[ubuntu-uk] Open Source Procurement Toolkit

[Avi Greenbury]

Chris Rowson wrote:

> The 'All About Open Source' document is particularly interesting
> because it explains why UK.gov can't mandate Open Source software.
> It's not entirely straight forward; I'm not entirely sure, but I
> think it means to say that UK.gov considers 'Open Source' a product
> (perhaps like Microsoft) rather than a feature and so that mandating
> a specific product is a breach on antitrust law? Thoughts?

Well, it makes perfect sense. Why would mandating proprietary software
be bad but mandating open source sofftware be alright? The issue in
question, surely, is the quality of the software to do what it's
intended to do, not just what license it's provided under. Sure, the
license is part of the definition of how good the software is at its
job, but it's not the totality of it. 

-- 
Avi