[Talk] Policy Makers' Positions

[Leon Brooks]

On Fri, 19 Dec 2003 20:07, Sam Stainsby wrote:
> Q. Is there room for ethical considerations when procuring software
> at the federal level. Currently, it seems that its all done according
> to their "fitness for purpose - value for money" mantra. Is the
> public ready to mandate that companies with poor ethical records (or
> dare I say criminal convictions) should be given reduced
> consideration when purchasing IT goods and services. [this is my
> favourite topic at the moment]

Hmmm. I can see the Microsoft rep turning purple at that point. (-:

Otherwise, tick!

> Q. Do you think that open source software development is more
> conducive to ethical development practices.

Tick!

> Q. What is your stance on electronic voting and open source software?
> [That will explore the idea that security is better achieved through
> openness rather than obscurity - and that open source is the ideal
> way to achieve this - the whole idea that having many eyes looking
> through the software is an advantage.]

Tick! But I imagine that unless they have *lots* of notice on this one, 
the answer is frequently going to be either waffle or embarassingly 
clueless.

> Q. In what ways could the government contribute to or otherwise
> encourage open source development and developer communities? [give us
> free bandwidth!]

Tick! And freedom from corporate abuse.

> Q. Do you think that the widespread use of open source software might
> help to address the gap between the IT 'have' and 'have nots' (i.e.
> lower and higher income families & individuals).

Tick! Good political hot-button! (-:

BTW, it already is, for limited definitions of "widespread":

    http://www.ca.asn.au/

> Q. Do you see the widespread use of open source technology having an
> education benefit for those interested in learning about IT?

Tick! WA in particular is font of prating on about how good its 
education system is and how many overseas dollars will result.

Cheers; Leon

-- 
http://cyberknights.com.au/     Modern tools; traditional dedication
http://plug.linux.org.au/       Committee Member, Perth Linux User Group
http://slpwa.asn.au/            Committee Member, Linux Professionals WA
http://linux.org.au/            Committee Member, Linux Australia