temojen's Journal: Open Source Software and Open Standards in government

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To: Jack Layton
Subject: Open Source Software and Open Standards in government
Date: Tues, 28 Oct 2003 21:06:52 -0800
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I'm not much of an expert in open source advocacy, nor am I an eloquent writer. I could do no better at arguing for software libre in government than Dr. Edgar David Villaneuva Nuñez, Congressman of the Republica of Perú in his explanation to Juan Alberto Gonzáles, General Manager of Microsoft, Perú, of the reasons for the Peruvian software bill. His letter can be found at
http://www.gnu.org.pe/resmseng.html
.More information about the Perúvian software bill can be found at
http://weblog.flora.ca/article.php3?story_id=147
.

In Canada, a group within the federal civil service called Getting Open Source Logic Into Government (GOSLING) are working to "actively assist the engagement of free/libre open source methods and software solutions in government operations" while working on their own time. Their website can be found at:
http://www.goslingcommunity.org/
. They meet "every Friday at 4:30 at the Black Thorne Cafe, 15 Clarence" (Ottawa). I am confident that they would welcome your interest, and could point you to further information.

A report commissioned by the Government of Canada entitled "Open Source Business Opportunities for Canada's Information and Communications Technology Sector (ICT) - A Collaborative Fact Finding Study" can be found at:
http://www.e-cology.ca/canfloss/
. Beginning on page 38 is a brief examination of Open Source Software in the federal public sector, as well as references to numerous studies of the issue from other jurisdictions.

A paper arguing for adoption and promotion of open source software by the federal government of the United States of America can be found at:
http://www.netaction.org/opensrc/oss-report.html
.

A frequently updated source of Canadian information on software libre is
http://weblog.flora.org
.