Fwd: Bids and Quangos
rich...@m6-it.org
I think Mark is completely right on and sf-uk should get behind osc on this.
rgds,
Richard
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mark Taylor <mark....@opensourceconsortium.org>
Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:17:04 +0100
Subject: Re: Bids and Quangos
To: Richard Rothwell <rich...@m6-it.org>
Cc: Mark Taylor <mark....@siriusit.co.uk>, ian....@zmsl.com,
john.s...@siriusit.co.uk, jo...@coronet.co.uk
> Hi Guys,
>
> OK - I'm planning an article for the Free Software Magazine, and will
> ply my kudos on /. as appropriate. In the mean time here are my
> thoughts from before the current debacle ...
Mark Ballard has given us a superb send-off in the tech press:
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/06/12/open-source-
snub-uk-schools
As per our conversation last night, let's get everyone broadcasting
on every channel available to us, and lets boycott the project across
the whole of the UK. If anyone helps Alpha and Becta on the project
they will be able to claim that it is supported by the 'community' -
we need to stand together on this one or they'll hang us...
I'm going on broadband broadcast right now with an Open Letter
wearing my OSC President hat. Here it is:
Today, Friday 13th, Becta's Open Source posturing is exposed as a
sham, empty spin covering 'business as usual' political sleaze.
Becta awarded their 'Open Source Schools' project to establishment
insiders and cronies, with no Open Source credentials or
capabilities, rather than organisations who could and would make the
project work. The losers, as usual, are British schools, British
schoolchildren, and British taxpayers.
The 'Open Source Schools' stated aims appeared both worthy and
achievable:
Provide community seeding and support by providing school sector
focussed online resources, online support and fora.
Community online discussion;
Identify and recruit initial community members
Annual workshop on community topics
BETT seminar development and delivery to promote open source use.
Highlight open source software developed with contribution from UK
schools using an online registry of software and developers
Online discussion open by 30/10/08, seeded with 10 active members.
Grows to 20 active members by April 2009.
Grows to 50 active members by April 2010.
Community workshop in autumn 2008 and Autumn 2009
BETT seminar on the use of open source in the schools sector in
January 2009
Basic guidance on how to obtain and install
Basic guidance on licensing
Basic guidance on support providers
Adoption and implementation strategies
The very, very best of UK Open Source talent lined up for the
project, just a few of the names involved gives a feel:
OSS Watch
Schoolforge UK
Open Source Consortium member companies
Sirius, backed by Red Hat, KDE and the Free Software Foundation
Canonical, makers of Ubuntu
INGOTS
The Open Schools Alliance
And if you are thinking that this is a who's who of Open Source in
the UK, you are correct.
But no, impeccable and proven Open Source credentials, capability and
community building skills are apparently a hindrance to building a
community of British schools using Open Source. Being Becta insiders
is what matters, insiders who have no track record in Open Source, do
not even give it a passing mention on their website, and until
yesterday were completely unknown to anyone in either the industry or
community. Just handed a quarter of a million pounds, Becta's friends
are now responsible for the direction Open Source takes in British
Schools, entirely removed from the UK Open Source community and
industry. The result, of course, will be completely disastrous in the
fine tradition of Newham, Birmingham and the so-called 'Open Source
Academy'. Funny how the UK Public Sector is the only one in the world
who consistently 'trial' Open Source by giving projects to those
least capable of delivering them, and then claim that it 'doesn't
work' or is 'more expensive than proprietary (equals Microsoft)
software'. One hopes it is merely incompetence, the alternative would
be corruption and surely that could never happen here...
In conclusion, some advice from the genuine Open Source community and
Industry:
If you are a school, ignore Becta's project, ignore Becta, and seek
advice from the people who are able to give it. Any of the
organisations Becta rejected will be your best choice.
If you are a member of the Open Source community or industry not yet
touched by this scandal, boycott the project and refuse to have
anything to do with it. It's not about 'Open Source', it's about jobs
for the boys, spin, and discrediting non-proprietary software.
If you are anyone else, throw your hands up in despair at yet more
political sleaze, cronyism and incompetence, and vote for someone
other than the current government at the next election, preferably
someone with policies on Open Source and Open Government.
Mark Taylor
President
The Open Source Consortium
Bringing Free and Open Source Software to the Public Sector
--
Richard Rothwell, rich...@m6-it.org
Education Consultant http://m6-it.org
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Phil Driscoll
http://www.computerworlduk.com/toolbox/open-source/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=912&blogid=14
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Phil Driscoll