The new copyright law.
Tek Ang
rugbeeprop at yahoo.com
Fri Jun 25 15:00:57 UTC 2010
Thanks Brent for the insight.
Perhaps we as the Canadian community should brainstorm together on how we can convince the Government about this matter.
As I said, if we could try to convince individual MPs/MPPs/ even City Councils, it is a good start.
Unfortunately, since I am only a Landed Migrant, they won't listen to me as I cannot vote. However, as I mentioned, if anyone can convince the politicians to try out FOSS, I am willing to volunteer to provide personal hands-on tutorial.
Tek
________________________________
From: Brent <brent-hughes at shaw.ca>
To: The Canadian Ubuntu Users Community <ubuntu-ca at lists.ubuntu.com>
Sent: Fri, June 25, 2010 10:22:24 AM
Subject: Re: The new copyright law.
Tek Ang wrote:
>
>
> With a lot of discussion about the high cost and cost cutting to
> school budget, I am sure that if Linux community can come up with an
> alternative solution to the expensive cost of purchasing and
> maintaining the computer systems that are compatible to Microsoft
> Windows, the government will listen.
>
That has not been my experience with government and Linux. Last year an
article on Computers For Schools appeared in the local press (Edmonton)
so I contacted them to see what their position was regarding operating
systems. Computers For Schools recycles business and private hardware
for use in schools with limited budgets for Hardware purchases.
At that time Microsoft had worked out a deal that allowed the
organization to piggyback licencing on the existing school board bulk
licenses. However that was to end this spring and the CFS would then
have to pay out for licenses on each and every refurbished machine
distributed to the schools. CFS estimated that the move would cost them
20 million dollars in licencing for the OS and productivity sutie. The
director said he was aware of Ubuntu and Kbuntu and that he had
considered it but that the schools preferred MS. However the small
samples of schools that I contacted said they didn't care what OS the
machines had just so long as the machines were usable. The two school
boards did not comment on the OS question but public budget figures
indicate further miillions were being spent on licenses from MS.
Next I contacted the appropriate minister of our provincial government
to see how much the province was spending on licening and the number
came back at over eighty million, annually! The reply from the minister
however was non committal, full of assurances that they would "leverage"
FOSS wherever possible. I took that to mean they would threaten to go
open source if MS didn't cut them a break. That was the end of the
comments, to me anyway, on the subject as further inquiries were not
answered.
A conservative and not scientific estimate, from me, shows that about
100 million could be saved, each and every year, but instead all I get
to read about is the provincial deficit standing at a billion dollars
for last year and a projected deficit of four and ahalf billion for this
fiscal year.
You'd think with this kind of money at stake there would me a mass
migration to FOSS buy most publ;ic bodies.
Brent
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