Hi Guys,
As you'll probably be aware, the government is on a big drive to promote open source solutions into its services. They've outlined a ten point plan:
• To actively consider open source solutions alongside proprietary ones in making procurement decisions;
• Procurement decisions will be made solely on the basis of the best value for money solution to the business requirement;
• There will be an expectation on suppliers to consider a mix of proprietary and open-source software;
• Where there is no difference on cost open-source software will be chosen as preferable;
• The government will, wherever possible, avoid becoming locked in to proprietary software;
• Where non-open-source products need to be purchased, government will expect licences to be available for use across the public sector;
• The government will use open standards in its procurement specifications and require solutions to comply with open standards;
• Rights for re-use will be sought for all commercial software purchased;
• All systems developed for one part of the public sector are expected to be reused in another rather than developed again;
• When suppliers are proposing a third-party product there should be full price transparency.
Now, for me it always makes sense to evaluate open source alongside commercial when looking into a solution. One should determine which offers the best value over the lifetime and select the most appropriate vendor. However one point stands out for me 'Where there is no difference on cost open-source software will be chosen as preferable'. Why!?
I'm concerned people wil blindly see open source as 'cheaper' and not take into consideration some of the disadvantages of such solutions - e.g. incentive for innovation/fixing my issues.
What are peoples opinions on this?
As you'll probably be aware, the government is on a big drive to promote open source solutions into its services. They've outlined a ten point plan:
• To actively consider open source solutions alongside proprietary ones in making procurement decisions;
• Procurement decisions will be made solely on the basis of the best value for money solution to the business requirement;
• There will be an expectation on suppliers to consider a mix of proprietary and open-source software;
• Where there is no difference on cost open-source software will be chosen as preferable;
• The government will, wherever possible, avoid becoming locked in to proprietary software;
• Where non-open-source products need to be purchased, government will expect licences to be available for use across the public sector;
• The government will use open standards in its procurement specifications and require solutions to comply with open standards;
• Rights for re-use will be sought for all commercial software purchased;
• All systems developed for one part of the public sector are expected to be reused in another rather than developed again;
• When suppliers are proposing a third-party product there should be full price transparency.
Now, for me it always makes sense to evaluate open source alongside commercial when looking into a solution. One should determine which offers the best value over the lifetime and select the most appropriate vendor. However one point stands out for me 'Where there is no difference on cost open-source software will be chosen as preferable'. Why!?
I'm concerned people wil blindly see open source as 'cheaper' and not take into consideration some of the disadvantages of such solutions - e.g. incentive for innovation/fixing my issues.
What are peoples opinions on this?
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