[okfn-za] [HacksHackers Cape Town] Open Source in Government

Wed Oct 9 21:08:20 UTC 2013

Saw this today: Department of Basic Education Bans Open Source

http://dkeats.com/index.php?action=viewsingle&module=blog&postid=gen21Srv8Nme0_40332_1381256759&userid=7050120123

And Delphi?!????!!

Shocker. 

—
Sent from Mailbox for iPhone

On Mon, Aug 5, 2013 at 4:19 PM, Adi Eyal <adi at burgercom.co.za> wrote:

> Hi Niki
> On 5 August 2013 16:05, Niki Moore <nikimoore007 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> With reference to my previous reply.... I switched over to Linux a few
>> months ago, and I am battling with it, it's not as easy as Microsoft and
>> requires me to phone my support desk almost weekly to find out how to
>> install programmes... and there are some of my appliances, like my scanner,
>> that do not support Linux.  There is a scarcity of technical support for
>> people who are not computer programmers who have gone onto Linux.  I have
>> just been having a chat with such a chap, who was telling me that as the use
>> of OSS increases, so companies are forced to offer support, but unless you
>> have some basic programming knowledge, Linux is extremely frustrating.  Can
>> you imagine your average civil servant handling the programming required to
>> open source?
> I feel your pain. Funnily enough, I just bought a laptop which came
> with Windows 8. I battled for about an hour trying to figure it out
> and gave up in disgust. However, you're right, Linux is somewhat
> difficult for non-techies. Having said that, my sexagenarian motherin
> in law has been using Ubuntu for about a year now. She doesn't even
> know that she's using it. I'm not trying to sell Linux on the desktop.
> For most people used to Windows, it is a difficult switch. I find
> MacOS difficult too, but it's mostly because it is a new interface.
> Linux though is not the only open source system around. There is lot's
> of software that is opensource which runs on Windows.
> More importantly, bespoke software should be written as open source -
> there is no reason why software which is built specifically for a
> government department should be kept closed. Once built, it should be
> shareable with other departments with no fee (except for installation
> and support).
> One last thing - I didn't mention why I thought that the open data
> groups were a good avenue for this initiative. Open data by itself is
> a technical area which doesn't interest most people. If we pair open
> data with open government or active citizenry, we have a much more
> powerful tool to change society. This project is an example of how
> that can happen. Collecting data from government departments is the
> first piece of the puzzle.
> Adi
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Aug 5, 2013 at 3:55 PM, Adi Eyal <adi at burgercom.co.za> wrote:
>>>
>>> They refuse to response to my PAIA requests. They have an open data
>>> policy - they also administer Microsoft licences valuing over a
>>> R100,000,000. I would like policy documents translated to real action.
>>>
>>> Adi
>>>
>>> On 5 August 2013 15:44, Niki Moore <nikimoore007 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> > Why don't you ask the SITA?  They announced in their congress last year
>>> > that
>>> > they are moving to open-source, so they should have an idea of the spend
>>> > of
>>> > each department.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > On Mon, Aug 5, 2013 at 3:16 PM, Adi Eyal <adi at burgercom.co.za> wrote:
>>> >>
>>> >> Hi All
>>> >>
>>> >> I'm working on a personal project which these groups may find
>>> >> interesting. I'd like to build a case for why moving government
>>> >> departments to using open source software makes economic sense. I'm
>>> >> doing this by laboriously contacting each government department and
>>> >> asking them what software they use and how much they pay for it.
>>> >>
>>> >> Yes I know - I may be a little idealistic and a touch naive, but I'm
>>> >> not trying to argue the philosophical merits of why open source
>>> >> software may be better than proprietary software.
>>> >>
>>> >> My logic is simply:
>>> >>
>>> >> If government spends Rx billion annually importing proprietary
>>> >> software and they rather redirect that money to the local software
>>> >> community for installation, customisation, support and hosting then we
>>> >> can create Y new jobs.
>>> >>
>>> >> It's a lot of work but hopefully I can convince a few more people to
>>> >> help me. I have data from 5 departments so far with a total annual
>>> >> spend of over R26m.
>>> >>
>>> >> I would really appreciate your help. Collecting this information is
>>> >> time consuming. I plan to collect information across all spheres of
>>> >> government which you can imagine is a mammoth task. Any contribution -
>>> >> no matter how small would definitely ease the burden.
>>> >>
>>> >> If you want more information - have a look at this link:
>>> >> https://github.com/adieyal/gov-software-audit
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> Just one caveat - this project is not about complaining about
>>> >> Microsoft or snide comments about whether government is useless,
>>> >> inefficient or incompetent. I am an idealist and I prefer a naively
>>> >> optimistic approach. Even if the project fails (and the odds are
>>> >> against it), I think it is a worthwhile cause and will add another
>>> >> voice to why this is a good thing.
>>> >>
>>> >> Comments welcome.
>>> >>
>>> >> Adi
>>> >>
>>> >> --
>>> >> Adi Eyal
>>> >> Data Specialist
>>> >> phone: +27 78 014 2469
>>> >> skype: adieyalcas
>>> >> linkedin: http://za.linkedin.com/pub/dir/Adi/Eyal
>>> >>
>>> >> --
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>>> >>
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>>> >>
>>> >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > --
>>> > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>>> > 7th Avenue Communications
>>> > 031 - 205-8331
>>> > 083 - 758-4483
>>> >
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>>> >
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>>> >
>>> >
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Adi Eyal
>>> Data Specialist
>>> phone: +27 78 014 2469
>>> skype: adieyalcas
>>> linkedin: http://za.linkedin.com/pub/dir/Adi/Eyal
>>>
>>> --
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>>>
>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>> 7th Avenue Communications
>> 031 - 205-8331
>> 083 - 758-4483
>>
>> --
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
>> "HacksHackers CapeTown" group.
>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
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>> To post to this group, send an email to
>> hackshackers-capetown at googlegroups.com.
>> To view this discussion on the web, visit
>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/hackshackers-capetown/CAE02g-PLGgsFZq4BurZxVUG_0n2yjBmwdNd5OtmL%3DThsui%3DSkQ%40mail.gmail.com.
>>
>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
>>
>>
> -- 
> Adi Eyal
> Data Specialist
> phone: +27 78 014 2469
> skype: adieyalcas
> linkedin: http://za.linkedin.com/pub/dir/Adi/Eyal
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