Open Source Bill For Australian Capital Territory 186
leinad writes "An article in The Age newspaper claims the Australian Capital Territory is set to become the first jurisdiction in the country to adopt a bill which says that public bodies should, as far as practicable, consider the use of open source software when procuring computer software. (The Australian Capital Territory is the small territory/state of Australia in which Canberra, the capital of Australia, is located.)" Seems like requiring blueprints from contractors, to me.
Re:what's most interesting (Score:3, Informative)
Territory vs State (Score:5, Informative)
It is a territory. It is not a state. There is a difference.
In case that doesn't make sense... (Score:3, Informative)
Just like the Washington/Washington D.C. concept.
Not the last of the legislation either (Score:5, Informative)
Re:CLUG (Score:3, Informative)
LIMITS OF LEGISLATION (Score:1, Informative)
A similar open source friendly bill has been passed in the State of South Australia. The S.A Act only makes it mandatory to "consider" using open source software in preference to proprietary software. Both pieces of legislation can only make it mandatory to "consider" the deployment of open sources software. The Australian Democrats introduced the Sth Aust bill in to Parliament. As the Australian Democrats are facing electoral oblivion in the Commonwealth elections within the next year, it is probable that there will not be any similar initatives in the future. The opposition Labor Party shadow Minister (for American readers essentially the alternative IT Minister who MAY be the responsible Minister next year) has intimated that similar legislation may be introduced for the Commonwealth at some stage in the future.
Not only considered -- it has been passed into law (Score:1, Informative)
Heart of the Nation (Score:1, Informative)
While it is mostly overlooked as far as the rest of the world is concerned. It is the heart of the nation, and any adoption of Open Source Standands that comes from this bill, is an important step forward in many areas, not the least of which is security.
I'm looking forward to hearing the outcomes from this bill.
The bill has been passed (Score:4, Informative)
Re:In case that doesn't make sense... (Score:1, Informative)
More coverage (Score:3, Informative)
Re:food on the table (Score:3, Informative)
See here [onsecure.gov.au]
Re:Software matters, OS does not (Score:2, Informative)
It's important to remember that there is a lot of Open Source software out there that is not an Operating System.
I hear there is even Open Source software that is Operating System independant...
Re:The ACT! I'm sure and Australian will.... (Score:5, Informative)
2) While a small province Tasmania is not that much larger (in population)
3) It's a fully fledged parliament, not a local council, so it's an Act that has been made, not a council ordinance or Regulation.
4) The Federal Government is administered in Canberra. The same contractors who supply services that meet the requirements of this Act will be biddding for federal work.
5) this is the beginniug not the end.
Re:The ACT! I'm sure and Australian will.... (Score:1, Informative)
The ACT is usually one of the first state/territory governments to adopt new "radical" ideas, so there is a chance this could spread through Australia, but only time can tell.
As for whether there's a chance other countries will follow suit, well, I guess that depends on how much they want to be friends with Microsoft (come on, you know if this idea spreads Microsoft will be really pissed off).
Re:You haven't understood (Score:3, Informative)
What's the government, a third party person? The government is me. Government is using my money, my resources. I am one of the guys who maintain the government, not the government itself.
NO the government is not you, it's us. The government is not using your money, it's using the funds from (what in the ACT is called) 'consolidated revenue.' Once you have paid your taxes that money is not yours in any personal sense, any more than the money you spent on that can of coke is yours, notwithstanding the fact that you may be a shareholder of the CocaCola Co. Once again it is ours.
And because it is ours, and we can (and in the ACT must) vote, the government better spend it in a cost effective manner (no multi-million dollar salary packages in the public service I'm afraid). If using OSS, or products for which the service market is competitive, saves the government money then it is quite the correct thing for the government to do.
Beyond the niggardly concerns of how consolidated revenue is to spent, however, there is a greater issue of principle here. 'Access' and 'Transparency' are supposed to be touchstones of democratic government. Clearly it behoves a government to embrace standards which are non-proprietary and open insofar as it is practicable.
This is not about open source, this is about your own freedom to choose. ... And nobody can make decision for you, neither government nor open source zealots.
Once again, nobody is making the decision for you. You can use whatever you like. This is about what it is appropriate for a democractic government to use. You need to learn to disguise your teenage libertarian paranoia a little better.
The bill has been passed. (Score:3, Informative)
The legislation and more info (Score:5, Informative)
The ACT is a administrative territory for the national capital, and we also had an OSS electronic voting system at our last election that is based on Linux [wired.com]
Xix.
Re:wel... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Territory vs State (Score:1, Informative)
Territories came afterwards, and are soley creations of the federal government. The "australian capital territory" is a dreadful compromise. When the national capital which was provisionally in melbourne (in the south), was to be chosen.... the Sydney people (up north east) didn't want Melbourne to have it, and the Melbourne people didn't want Sydney to have it, and none of the other states wanted either of them to have it.... So halfway between the two major cities a territory was carved out of one of the states and it was plonked down there in the middle of nowhere.
An "planed" town, built on a circular design - which sorta works, but doesn't. Has the national university, most of the federal branches of government, and little else - nice enough, but I doubt many would say it is the best.
So the territory government is technically an arm of the federal government which deals with stuff it normally can't touch directly (i.e. secondary education etc, etc). Which is interesting, because it is at once "state" and at once "federal".