[Wolves] Re: The Open Source Development Paradigm

[Simon Morris]

On 08/12/05, Peter Cannon <peter at cannon-linux.co.uk> wrote:
> On Thursday 08 December 2005 14:39, Kevanf1 wrote:
>
> > > It was good to read about the use of OOS in NHS. But to bring people back
> > > to earth have a gander at this. I think there are some good
> > > complacency-pricking points made. What do you think?
>
> I for one will not be visiting any of the hospitals using Novell-SuSE

I can just imagine you in the back of the ambulance shouting "Don't
take me to St Peters!!! For Gods sake, they use SUSE!"

> Open
> source has a long way to go before I trust it to run a radio isotope for body
> scanning.

Well - two things here...

1) The article doesn't say anything about Linux being used to run this
kind of device at all. It mentions "clinical and non-clinical use".
Would you object to Open Source software being deployed in areas where
it is a proven, solid, secure platform? Web serving, Network services
etc.

2) Do you know that radio isotope devices aren't using Linux already?
I have no idea but it crops up in places you wouldn't expect in
everyday critical applications and I wouldn't be surprised at all if
the medical/scientific community have been using it for a while


> I seem to remember reading somewhere (A post I think) that now Novell have
> purchased SuSE that'll be the death knell for it.

That's just opinion. Although there has been turbulence in the company
since the buyout at the top management level as there invariably is
with all corporate mergers SUSE existed happily before Novell, and if
they were sold off now they would still have a sizable business to
take with them.

Also Novell have invested a lot of money in new talent at SUSE and the
kind of exposure that the company has had to a large corporate
organisation has IMO been great for SUSE.

I've dealt with SUSE before and after the buyout - as a small sales
office above the shops in Hammersmith and at the Novell offices and
there is a positive difference.

> So whats being applauded
> is the health service yet again cutting corners at the risk of its patients.
> Did we not see the news lat night regarding hospital food? what a disgusting
> state we are in when relatives have to bring food in to keep you alive and a
> cheaper software package that will cost more in the long run as staff will go
> on training courses on how to use it, systems and processes will more than
> likely have to change, probably new IT staff will be required to run it the
> list is endless I worked in the health service for 7 years I know how they do
> things.

C'mon Peter. Of course it is terrible about the state of food in the
NHS. I walked part of the way home tonight with my neighbour whose
elderly wife is in the local hospital and he told me about the state
of the food in there.

But you are trying to reinforce your point of view by taking an
obviously negative, emotive point about the NHS and linking it to
something else that has nothing in common with that point at all.

The NHS partnering with Novell has no impact on the standard of food.
If you are trying to build a link using the fact that the NHS is in
debt and squanders cash on failing IT projects then fair enough but
they've managed to do so using all sorts of software from all sorts of
vendors and most of all greedy incompetent consultancy companies.

> Mind you who says they are using the applications that come with SuSE they
> maybe running Xen/Office 2003 Pro :P

If they did this I wouldn't have a problem with it at all. Apart from
the closed formats for saving files, MS Office is a competent office
suite. If the NHS can break the addictive bond between MS Office and
MS Windows that can only be good news.

--
~sm
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