I posted the same info in "the rest of the world" over here!
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So, how many governments have started down the open source path?
Most of Latin America is shifting in this direction. China, Korea and Japan have a consortium of sorts on Linux development...part of it has to do with the use of Asian languages. Western proprietary companies apparently just don't do a good job of it. There are moves in South Africa...and from there elsewhere in Africa.
In Europe, the shift to Linux seems to be happening the fastest with municipal governments.
Read an article in one of the British Linux magazines...either "Linux Format" or "Linux User and Developer" about all of the open source work being done inside the BBC. Apparently, its huge!
Canada and the U.S. seem to be the main holdouts on the shift to open source...although apparently the U.S. Navy is going that way. And that's a huge organization.
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radiorahim, have you had any success urging Canadian governments to go open source?
Wish I had some kind of magic influence. I understand that there's some "low-key" behind the scenes stuff happening with the federal government...studies and that kind of thing...but no big move in the works.
Moving governments to open source software certainly would be a good economic development tool...and would also save the government alot of money in operations. No worries about licensing costs...less incentive for corruption...the MFP scandal in Toronto in the Mel Lastman years was all around proprietary licensing...understand they bought tons of Oracle licenses that they never ever used.
To give credit where credit is due because I bash the Greenies alot for being Tories who eat granola for breakfast they have come out in support of the use of open source software in government.
Mind you I don't think it would be all that difficult to shift NDP policy in that direction either...simply get some riding associations to pass resolutions to send to the next policy convention. I assume there isn't a policy (at least I don't think they have a policy...someone could correct me) simply because no one in the party has raised the issue.
[ 29 June 2005: Message edited by: radiorahim ]