-
“There should be an insistence now at the policy level on open standards, thereby limiting the capture proprietary software companies have had in the past,” [Senator Lundy] said.
-
“Sydney-based open source research firm Waugh Partners has published a version of its Australian Open Source Industry & Community Report as a freely-distributable PDF file under a Creative Commons licence.”
-
“At last week’s Open 2020 Summit we had a video address from the Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd. I noticed that the MPEG file for this was much smaller than the videos of the conference presentations.” — Kevin compresses well, I do not.
-
“Senator Kate Lundy hosted a pre-2020 Summit event in Canberra last week to generate ideas on how open source technology, open standards and open access to information might transform the way government departments and the business world operate.”
-
“Federal Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner believes hundreds of millions of dollars can be saved by improving systems guiding government procurement of services, particularly in information technology.”
-
“Ubuntu Linux was the only system left unscathed in a multi-platform hacking competition last week, but does that mean it is more secure?” — Clearly no one wanted to take home the Sony VAIO! I also made somewhat more serious comments.
-
“Waugh said a major aim of the survey was to correct misconceptions about the nature of open source development and its use in commercial environments. ‘We need real numbers so our industry has something to stand behind.’”
-
“The Australian open source industry generates AU$500 million of revenue every year, according to the inaugural Australian Open Source Industry and Community Census, released today at the NSW Trade and Investment Centre.”
-
“The report [...] claims the argument that open source is not well-supported is a ‘misconception’. But according to the CIO’s of Australia’s three largest government departments [...] support is a very real concern.” — Seriously misleading headline.
-
“The research shows that these companies are well-equipped to service public and private sector clients and provide high levels of support,” Mr Waugh said.
-
Jeff Waugh is passionate about the philosophy of Software Freedom and the business of Open Source. Would you like to know more?
This blog is entirely his own, and does not represent the opinions of current or former employers.
-
Pages
Flickr
-
Twitter
- RT @andrewjcohen BREAKING: Sarah Palin sheds actual responsibilities, becomes community organizer. [hahaha!] 6 hrs ago
- Sarah Palin says that serving out her term with "lame duck status" would just be "politics as usual". Not so much with the honour and duty? 7 hrs ago
- Sarah Palin's resignation speech was hilariously incoherent. But hey, for once, an anti-govt nutjob is actually getting out of the way! 7 hrs ago
- RT @leisa: "why (I think) #drupal needs a design community manager http://bit.ly/JCmUn" 9 hrs ago
- Very happy... Tango/GNOME smilies (a plugin which became a patch) will be in #WordPress core for 2.9: http://is.gd/1mzOE :-) 9 hrs ago
- More updates...
-
Rocking Stuff
-
Web Life
2 Comments
Wow, so in australia alone the open source industry is worth that much. I suggest microsoft wake up and smell the cookies, you have suggested previously that linux is 1% of the market and it would be stupid for some one to make a product for it like office etc. But you neglected the fact that this 1% is a few hundred million people. — + all they would have to do is work with the guys at wine (they probably would benefit — seeing wine can out perform microsoft’s own dll / app setup).
Oh and more relevant, i have spoken to a few people in government departments and they do or did when i spoke to them say that open source wasn’t supported. To give you an idea, the cms of one of the departments is made by a local company because they offer a customised product from the ground up and offer support.
Perhaps there is a need to encourage government spending on open source projects to meet government solutions. There is only so much a programmer can do. The open source industry will really take off when it is talking to the person on the street about what bothers them.
Linux / foss is here and ready, people do not have a total solution. It solves 90% of problems but the other 10% might be the deciding factor (support, customization without hiring a programmer).
Also, federal government departments will be using it more and more …. due to decreasing budgets.