[plug] Munich succeeds

[Simon Wise]

On 01/04/12 22:15, Alexander Hartner wrote:
> With Munich being roughy the same size as Perth I am hope (most likely in a
> state of delusion) that there is scope for Perth to use Linux more
> effectively.
>

That would depend on whether we choose to go that way ... i.e. how we vote in 
this state. Given our voting record for the last decade or two, it seems we are 
very committed to other priorities, in particular supporting corporate profits 
with our public money, and handing publicly run services over to profitable 
private operations whenever possible. Most of us seem to believe it when we are 
told that whatever is most profitable for Rio Tinto, Westpac, News Limited and 
friends is good for "The Economy" and therefore best for us to.

Saving public money by reducing licensing costs paid to corporations and paying 
local IT employees from some of these savings is exactly the opposite of this, 
especially if the money saved is then wasted by hiring teachers and nurses and 
various other unprofitable activities, so is diverted away from the private, 
corporate world and the all important bottom line for shareholders and bankers.

In that context it isn't going to happen until we wake up to ourselves and start 
believing a different story. It's our own choice, and the 85% of us that vote at 
the moment that way is a huge majority. It hasn't always been that way, and it 
isn't always going to be that way ... but for now we will live in the mess of 
our own choosing ... and it is a quite comfortable mess for many in the short 
term, there really is a little bit of trickle-down if you choose the right job 
(and don't think to much about whether it will be possible for your kids to do 
the same).

Simon