[HLUG] BBC news item on open source

[Julian Robbins]

Hi

Currently as the 5th news item on main bbc home page there is a story titled
 Labour ordered IT 'to sound
sexy'<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12905303>
.

Whitehall IT chief Ian Watmore attacks Labour's recor

Half way down Bernard Jenkin, from the Commons public administration
committee, said '

*'Open source'*

*Committee chairman Bernard Jenkin told him: "You come from exactly the
large corporate culture which has bedevilled IT procurement in government.
Are you part of the cultural change the minister is looking for, or aren't
you just part of the problem?"*

*Mr Watmore replied: "I am certainly not part of the problem and I would
contest that the corporate industry of this country has caused the
problems."*

*He said the "so-called IT disasters" of recent years were not down to
technical problems but "over-ambitious projects" that were expected to
deliver complex changes at a national level on a single day, "the so-called
'Big Bang' implementation".*

*Mr Jenkin also questioned the government's commitment to "open source"
software, asking how many civil servants in charge of making the policy work
had a background in the open source community. He pointed out that the
previous government's "open source" guru had left to join Microsoft.*

*Mr Watmore, who claims to have already saved £2bn in Whitehall
efficiencies, said he wants to end the UK government's reliance on Microsoft
products, which are used by about 90% of civil servants.*

*He insisted the government was committed to using more "open source"
software to save cash - but had to balance this with concerns about how
easily it could be "hacked".*

*His "personal" view, he added, was that Apple products, which he said he
used at home, should also be used more in government.*


This is the sort of stuff we need ... real good non fud on linux/open source
mentioned high in Govt echelons, and widely publicised ...


Julian