open source software.
Read more »Government quotas on how much open source to buy appear to be backfiring
http://www.networkworld.com –
Beyond expressing a preference, does anything else need to be done to make sure that governments that say they are going "open source" really do so?" Quotas -- dictating specific percentages of open source usage -- seem an obvious answer, but in countries that have tried them, open source has not necessarily flourished. One country where quotas on open source use have been instituted is Hungary.
Read more »Malaysia's government touts 95 percent OSS adoption
http://www.zdnetasia.com –
Some 95 percent of Malaysia's government agencies have adopted open source software (OSS), but the remaining 5 percent have not warmed to the concept--and is unlikely to anytime soon, according to a government official.
Read more »UK.gov tweaks open source policy small print
http://www.theregister.co.uk –
The UK government has rejigged its open source and open standards software procurement policy, following pressure from OSS vendors last autumn. Early last year the Cabinet Office revised its rules on public sector open source software purchases, but many OSS players complained that the policy amendments didn’t go far enough.
Read more »U.S. Open Source for Open Government
http://www.linux-magazine.com –
In December the U.S. White House set guidelines for an open and transparent administration. The Open Source for America (OSFA) organization is now following up with tips for a governmental move to free software.
Read more »SF mayor: city can save money with open source software
http://arstechnica.com –
The San Francisco Committee on Information Technology has published a new software evaluation policy that requires departments of the city government to consider open source software solutions alongside proprietary commercial offerings.
Read more »NZ govt trials Linux desktops in Feb
http://www.zdnet.com.au –
Three New Zealand government agencies will begin a pilot next month to replace their existing Windows desktops with machines running Linux and other open source software.
Read more »Steps to adopt open source standards draw flak
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com –
India’s open source software lobbyists allege that the country’s proposed draft recommendations for adopting open technology standards and software for automating different government departments and functions, favours popular software solutions from large companies such as Microsoft.
Read more »Bringing contestability back to the public sector desktop
http://passthesource.org.nz –
For the last few months, the Open Source Society has been facilitating a project called the Public Sector Remix. This involves a number of public sector agencies investigating use of a free software stack on the desktop and understanding the barriers preventing its more widespread adoption.
Read more »EP Intergroup: In Europe Left and Right for Free Software!
http://www.april.org –
"An intergroup1 on "New Media, Free Software and Open Information Society" was established in the European Parliament with the support of a wide range of political groups (EPP, ALDE/ADLE and Greens/EFA). Free Software promoters April (FR) and Associazione per il Software Libero (IT) welcome this decision that opens up the European Parliament to embracing the digital revolution..."
Read more »FSF Recommends That the European Commission Should Unbundle PCs/Windows
http://boycottnovell.com –
Peter Brown from the FSF (Free Software Foundation) argues that PCs should not be saddled with Windows and that the EU Commission should therefore take a look at the problem
Read more »China Given Another Reason to Abandon Proprietary Software — $2,200,000,000 Lawsuit
http://boycottnovell.com –
China may no longer be able to use proprietary software from the United States without paying, which is great news for GNU/Linux and other Free software
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