MESSAGE
DATE | 2003-06-13 |
FROM | Dave Williams
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SUBJECT | Re: [hangout] The false profet (editorial)
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From owner-hangout-desteny-at-mrbrklyn.com Fri Jun 13 15:16:31 2003 Received: from www2.mrbrklyn.com (LOCALHOST [127.0.0.1]) by mrbrklyn.com (8.12.3/8.11.2/SuSE Linux 8.11.1-0.5) with ESMTP id h5DJGVnT005984 for ; Fri, 13 Jun 2003 15:16:31 -0400 Received: (from mdom-at-localhost) by www2.mrbrklyn.com (8.12.3/8.12.3/Submit) id h5DJGVvN005983 for hangout-desteny; Fri, 13 Jun 2003 15:16:31 -0400 X-Authentication-Warning: www2.mrbrklyn.com: mdom set sender to owner-hangout-at-www2.mrbrklyn.com using -f Received: from athena.spinnet.net (athena.100megabit.com [216.235.147.84]) by mrbrklyn.com (8.12.3/8.11.2/SuSE Linux 8.11.1-0.5) with ESMTP id h5DJGVnT005978 for ; Fri, 13 Jun 2003 15:16:31 -0400 Received: from dsc05-nyi-ny-2-23.rasserver.net (dsc05-nyi-ny-2-23.rasserver.net [205.184.163.23]) by athena.spinnet.net (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id h5DJJOE09852; Fri, 13 Jun 2003 15:19:24 -0400 Subject: Re: [hangout] The false profet (editorial) From: Dave Williams To: David Sugar Cc: hangout-at-nylxs.com In-Reply-To: <200306131356.04927.dyfet-at-ostel.com> References: <200306131356.04927.dyfet-at-ostel.com> Content-Type: text/plain Organization: Message-Id: <1055531956.518.6.camel-at-connie> Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Ximian Evolution 1.2.4 Date: 13 Jun 2003 15:19:16 -0400 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-hangout-at-mrbrklyn.com Precedence: bulk Reply-To: Dave Williams List: New Yorker GNU Linux Scene Admin: To unsubscribe send unsubscribe name-at-domian.com in the body to hangout-request-at-www2.mrbrklyn.com X-Evolution: 000006e0-0000 X-Keywords: X-UID: 13336 Status: RO Content-Length: 3304 Lines: 75
Hi David -
This is a great essay, but I'm not sure what it is responding to.
Did Tony Stanco express some opposition to Brasil's adoption of Free Software? I searched through Linux Journal but I couldn't find anything.
- Dave
On Fri, 2003-06-13 at 13:56, David Sugar wrote: > It was just yesterday when I first read of Brasil's decision to migrate > a significant portion of their public sector infrastructure from the > proprietary Microsoft Windows environment to free (and open source) > solutions, such as GNU/Linux. I recall in the past when other nations > had attempted this, at least one American company would choose to both > publically and privately undermine these efforts. Sometimes, as in the > case of Peru special law 1609, the Ambassador of my own nation would > choose to disregard his objective role of serving the common American > public interest, and instead promote the exclusive interests of a select > predatory proprietary software vendor, at the expense of valid American > commercial business interests, such as existing American Free and Open > Source software vendors. > > Similarly, I expected to hear various statements from those that appose > free and open source solutions in response to Brasil's actions. > However, I did not expect these same false arguments to be made by one > who claims to represent our community. Perhaps Mr. Stanco should read > the very excellent letter from Senior Villanueva Nunez > (http://proposicion.org.ar/doc/gob/VillanuevaNunez-080402.html), who > explains well why it is both appropriate and necessary to use government > procurement policy in this manner. Clearly there are people who do > understand free software in relation to government policy; it is a shame > the founder of the "The Center of Open Source & Government" appears not > to. > > Mr. Villanueva, among many others, explains why selecting free and open > source solutions is non discriminatory, since any vendor is free to > offer such solutions. Certainly, sovereign governments have the right > to choose conditions of sale for products they procure. Governments in > many ways may already choose to influence social policy and to encourage > or discourage specific behavior through both direct and indirect > financial means. Governments, as public institutions, do not spend > money on their sole behalf, but on behalf of the people they represent, > and as such have a direct responsibility to achieve the maximum value for > the people's money that they spend. Not all value is solely by price or > cost. Certainly, I believe no government or society should be forced to > accept or tolerate what it feels are immoral or unethical business terms > or practices. As such, I think Brasil's choice of procurement law is > both a proper and just means for Brasil's government to socially and > responsibly spend it's people's money. > > David Sugar > GNU Bayonne Maintainer > > > > > > > > > > ____________________________ > NYLXS: New Yorker Free Software Users Scene > Fair Use - > because it's either fair use or useless.... > NYLXS is a trademark of NYLXS, Inc
____________________________ NYLXS: New Yorker Free Software Users Scene Fair Use - because it's either fair use or useless.... NYLXS is a trademark of NYLXS, Inc
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