[Ubuntu-be] Fwd: SOCIALWARE AND OPEN SOURCE

[mongolito404]

Hi,

thank you for taking the time to represent us :)

I suppose you have already made the suggestion of contacting Canonical
for possible collaboration (like free or cheaper supports for NGO).

P.

On 7/11/07, Serge van Ginderachter <serge at vanginderachter.be> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I received more feedback from Socialware, read further on for the
> forwarded mail.
>
> I'm pleased to notice that they took the time to dive into the list
> archives and to respond to several issues who were thrown on the list
> only.
>
> I will answer them as being appointed to represent ubuntu-be, as Mark
> VDB already confirmed.
>
>
>
> Serge
>
>
> -------- Forwarded Message --------
> > From: Bernard Martin <bernard.martin at socialware.be>
> > To: 'Serge van Ginderachter, Ginsys' <svg at ginsys.be>
> > Cc: francois at cauwe.org
> > Subject: SOCIALWARE AND OPEN SOURCE
> > Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2007 10:37:47 +0200
> >
> > Dear Mr van Ginderachter,
> >
> >
> >
> > I have read quite interesting forum exchanges about our activities on
> > Ubuntu-be.
> >
> >
> >
> > As mentioned in my prior mail I am definitely open to exploring
> > cooperation possibilities with Ubuntu-be. However before going further
> > will you please share this mail with your colleagues of Ubuntu-be and
> > confirm that you are the contact person representing your
> > organization.
> >
> >
> >
> > Here are some clarification statements about SOCALware's mission:
> >
> >
> >
> > First of all let me assure you that SOCIALware was not created by
> > Microsoft and that we are not sponsored by Microsoft or by CISCO in
> > any manner.
> >
> >
> >
> > How did it start? Working as a volunteer and helping several NPOs, I
> > measured the extent of the IT issues they were facing and looked for a
> > structural solution that could rapidly help the NPOs obtaining an
> > appropriate and efficient operational environment. I did not look for
> > THE solution, but to A solution, most particularly taking into account
> > the speed of deployment of any solution as well as the final
> > objective.
> >
> >
> >
> > The primary short term issue to be addressed was the affordability of
> > professional IT software and hardware while preserving continuity of
> > existing environments. That is why the SOCIALware project was started.
> > The initial beneficiary target was the Development NGOs for which we
> > received the support of the federations and of the DGCD. After two
> > years of operations, the DGCD considers this project to have one of
> > the best overall returns (social value net of any grant and charge).
> >
> >
> >
> > On the donor side, we negotiated with the suppliers whose products
> > were most demanded. Microsoft and CISCO responded positively. Be
> > assured that quite some time and efforts were needed to convince these
> > major suppliers of the project value proposition. Contracts with new
> > donors are currently well under way.
> >
> >
> >
> > Since July 2006, the project has been extended to Non Profit Sector
> > (NPOs with a clear social aim).  In this wider context we received the
> > support of the King Baudouin Foundation. You will easily understand
> > that our mission, scope and priorities have been thoroughly discussed
> > with the Foundation. Some of you intend to contact the Foundation -
> > feel free to do so if you believe it appropriate.
> >
> >
> >
> > Thanks to the project, the Belgian NPO community saved more than 2
> > millions EUR so far, an encouragement for us and to our supporters.
> > Moreover, as this project was a European premiere, it is now
> > replicated in other countries based on local partnerships.
> >
> >
> >
> > Vis-à-vis the Open Source products, our position has been that these
> > solutions were quite well known and had a wide web coverage already,
> > so we choose not devoting our scarce resources, mostly volunteers, to
> > address already solved problems and rather concentrated our efforts on
> > what was unresolved so far, i.e. getting donated products from vendors
> > on behalf of the NGO community.
> >
> >
> >
> > We hardly saw what added value we might have in distributing Open
> > Source products at this stage, but on this point we certainly would
> > appreciate your views. This is a key point for us, as we cannot simply
> > advertise a product without a significant added value in the process;
> > else we would have to publish a list of any available product to treat
> > them in an even way.
> >
> >
> >
> > We also declined to advertise several product offerings based on open
> > source, but with proprietary layers which are bundled with support
> > contracts: taken as a whole these offers were far from open because
> > they actually made the buyer captive of a single supplier for any
> > maintenance and support.
> >
> >
> >
> > However we have clearly nothing against Open Source products and we
> > use some of them for our own operations. And given the noise on the
> > line we may have a position statement about Open Source products on
> > our web site in the future.
> >
> >
> >
> > But in any case, the choice of the solution (Open Source or not,
> > Supplier X or Y) rests and should rest with the NPO itself, it is not
> > our mission to influence this choice in any way – we only eliminate
> > some financial constraints out of such a selection process so that the
> > NPO decision can be based on sheer technical, benefits, or strategic
> > considerations from their own perspective.
> >
> >
> >
> > I hope that this brief update sheds some light on our mission and code
> > of conduct.
> >
> >
> >
> > Best regards,
> >
> > Bernard Martin
> >
> > President
> >
> > www.socialware.be
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
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-- 
mongolito404, king of the mongolian people