[Fsfe-uk] Free Software & The ICT Hub

[auto380184]

Hi,

I wanted to raise an advocacy issue that's been bothering me for a 
while.  It concerns The ICT Hub, a coalition of several large UK 
organisations that received very significant funding last year 
(from the Home Office) to promote ICT within UK Voluntary and 
Community Organisations (VCOs).

The ICT Hub seems likely to become a very significant source of 
advice for the 'Third Sector', and will probably be perceived with 
some authority.  They will also be reaching out to organisations 
that have no previous experience of computing.

Their targeted audience is one I'd most expect to appreciate Free 
Software, so I was hoping the ICT Hub would promote it.  However, 
from the outset (when they started publishing documents and 
questionnaires in MSWord format) they have shown very little 
appreciation of the issues.  To get some idea of how confused some 
of them are, just see the bewildering conclusion of this excerpt:

"[...] Word doesn't let me open (or at least not automatically) 
something which has been saved in Open Office. I'm all for open 
standards, but if someone is sending me documents which I know 95% 
of my fellow users can't open unless they install some open source 
software, how is that any more open?"
http://www.icthub.org.uk/cms/opencms/icthub/articles/Open_Source.htm
l

They mention 'open source' a few other times on their website, but 
sometimes they seem to be encouraging fear and doubt.  Occasionally 
they say things that are just wacky:

"Open Source software is written using less powerful computers, 
which don’t need to be upgraded as often as they promote and adhere 
to common standards and formats."
http://www.icthub.org.uk/cms/opencms/icthub/how_we_can_help/opensour
ce_02.html


Only in their separate 'knowledgebase', which seems to be managed 
independently by lasa.org.uk, are some better written articles, but 
considering the previous (mis)guidance and criticism, which is more 
prominently placed on the main ICT Hub site, I'm not sure people 
will read this far.
http://www.icthubknowledgebase.org.uk/linuxrealworld


With their current stance, I think the ICT Hub could be detering 
community-minded organisations from adopting or even investigating 
Free Software!  So, I think we should do something.

Perhaps we could start by writing to The ICT Hub, to politely ask 
them to correct the most inaccurate/moronic/derisive statements on 
their website, to acknowledge that Free Software has broader social 
implications, and to provide open-format alternatives to the many 
Word documents they offer for download.  Fortunately, the current 
ICT Hub website was only launched this month.  Before that the site 
was hideous and inaccessible, so very few people have probably read 
it.  At this early stage we may be able to convince them to revise 
their content on 'open source' before much damage is done.

If you are interested, please can you help me to critique their 
site, and write a persuasive letter to them?  First I think we need 
to find their most fallacious and objectionable statements.  We can 
also collect good examples of self-contradictions in their content, 
to show how confusing their advice can be.

Best wishes,
Huxley




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