[plug] [link] Open Source win in Mass. US

[Craig Ringer]

>>http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,7612098%5E15319%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html
>>
>>    THE US state of Massachusetts has instructed its chief technology
>>    officer to adopt a policy of "open standards, open source" for all
>>    future spending on information technology.
>>
>>Sounds like a win for open source, a bit too close to home for 
>>Microsoft's liking I presume...

> There is a problem that I see with such policies. I believe that such a 
> policy, makes a site a "closed shop", which I think is as bad as being 
> exclusively MS, or any other company.

I actually agree with you there, at least to a fair degree. I don't 
think it's as bad as things like the MS Enterprise Agreement (*uggh*), 
for sure - but that doesn't make it a good idea.

I think open /standards/ should be absolutely mandatory - the reasons 
for that one have been discussed to death. However, if commercial 
vendors can pull out their thumbs and deliver a product that supports 
the standards you want to use, and does so better than any OSS 
alternative, then it may well be the better choice for your needs. I 
think it's absurd to legislate against choosing the best software for 
the job, as OSS-only legislation does. It'll only piss people off and 
make them hate the OSS stuff they're using, because they're forced to 
apply it even where it's not appropriate to their needs.

So ... open standards required, yes. Open source allowed, yes. Open 
source required - no.

Craig Ringer


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