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I've had a reply from the Gov on the register article a while ago. No attempt to answer my points about encouraging OSS. Worth looking at the Hansard link - it is not as bleak as it seemed to be, but it would be nice if Gov took the initiative occasionally. They seem to have a "services" view of the world. ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: FW: Microsoft monopoly in e-gov services From: andrew.stott@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Dear Mr Berkeley Angela Eagle has asked me to thank you for your email of 11 October and to reply on her behalf. I must apologise for the delay in replying. The Minister is grateful for your interest in this, and if you have not already done so she hopes that you will read her whole speech rather than just the selective quotation in The Register - the whole debate can be found at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/cm071009/halltext/71009h0008.htm#07100932000004 You asked what "quality and security" cannot be provided by the Open Source movement. The Government's position is that whatever software it uses - open source or proprietary - must meet the quality and security requirements of the business application, and it is not prepared to compromise those. The same requirements apply to Microsoft as they we do to Open Source. This is by no means a barrier for Open Source - as shown by the instances where Open Source is already in use in Government. But any additional costs of assuring security and quality do need to be taken into account in the overall judgement on cost of ownership. You asked about support for non-Microsoft browsers. For central government the overall policy is to use open standards and to support the web browsers (and browser versions) most used by our customers where it is technically possible to do so. If you would like to send me details of the DEFRA URL that has caused you problems and the browser (and version) that you are seeking to use I will raise the issue with my DEFRA colleagues. Finally you asked about how the Open Source community could address the issues. It is not really for the Government to tell the Open Source community what to do - one of the strengths of the Open Source community is that it is self-empowering. However as Angela Eagle told Parliament, the Government do want industry to put forward solutions using open source where they can save the taxpayer money on a total-cost-of-ownership basis; she suggested that the Open Source community should work more closely with the IT services firms so that they can integrate open source into the solutions they supply when they contract with the Government. We are already working with Intellect, the trade association for the UK technology industry, to facilitate this. Yours Sincerely Andrew Stott Deputy Government Chief Information Officer Cabinet Office Admiralty Arch London SW1 -----Original Message----- From: Dave Berkeley Sent: 11 October 2007 17:50 To: EAGLE, Angela Subject: Microsoft monopoly in e-gov services Dear Angela re: TheReg article on Microsoft monopoly in e-gov services http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/11/e-government_services_microsoft/ I am a software developer with over 20 years experience. I am concerned by your comment in this article: "Some open source projects cannot meet our needs for quality or security, and we are not prepared to compromise on those," I'm curious to know what Microsoft provides in terms of "quality or security" that cannot be provided by the Open Source movement. Can you provide any examples of this? I'm also curious to know why this excuses Government departments from providing web interfaces that work with browsers other than Microsoft's Internet Explorer. I came across an example of this myself this week - the DEFRA comments page does not allow editing of comments unless you use Microsoft IE. If there are issues, how can the OSS community address them? Could Government funding of OSS be used to kick-start local industry, rather than spending cash on importing proprietary Microsoft solutions from the US? This could save money, improve the quality of the software used by Government, and help industry at the same time. I would be interested in your thoughts on this. Sincerely Dave Berkeley ------------------------------------------------------- -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html