91 lines
3.8 KiB
HTML
91 lines
3.8 KiB
HTML
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<html newsdate="2010-07-02">
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<title>FSFE: Bolzano, please don't waste your money</title>
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<body>
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<h1>Bolzano, please don't waste your money</h1>
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<h2>FSFE supports open letter from LUGBZ to Province of South Tyrol</h2>
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<p>Dear Minister Roberto Bizzo,</p>
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<p newsteaser="yes">On 25 May 2010 the regional government authority of
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Bolzano decided to spend 2.2 million EUR over the next three years to
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renew software licenses from Microsoft Ireland, and to buy additional
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licenses. All this was done without a public call for tender, making it
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impossible for competing suppliers of similar software to make offers of
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their own.</p>
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<p>We ask you to rethink this decision. It will influence your strategic
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position over a much longer time frame than the three years for which
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the licenses will last.</p>
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<p>The European Commission’s vice president <a
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href="http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/10/300&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en">Neelie
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Kroes said on June 13 2010 in Brussels</a>:</p>
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<blockquote><p>“Many authorities have found themselves unintentionally
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locked into proprietary technology for decades. After a certain point
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that original choice becomes so ingrained that alternatives risk being
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systematically ignored, no matter what the potential benefits. This is
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a waste of public money that most public bodies can no longer
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afford.”</p></blockquote>
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<p>With your decision to buy Microsoft Sharepoint and Microsoft
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Office communication server software without evaluating Free
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Software alternatives you will increase your organisation's
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dependence on Microsoft. You will take your IT systems further
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down the one-way street of proprietary formats and proprietary
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software, locking in your organisation's own data along with that
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of the citizens of Bolzano.</p>
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<p>You are also running the risk of accusations about the improper
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handling about procurement processes. The <a
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href="http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/news-solutions-applications/red-hat-sues-switzerland-over-microsoft-monopoly-963">
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protracted lawsuit against the Swiss Federal Administration</a>, which
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is still ongoing, provides an example of the possible legal
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consequences.</p>
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<p>The decisions you are making today will have an impact for the
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years to come. Breaking out of the lock-in will only become more
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expensive over time, as you risk turning more of your valuable
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data into digital toxic waste.</p>
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<p>Rather than throw good money after bad, we ask you to step back from
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your deal with Microsoft, and issue a public call for tender open to all
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suppliers. When making a choice about the future solution for your
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organisation, we urge you to consider the strategic freedom which Free
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Software, Open Standards and open file formats provide, rather than
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deepening your dependence on a single vendor.</p>
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<p>You might also wish to investigate the opportunities that such a
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strategy would provide for local businesses in the province of
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Bolzano-Bozen, which has successfully turned itself into a Free
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Software hub.</p>
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<p>In the interest of the citizens of Bolzano-Bozen, we urge you to
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accept the <a href="http://www.lugbz.org/news-categories/general-news/LetteraAperta/view?set_language=it">offer of a dialogue extended to you by local Free
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Software experts at the GNU/Linux User Group Bolzano (LUGBZ)</a> and
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the Free Software Foundation Europe. We stand ready to advise you
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on your strategic options in software procurement, and discuss the
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opportunities afforded by Free Software and Open Standards. </p>
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<p>Sincerely,<br />
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Karsten Gerloff </p>
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<p>President, <br />
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Free Software Foundation Europe <br />
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http://fsfe.org</p>
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</body>
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</html>
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