[Klug-general] How does Kent County Council select software?

[Dan Attwood]

ok i'll bite:

" Why someone would buy proprietary software of extremely poor quality"

why is Windows 7 of extremely poor quality?



On 19 September 2014 06:40, Jonathan Kaye <jdkaye at riseup.net> wrote:

>  Hi all,
> Once again a big big thank you for putting me on to ebuyers. I bought an
> HP Laptop with Ubuntu pre-installed for a very reasonable price. I'm well
> satisfied.
>
> Now to business. I  have signed on as a volunteer (Time2Give) to the Kent
> Libraries in the role of IT-Buddy. I'll be doing my "buddying" at the
> libraries at Margate and Westgate. In addition I'll also be leading a group
> on the theme of "computer learning  for the retired" which will meet
> monthly starting in October. I went to Margate Library yesterday to do my
> IT-buddying but hadn't been warned that all the computers would be down for
> this week. Why? To prepare for the installation of new software to  replace
> the outdated XP setup.
>
> I enquired about the new software and learned to my shock that they are
> not using free software but rather "upgrading" to Windows 7. Why someone
> would buy proprietary software of extremely poor quality, when free
> software (free as in freedom) is available at no cost, eludes me. All over
> Europe cities are moving to replace proprietary software with free
> software. I was pleased to learn that the city of Udine in Italy, a city
> with which I have a strong emotional attachment -- that's where I had my
> aortic valve transplant operation -- is going the free software route.
>
> I would like to pursue this issue with the relevant authorities and so I
> would like to tap your collective brains.
> 1. Can anyone fill me in with the background of this decision?
> 2. Has their been any justification for this decision that is available to
> the public?
> 3. Who is responsible for this decision and how can they be contacted.
> 4. Is the any other advice from KLUG members about who I can contact or
> what I can do?
>
> Thanks in advance for all your help.
>
> Jonathan
>
> _______________________________________________
> Kent mailing list
> Kent at mailman.lug.org.uk
> https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/kent
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.lug.org.uk/pipermail/kent/attachments/20140919/fd055a8b/attachment.html>