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

Thu Oct 10 06:36:23 UTC 2013

On 10 Oct 2013 8:20 AM, "Charles" <chuckra at gmail.com> wrote:
>

> What are the chances of getting a nice REST service running at the CIPC,
where anyone can query. We’d give journalists a field day…

I'm guessing a seriously expensive lae suit. Selling CIPC data is very
lucrative.

Adi
>
>
> Charles
>
>
>
> From: okfn-za-bounces at lists.okfn.org [mailto:
okfn-za-bounces at lists.okfn.org] On Behalf Of Robert Elliott
> Sent: 09 October 2013 23:08
> To: Adi Eyal
> Cc: okfn-za at lists.okfn.org; hackshackers-johannesburg at googlegroups.com;
hackshackers-capetown at googlegroups.com; odadi at googlegroups.com
> Subject: Re: [okfn-za] [HacksHackers Cape Town] Open Source in Government
>
>
>
> 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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>> >> >> 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
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
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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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>> >> > an
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>> >> > To post to this group, send an email to
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>> >> > To view this discussion on the web, visit
>> >> >
>> >> >
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>> >> >
>> >> > 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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Groups
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>> >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it,
send an
>> >> email to hackshackers-capetown+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com.
>> >> To post to this group, send an email to
>> >> hackshackers-capetown at googlegroups.com.
>> >> To view this discussion on the web, visit
>> >>
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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
>> > email to hackshackers-capetown+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com.
>> > 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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