Re: [Fsfe-uk] Fwd: OSS Watch inaugural conference, 11 December 2003

[Andrew Savory]

Hi,

On 28 Nov 2003, at 13:40, Jason Clifford wrote:

> On Fri, 28 Nov 2003, Andrew Savory wrote:
>
> > The idea of OSS Watch is to provide a
> > balanced and neutral source of information about Open Source software
> > to the Higher Education community
>
> OK, in that case it would seem reasonable to assume that those at the
> event will be offering Open Source solutions for the education
> communities.

Er, no. Not just Open Source solutions, but details on how one could 
use Open Source in a mixed environment, or whether indeed Open Source 
is the appropriate solution for your requirements. I think you perhaps 
need to read through the details on the what and why of OSS Watch to 
really pick up on why a mixed representation is not just a good idea 
but a necessity at the events they run.

> What Open Source solutions do they offer?

It's not about what Open Source solutions they have, it's about how 
their solutions work and whether they are better than OS ones for a 
given situation.

> Personally I feel it's disingenious to suggest that it's appropriate to
> have those who not only don't provide such solutions there but even 
> worse
> to have those who actively seek to prevent Open Source implementations 
> and
> who are even trying to make Open Source illegal.

I actually think the opposite - what better place to ask awkward 
questions, that highlight this behaviour in front of a large audience?


> It seems analogous to the US inviting Saddam Hussein to take part in 
> the
> Iraq governing council. ;)

The problem with analogies is that they rarely are appropriate!

I'd counter with one of my own: "it's like chucking a snowball into 
hell to see how well it survives".


Andrew.

--
Andrew Savory, Managing Director, Luminas Limited
Tel: +44 (0)870 741 6658  Fax: +44 (0)700 598 1135
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