[ Thanks to M.
Fioretti for this link. ]
“A few weeks ago I was finally able to put down an
English version of a short article I had written in October 2009
about the risks for Italian schools hidden in a deal between
Microsoft and the Italian Government. Some days later, almost by
chance, I discovered that that translation had been linked from
Linux Today and that it had caused a couple of comments that really
deserve an answer, for reasons that will be clear in a moment. The
comments I refer to are those titled FOSS perception in Italy and
ALL FALSE, both reported here for your convenience.“The first comment says:
“A lot of the trouble with FOSS in Italy stems from a part of
the Italian FOSS community itself, which is prone to associate with
extreme left wing political parties. This IMO hurts a lot the
perception of FOSS here, since that is not true (i.e., FOSS is for
everyone). But still, if such people are its public image, the
reputation will suffer. Besides, no one said if there were other
bidders in such a deal, or not.“The second is even better:
“this article is **.(i apologize) the italian minister had
choosen Microsoft because NO LINUX OFFER HAS BEEN DONE. THE PROBLEM
IS THAT NO NOVELL,NO RED HAT MADE AN ALTERNATIVE PROPOSAL TO
ITALIAN MINISTER. I want to remember also that students CAN USE
OPEN SOURCE software on their Windows machine(open
office,vlc,gimp,ecc.) this article by italian communist marco is
**. please leave politics out of IT…”