Reader Svein
writes:
Seen in this article in a
Norwegian news paper, Statskonsult (a consulting department of the
Norwegian government) is recommending that Linux is to be
introduced into all schools and public institutions.
At first they see it as a server operating system, with gradual
penetration into the desktop realm.
In the statement it is said that they see it as a goal to
replace the commercially licensed operating systems with the freely
licensed ones. As well as releasing back into the community the
sourcecode for their own special applications that the goverment
owns, as well as demanding that code generated through grants for
scientific research is also given out as open source. If they plan
to GPL it or not is not mentioned in the article.
Such a recommendation can, of course, not go unnoticed, so both
the Linux and Microsoft defenders have come out with a response,
which can be found here. Basically
the Linux people say that they are provoked by a statement saying
that Linux is yet not a viable alternative to Microsoft Windows on
the dekstop many places, and the Microsoft defender is saying that
the choice of OS to use should be facts-oriented, and not political
choice, as they should look on stability, economy, user
friendliness and security, not on ideology. They also spew out the
usual “TCO” stuff we always hear from them (especially here, since
the government is usually using their own IT people who they can
just as easily train in Linux as in MS products, for support.).
The report is
here, but unfortunately only in Norwegian.
This whole thing seems to be an ongoing trend in Europe these
days, after UK put forth the proposal of an EU-wide ban on software
patents, as they stifle innovation in an ever growing field of
commerce, and the minister of commerce in France pretty much echoed
the thoughts of their British neighbors.
Thanks to Jon Grov for
the translation of the last few paragraphs providing
recommendations from the Norwegian Statskonsult:
10.3 Recommendations
- Linux is a product which should be supported by the government,
in order to support further development, and as a potential
alternative to Microsofts operating systems. Currently, Linux is
best suited as a server-operating system. - The government should support the development of free software,
in order to establish alternatives to existing software. New open
software could support further development of existing software,
and could prevent too much uniformity in the software that is being
used by the governmental sector. This support could be provided as
research- and development initiatives. - When research- and development funds are granted, one
constraint could be that all developed software should become
available as free software. - The government should further consider if it is possible to
release source code in their ownership as free software. - The government should encourage use of Linux and free software
in schools and in the rest of the educactional system. This is
motivated by the idea that pupils and students should be introduced
to several distinct products, in order to give them a better
foundation for later choosing the products of their own
preference. - To reduce licensing costs, used PC’s given to schools could be
equipped with free software. - The infrastructure should be based on open standards
implemented as free software. Open standards implemented as free
software should be required in the infrastructure used by the
government. One area in which implementation of open standards and
solutions could be profitable, is in an eventual establishment of
an infrasctructure for distribution and handling of digital
certificates.