Linux Weekly News (original site)

 
MEXICO : a vast program of OSS GNU/Linux deployment into every 
   elementary and mid-level school in Mexico is started. 
   They expect to install from 20 000 to 35 000 labs per year to a 
   total of 140,000 centers in the next five years. 
   
At an average of 20 users per machine, and being all of them school
   children and teachers, GNU/Linux will become, at the long term, a major
   influence in Mexicou.
 
FRANCE : an 'Accord cadre' has been signed by the Government to deploy
   Linux and OSS in secondary schools, Universities and Research Institutions,
   and even at the elementary school level (experimentally).
 
UK : an evaluation of OSS opportunity is currently done
 
MALAYSIA : very active peoples are pushing the same ideas. 



Date:    Tue, 05 Jan 1999 11:39:30 EST
To:      "'[email protected]'" <[email protected]>
From:    Shanelle Rein <[email protected]>
Subject: Open Source Software Debate


Contact:	Pedro Robles/ Shanelle Rein
		RLM Public Relations
		212.741.5106 x21
For Immediate Release

Software Professionals Petition Federal Government to Consider Open Source Software

Usage of Open Source software can in many cases exceed commercial standards
as demonstrated by its increasing use by IBM, Oracle and Corel


New York, NY (January 4, 1998) - In a climate shaped by the ongoing
Microsoft trial, a group of software professionals, led by Clay Shirky, new
media professor at Hunter College and VP of Technology at Eisnor
Interactive, have recently launched a petition asking the Federal
Technology Service to consider the evaluation of Open Source software when
purchasing or upgrading computers.  According to the petition, the
government's usage of Open Source software would lower the cost of
acquiring and administering computers.  In addition, Open Source software
would also reduce dependency on individual vendors, increase ease of
extending or customizing software, and increase access to future
improvements, free of charge.

Professor Shirky remarks "Those of us who rely on Open Source software,
such as the Linux operating system, the Apache web server, and the
programming language Perl, are confident that Open Source software performs
as well as or better than its commercial competitors, and has the added
benefits of being both free and freely extensible. Even Microsoft considers
Open Source software to be competitive with its products:

"Microsoft's operating system products compete with UNIX-based operating
systems from a wide range of companies [...]. Over the past year the Linux
operating system has gained increasing acceptance, and leading software
developers such as Oracle and Corel have announced that they will develop
applications that run on Linux."  [Microsoft 10-K filing,
0001032210-98-001067, page 11]

Open Source is now working so well, in so many environments, that we are
confident that both the Federal Government's computer users and the
taxpayers would benefit from considering its use as a general case during
the procurement process.

This petition contains no special pleading - its recipients are working
professionals in the Federal Technology Service, and the petition does not
presume to second-guess their judgement. It simply asks that the Federal
Government evaluate Open Source software using the same criteria it
currently uses to evaluate commercial software, and to select Open Source
software only where it meets the needs of the Government as well or better
than the alternatives."

The basic idea behind Open Source software is simple. Currently, most
software packages are closed, in other words, only a handful of programmers
can alter them. With Open Source, any one can modify the software, as long
as they agree to share their improvements with the community at large. When
any programmer can read and modify the source for a piece of software, it
evolves, and when these programmers can collaborate over the Internet, it
evolves at Internet speeds. With a piece of Open Source software, people
can improve it, adapt it, and fix bugs at an astonishing rate, leading to
the development of small, effective programs of unparalleled stability and
flexibility.

The petition, sponsored by the Open Source Initiative,
(www.opensource.org), and O'Reilly and Associates, (www.oreilly.com), can
be found at the ethepeople.com site or at http://www.shirky.com/opensource/petition.html.
The public has responded very favorably to the Open Source petition.  3368
people have added their names to the initiative in the first 10 days,
making it the most successful Internet and Telecommunications petition at
the ethepeople.com site.

About Eisnor Interactive Founded in November 1997, Eisnor Interactive
(www.eisnor.com) is the first offline promotions agency for online brands.
Using promotions, events, viral and guerrilla marketing, Eisnor Interactive
creates real-world Point of Purchase (POP) opportunities that increase
brand awareness and site traffic for its clients.  Some of Eisnor
Interactive clients include CyberShop, Prodigy Internet, N2K, Pseudo
Programs, Inc., BOL, and GTE Internetworking, among others.

About Clay Shirky

Clay Shirky is VP Technology at Eisnor Interactive and Professor of New
Media at Hunter College, where he teaches in the undergraduate and graduate
programs of the Film & media Department. In addition to his teaching,
his writing is concerned with Open Source software and the rise of social
computing.

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