The Guardian: Waking Up to Open Source
Sep 26, 2002, 20:30 (2 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by SA Mathieson)
"'Before people start leaving the room, I'm not going to speak
about broadband in any technical sense,' Richard Allan MP told the
parliamentary IT committee's fringe meeting, held on Monday at the
Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton.
"After the relieved laughter ended, the Liberal Democrats'
spokesperson on IT tried to explain why people will want fast
broadband internet access. But Allan thinks that open source
software, which can be downloaded free and is written and debugged
through the collaboration of its users, could be the clincher that
convinces many to move to broadband. 'People want to do things,' he
said.
"Allan gave the example of his brother--not an IT
specialist--who obtained a fast connection to download CD-burning
software. 'He became aware that there was something that could make
his life better, and he went on to the internet and found it,'
Allan said. 'It's very much a Liberal Democrat theme, of
empowerment. It's devolution down to the individual...'"
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