[ Thanks to Douglas D.
Darnold for this link. ]
“In an apparent showdown over price, Israel’s government has
suspended purchases of Microsoft productivity software and is
encouraging the development of an open source alternative.“A spokeswoman for the Finance Ministry, which oversees
government purchases, said Tuesday that government agencies would
use existing Microsoft Office products for the time being rather
than upgrade to newer versions.“The Israeli government also will encourage the development of
lower-priced alternatives to Microsoft software in an effort to
help expand computer use by the public…”