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87 Comments
- 4DFX, on 02/05/2009, -3/+61Microsoft bribing them in 3... 2... 1...
- roysorlie, on 02/05/2009, -1/+43Good for Canada. You know, sometimes I swear that Canada almost seems like it could be a europeean country.
Just imagine what it would take for the US government to try something similar. - aerospacemonkey, on 02/05/2009, -1/+31Canada is halfway between European and American. Really, the best of both worlds.
Our politicians are borderline, though. - SQLserver, on 02/05/2009, -2/+29Well, Linux is more secure than Windows, simpler in some ways, easier to update, has thousands of programs available in quick access repositories, more customizable, and of course, it's free.
The usual two arguments against Linux don't apply in the government: It's hard and it can't play games. Of course, government computers wouldn't be playing games, and governments have thousands of IT professionals to setup Linux Boxes and make it very, very simple for the users to use.(Like getting rid of the panel and just including the icons for Firefox, Evolution Mail, and Open Office)
So, Linux and government are a perfect match. - FlyingCaveman, on 02/05/2009, -5/+21Please nobody send them this http://www.adequacy.org/public/stories/2001.12.2.4 ...
Its that crazy illegal hacker OS! - JackpotCity, on 02/05/2009, -1/+15Smart move.
- cameldung, on 02/05/2009, -0/+12I think it is still somewhat controversial that the Canadian government switched to MS Word in the 90s from what was their previous standard - Corel's Wordpefect - which at the time was a Canadian company - local to Ottawa even. That move by the Canadian government helped kill Corel.
- VeritasAequitas, on 02/05/2009, -0/+12Funny I'm an IT admin in an active directory environment, that uses Exchange (Outlook) and yet I'm writing this on my Ubuntu machine, that is bound to AD, I just got an e-mail from our microsoft exchange server as I have been typing, and I can open any document that has been sent to me that was done in word on a mac or windows box using open office. Or spreadsheet or whatever.
And Adobe CS is used in a very limited fashion, only people in creative departments might need that, and they could keep small numbers of windows or OS X machines in those departments specifically for that use.
Furthermore, and less cost prohibitive for what 85% of standard users would ever do in photoshop they could do in GIMP for free. And it is no harder to learn than photoshop, people just don't like to Switch from photoshop so they whine. Very very few people actually NEED photoshop or any adobe apps for that matter. They just THINK they NEED it.
You don't have to have an all or nothing environment, we are a multi platform environment with almost 8,000 machines 5,000 macs and 3,000 windows about. and it works fine. - cubicledrone, on 02/05/2009, -4/+15OpenOffice, the 1743 e-mail clients for Linux and emulation.
Next. - NJank, on 02/05/2009, -1/+10no bribe. just a 'refined' definition of no-charge.
- stuffradio, on 02/05/2009, -1/+10America is Canadas shirt.
- jaymulder, on 02/05/2009, -0/+9Stop hating on the great white north ya hoser!
- evil-doer, on 02/05/2009, -1/+9in a lot of ways its halfway british, but britain is turning into america junior, and in some ways worse (cctv). so ya i guess half european is a closer analogy.
- JCEEZ, on 02/05/2009, -0/+8i happen to really like maple syrup.
- Pxtl, on 02/05/2009, -0/+7Yes, but with OpenOffice they can at least avoid the expense of Office, which is quite significant. However, that depends on their email structure, since I don't know how OSS replacements for Exchange/Outlook are - afaik, the big move away from Exchange isn't to OSS, but to Google's corporate hosted Gmail solution.
- neom, on 02/05/2009, -2/+9Especally a conservative Canadian Government. :)
- JCEEZ, on 02/05/2009, -4/+11open source maple syrup?
- depro9, on 02/05/2009, -4/+10Respect to Americas hat.
- cameldung, on 02/05/2009, -2/+8This just illustrates that governments and large organizations should also migrate to open standards which is a seperate issue than moving to open source software. Open standard file formats are particular important when archiving data - 20 years from now you don't want to have a historically important file in a "owned" format that you have to pay a licence fee to open.
- mendicant, on 02/05/2009, -0/+6Funny part is, if the conservatives push through Bill c61 (or anything like it) then they won't be able to use linux for some things they will need to use it for....
- cameldung, on 02/05/2009, -1/+7i worked as a contractor in a Canadian department once and i can tell you there is plenty of civil servant gaming of the solitaire, mahjong and minesweeper variety going on. i swear there was one guy who i thought was being paid to play minesweeper, he was at it everytime i passed his cubicle.
- cmadach, on 02/05/2009, -1/+6The sad thing: some mook will get a 30-something million dollar contract to supply a spindle of ubuntu CDs and some $400 IBM notebooks.
There's one really good and one kinda good univiersity in Ottawa; can't they just pimp this contract as a Master's project or something? - MSP1, on 02/05/2009, -1/+6Evidence?
- SQLserver, on 02/05/2009, -1/+6Great. It's a good thing Ubuntu(I think GNOME, too) comes preloaded with all of those games and more.
- NJank, on 02/05/2009, -0/+5fix the country = money.
fixing the Os = freeing up money
see how that works? - gobbo, on 02/05/2009, -0/+5Retraining isn't as big a deal as other commenters think. Linux apps aren't that different!! Most office workers hardly understand that windows explorer is a file browser, and that the computer and hard drive are different concepts. They know just enough to point, click, and type, and damn the rest. Such a limited knowledge set is pretty easily re-oriented, in my experience: you just have to give them the extremely clear, explicit, step by step instructions how to do those limited things they want to know.
- jsudesign, on 02/05/2009, -1/+5blah, I hate it when you call us that...
- ahhell, on 02/05/2009, -2/+6Sending out an RFI doesn't mean a ***** thing.
If it was an RFP, that would be a different story.
They are just requesting for....wait for it...INFORMATION.
*GASP* - techobo, on 02/05/2009, -3/+7It might be a good way for the government to save some cash. Especially during times like this.
- emer, on 02/06/2009, -0/+3Canux?
- andymci, on 02/06/2009, -0/+3@bikerbill: I believe this discussion was about Canadian policies, not Canadian tourist attractions.
- WhoDoneIt, on 02/05/2009, -0/+3Why? If we are the hat, that makes them blow-me.
- shibagarden, on 02/05/2009, -0/+3I'm sure you could train "mother" to access the little "foxy" in the menu bar just as easily as looking for the "e." You underestimate mammas.
- Testies, on 02/05/2009, -6/+8Yeah, they will find a way to make this venture cost the taxpayers a pretty penny. There is no "Free" when it comes to Canadian government.
- Abatrour, on 02/07/2009, -0/+2Umm.. Canada is a colony of England.. It's a part of the UK.
I'm Canadian and I will admit that Canada isn't a truly FREE country.
That is why the Queen's head is still on our coins. - mgifford, on 02/07/2009, -0/+2Bit old, but 4 years ago this was a bit of a fun campaign - http://www.marryanamerican.ca/
- leif777, on 02/05/2009, -1/+3you've been trolled
- Gwydion, on 02/05/2009, -0/+2You're a tool.
- loconet, on 02/05/2009, -2/+4Good news but: "No-charge licensed software" - except there can be open source that has a charge. I hope they take that into account.
- waspinator, on 02/06/2009, -0/+2It's not as great as some would like you to believe. We still lack a lot of liberty here.
- DarkStar3333, on 02/05/2009, -0/+2The problem becomes who is going to re-train all these people. How much money is that in lost productivity?
Since the median age is on the highside most users arent technically inclined enough to learn something like this so late in there game. - brettalton, on 02/06/2009, -0/+2Sending out an RFI is actually extremelly important. This document will decide the fate on whose services the Canadian government procures for years to come.
If open source looses this battle, then they'll have to wait (at least) another 5 years for the Canadian government to create another RFI. - hulkamaniaz, on 02/05/2009, -1/+3Great to see my tax dollars going to good use : /
- j4rcher, on 02/05/2009, -0/+2Mexico is Canada's *****.
- Hermmunster, on 02/05/2009, -0/+2MedaFighterX et al,
You have no proof that there's less than 1% share for Linux except by browser stats that you haven't even quoted and verified that the industry would accept as non-biased.
Second if 50 million installs world wide is less than 1% market share then we are talking about an unbelievably large market. Canonical states they have nearly 30 million installs. Those don't count the number of customers that installed their download on more than 1 machine.
We aren't in this position because Linux doesn't hold true to an OS that has ease of use. In fact, it is extremely easy to use and it is easy to learn. We aren't in this position because Windows was first or even better. We are in it because of the illegal practices that Microsoft used to block out the competition. They were tried and convicted in a court of law.
We are in this position not because Linux isn't a viable solution to most business needs, we are in it because of bundling practices and the commitment by business to teach only one platform and product (Windows and Office) rather than understanding that what they were doing was locking themselves in for the long haul.
The icon in Windows to launch the web, the one installed to launch Firefox is the same as that to launch it under Linux. You double click that icon in the same fashion you would double click it under Windows or on the Macintosh. Opening a document and saving it is the same under Linux as it is under Mac or Windows. Modifying a picture to remove red-eye or to crop or to resize or to convert to another format is the same under Linux as it is under Windows and the Mac.
Moving files is the same under Linux as any other OS.
Deleting files is the same under Linux as any other OS.
Moving the mouse around is the same.
Watching a video is the same.
Listening to Music is the same.
Making a DVD or CD (data or otherwise) is the same.
Chatting with friend through programs such as Pidgin or skype is the same.
Formatting text in a word processor or adding cells in a spreadsheet is the same in Linux as Under Windows.
Saving favorites in your browser is the same.
Accessing files on a network drive is the same.
Playing many games the average person plays is the same (including solitaire -- and a hundred other free versions of it).
Getting Linux installed is (can be) the same as the way it is done with Windows. Any knowledgeable person can install it and configure it and tune it for the average user. The average user can modify and customize it.
Windows didn't get into the position it is in overnight. It took years. Software took years to develop. EVERY single release of Windows and various applications for a long time was considered to be a serious cost to business upon switch. The point being made about the costs are actually quite specious. One needs only understand that costs such as those are distributed over a long period of time and not considering those costs as normal part of business is a fallacy. Every business worth a grain of salt knows that these costs exists even from one version of the same product to the next. Switching from DOS to Windows was a significant investment by businesses and by application developers.
The costs of switching to software compatible to Linux isn't in the purchase but the training. Linux software of that nature is essentially free. That means that the costs involved are in software training and installation, and yes to some degree in finding corporate equivalents of some of it. But by no means to all businesses use Exchange with Outlook. Most businesses in the world are not that size. If you want to relegate the argument from all business to large corporates than you have a point. Doesn't mean the point is huge nor applicable in all cases.
What we clearly have here are people that are exaggerating the costs and applying those costs from some extreme and large businesses to those of average size that don't need nor want to put in huge systems for corporate mail exchanges, etc. There are plenty of tools for group management, business mail, shared calendaring in the OSS world. To exaggerate and put everyone in the same position as a large corporate is a very specious and fallacious argument.
Linux holds millions of customer's world wide. It has grown significantly over the past two years and it will continue. Software parity will occur where FOSS will match and exceed closed proprietary software. End result is that the choices will be whether to pay huge licensing fees or to choose the free product that does the same thing. We are partially there today. Linux has provided millions of people world wide with the opportunity to use software that is freely theirs without the ball and chain of Microsoft and their lock-in technologies. In the next few years you'll have more Linux users than you can shake a stick at. And anyone who would balk at having a customer base of 50+ million users is a fool. Anyone selling to such a market would cream their pants knowing that market it theirs. - Ratteler, on 02/05/2009, -0/+2I SOOOO need to marry a Canadian chick.
- daengbo, on 02/06/2009, -0/+2They're just looking at free (no-cost) software. Canada just wants to reduce its spending and is looking at freeware. This story really has nothing to do with FOSS except that some FOSS is free.
- jololli, on 02/19/2009, -0/+1just wait....
- JCEEZ, on 02/06/2009, -0/+1Dude, I agree with all of you, I don't have Linux hate or anything (or open office or GIMP... maybe a little GIMP)
The very fact that we are on Digg (Or an IT admin) speaks loudly... in that we know what-the-*****-we-are-doing in a computer kind of way.
I just think you are all over-estimating the level of computer-savy the average person is, especially government workers.....
lemme defend Adobe CS real quick. True you dont NEED it. Like you can use GIMP and word pad really.... but the fact that people know how to use CS and are comfortable with it is kinda the point. When they got Dreamweaver and Photoshop under the same umbrella, it made things 100000x more easy. Ok guess what I do for a living! haha -
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