[Gllug] Voluntary work

[Gordon Joly]

At 9:07 +0000 2003/11/13, Rev Simon Rumble wrote:
>On Thu 13 Nov, Jason Clifford bloviated thus:
>
>> Copyright infringement as part of a commercial concern is a criminal
>> offence. Perhaps the trustees of the charity just need to be told along
>> with a note pointing out that Free Software can provide what they need
>> without draining their financial resources on license fees and higher TCO.
>
>This is a strategy just ripe for MS to match and make themselves look
>good.  All they have to do is "donate" their software to charities,
>they get the lock-in they want and get to write off the "donation" as
>a tax deduction.


Good. Has Microsoft actually done this yet? What will others feel who paid for their operating system?

What about orgs such the BBC (delivering the Digital Curriculum software) and the NHS (a major software user)? Will they get Microsoft freebies?

See also.

<http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,3605,1082411,00.html>


<quot>
Court computer plan wastes millions - and still doesn't work

David Hencke, Westminster correspondent
Tuesday November 11, 2003
The Guardian

A huge project to put all the nation's magistrates courts on one computer system is condemned by a powerful committee of MPs today as one of the worst public finance projects they have seen. The cost of the scheme has risen from £146m to almost £400m, while it still does not deliver.

</quot>

<quot>

The cost of installing each personal computer terminal in the court is working out at £21,000. The project involves 11,000 PCs for courts in England and Wales.

</quot>

Should the BBC, the NHS, the Court Service etc get the same deal as charities?

>
>It's worth using the many other reasons for free software with these
>people.
>
>A good start is Danny Yee's paper, Development, Ethical Trading, and
>Free Software:
>http://danny.oz.au/freedom/ip/aidfs.html



Reveals.... "An Analogy: Baby-milk Powder"



Yup!



>
>--
>Rev Simon Rumble <simon at rumble.net>
>www.rumble.net



When I was a student (circa 1985), the computer services department for a large London college was audited. A large amount of software was found to be un-licenced within that department itself!!

Gordo.


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