Comments on: New Thoughts on the UK Government Open Source Action Plan

By: John Suffolk

John Suffolk — Fri, 29 May 2009 10:29:04 +0000

Thanks for all of the comments, we welcome them. It can be really difficult to get a pitch right in a document. All the policies I have issued we have kept purposefully short – c 9 pages. That way they get read and commented on. However they don’t always hit everyone’s buttons.

By: CatTaylor

CatTaylor — Thu, 28 May 2009 19:15:01 +0000

I wonder, where this leaves the whole initiative? http://tinyurl.com/kmr8sb

If this doesn’t just sanction the continuing moronic behaviour, and further embed Microsoft into the Public Sector then I am a Dutchman.

I would love to see the workings out on it – and you know? 75 million is relatively small beer. If you look at the total spend over the same period……….if only we knew waht that was now. #ukgovOSS #open source/standards

By: Links 18/05/2009: GNU/Linux and Sugar Victorious on OLPC? | All about MICROSOFT

Tue, 19 May 2009 23:43:56 +0000

[...] New Thoughts on the UK Government Open Source Action Plan Remember when, back in late February, the Cabinet Office released their “Open Source, Open Standards and Re–Use: Government Action Plan”? Myself and many other FOSS commentators were obviously heartily encouraged and have talked about it and examined the policy in some detail. [...]

By: Alan Bell

Alan Bell — Sun, 17 May 2009 19:09:19 +0000

Along the lines of the missing stakeholder I have a few concerns about the end of the foreword to the action plan:

This open source strategy addresses these key points. It sets out the steps we need to take across Government, and with our IT suppliers, to take advantage of the benefits of open source."

I for one don't particularly want to be taken advantage of. I am not best keen on being leveraged either (a term I have seen somewhere in relation to this but I can't find right now). This is community developed software. A community that welcomes with open arms the involvement of new participants. You can join or participate in a community, you can support or contribute to a community. If you start out wanting to leverage or take advantage of a community then it might just not work out quite as intended.