[ Thanks to Jason
Greenwood for this link. ]
“Proprietary software companies reacted sharply on Wednesday to
plans by the UK government to enforce stricter rules on the use of
their software, particularly where there is a potential for lock-in
or where there is an open source alternative.“In a draft consultation document published on Tuesday, the
office of the e-envoy sent its clearest signal yet to government
departments that they should pay more attention to open source. The
guidelines say that departments should consider open-source
software alongside proprietary software in IT procurements and
award contracts on a value-for-money basis–a measure bound to
rankle with proprietary software vendors, who increasingly find it
difficult to compete against open-source software in terms of
value-for-money.“Furthermore, government departments are banned from using
products that do not support open standards and specifications,
they will seek to avoid lock-in to proprietary products and
services, and will consider obtaining full rights to any bespoke
code that they commission…”