[plug] ATO - Business Portal Progress Report

[Onno Benschop]

After just having spent half an hour on the phone with Ty from the ATO,
I can report the following progress towards making the Business Portal
run under Linux.

To refresh you memory, the purpose of doing this is so you can
electronically lodge activity statements using Linux, rather than
Win/Mac.

The discussion with Ty highlighted the following two issues:
      * Actually making it work, as in, figuring out why it isn't
        working, writing documents on how to make it work and writing
        some FAQ's to go with it.
      * Ongoing support for other Linux users, as in, how do we come up
        with a method of supporting this in such a way that a proposal
        for support can be made to the ATO.

Ty has in the past installed Linux workstations, so he and I wondered if
the group would like to:
      * Have Ty subscribe to the list and discuss the ATO support issues
        with the group.
      * Make a separate ATO mailing list with interested people.
      * Have Ty contact the Committee to have a formal discussion
        between Ty and PLUG.

I'm personally in favour of Ty subscribing, because at the end of the
day, it is likely that we'll see other Linux users come along and ask
for help with the ATO stuff.

Finally, I suspect that when we actually make this all work, I can put
together a Paper and visit LCA2005 - and I'll even bring my dish along
for the ride :-)

So, what are your thoughts on this? Is this off-topic, is this just what
we need, or should we be doing something else?


Some observations before I leave you.

If we do construct a model where we can support a government department
so they feel comfortable and we have a working Linux solution, we may
well have a precedent for further Linux solutions in our own government,
and of course other commercial entities.

I am a firm believer in softly-softly. There is no point in yelling at
the ATO, nor calling any names. Let us attempt to make this work, figure
out how to integrate it and extend Linux acceptance - either by stealth,
or by assistance, in any way we can. At the end of the day, we both need
each other.

Cheers,

Onno Benschop 

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