[TriLUG] Fwd: Sign this Petition - Explain why taxpayers pay out billions to Microsoft and get nothing in return, while Linux is free!

Jeremy Davis jeremydavis at jeremydavis.biz
Sat Apr 27 11:51:06 EDT 2013


I didn't see a need to specify a particular agency because I have
never seen an agency that did not run M$ as a desktop environment,
however after reading the very nice article (thanks for the link to
the "History of Open Source in Government") I agree a lot is being
done that is not obvious everywhere yet. If I could pick a place to
see more use of Linux it would be the school systems, although I
realize IT decisions in the schools are more of a local decision
influenced by culture. I could have focused it more on the desktop
environment as well.

As far as the TCO analysis goes, it may be cheaper in many cases to
use proprietary software, however, as a tax payer I would still prefer
investing in something I can have and use after it is paid for vs
something licensed that I can't touch or even see the code to verify
what we paid for. If tax dollars paid for our highways to be built and
then a private company charged tolls indefinitely to use them, people
would protest. However, most people in the general public probably
don't realize their tax dollars could be improving the software they
have available.

The quickest way to hit a target is to fire then adjust fire and I am
guilty of using this method often. I have been itching to try out this
open source petition system just to see how it works, so on a
Starbucks coffee last night I threw something out there to stir up
awareness if nothing else. Obviously a petition should probably start
with a wiki and some thoughtful group collaboration.

BTW you can petition anything. Someone started a petition to build a
Death Star by 2016 and it received over 100000 signatures plus a
response from the Administration.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/response/isnt-petition-response-youre-looking



On Sat, Apr 27, 2013 at 9:37 AM, Brandon Van Every <bvanevery at gmail.com> wrote:
> I'll try explaining it.  The gov't. already does lots of open source, more
> than any private industry is doing.
> http://opensource.com/government/12/5/history-open-source-government  Some
> parts of gov't. either didn't get the memo or have justifiable reasons for
> doing what they're doing.
>
> Maybe you could redraft your petition to pick on a specific agency, with
> supporting evidence that it's paying M$ lots of money.  I'm having trouble
> agreeing with your petition in general because (1) TCO is an issue for
> various problem domains, and TCO analyses are usually not trivial, (20 the
> gov't. is already mostly doing the right thing.
>
>
> Cheers,
> Brandon
>
>
> On Fri, Apr 26, 2013 at 11:59 PM, Jeremy Davis <jeremyhwllc at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Dear friends,
>>
>> I wanted to let you know about a new petition I created on We the People,
>> a new feature on WhiteHouse.gov, and ask for your support. Will you add
>> your
>> name to mine?  If this petition gets 100,000 signatures by May 26, 2013,
>> the
>> White House will review it and respond!
>>
>> We the People allows anyone to create and sign petitions asking the Obama
>> Administration to take action on a range of issues.  If a petition gets
>> enough support, the Obama Administration will issue an official response.
>>
>> You can view and sign the petition here:
>>
>> http://wh.gov/tdGA
>>
>> Here's some more information about this petition:
>>
>> Explain why taxpayers pay out billions to Microsoft and get
>> nothing in return, while Linux is free.
>>
>> Explain why taxpayers pay out billions to Microsoft and get nothing in
>> return, while Linux is free. In contrast, using tax dollars to pay for
>> research and improvements to Linux, as well as free open source software in
>> general, would benefit everyone. When taxpayers pay for roads everyone
>> benefits because everyone can drive on them. This is not the case with
>> proprietary software,such as Microsoft, because taxpayers cannot use the
>> software that is paid for by tax dollars. However, it would benefit the
>> taxpaying public if open source software, such as Linux, were used for
>> everyday government computing. Any tax dollars spent on research for
>> patches,
>> upgrades, and improvements would be shared benefits for all Americans who
>> can
>> simply download and use Linux anytime for free.
>> --
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