Dutch to Reduce their Microsoft Dependence
As reported on OpenSourceGovernment.com, ten major Dutch cities, including Amsterdam will be experimenting with open source alternatives to Microsoft Windows desktops and Office applications.
The City of Amsterdam will be testing out open source software in two administrative districts, the housing department and one of its borough offices. Amsterdam is one of ten Dutch cities to sign the “manifesto for open software in government“
This LXer entry has a much more detailed explanation of what the Manifest is, as well as the OSSOS program in general.
In February 2003, the program “Open Standards and Open Source Software (OSSOS) for the Dutch government” started, funded by the Dutch government. One of the main tasks was to make the government independent from single software suppliers, among which are Microsoft and SAP. After three years, the effort starts bearing fruit. Ten big municipalities - together 2,7 million inhabitants and including Amsterdam and The Hague - signed a manifest. I’ll try to explain what’s in the manifest, what that might mean for the future, and for the monopoly of Microsoft in the Dutch government.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the OSSOS is that, rather than just require ‘open source’ software (a term which can be abused) it instead specifies the goals of the program to better assess adherence.
Nonetheless, open source software isn’t mentioned in the manifest. This is done deliberately. Instead of asking for open source, the manifest explains what the goals of that ‘open source’ should be; making it harder for suppliers to abuse the term ‘open software’, and label their closed software ‘open’. There are four terms of ‘openness’ in the manifest:
- Supplier independence
- Interoperability
- Transparency and verifiability and
- Digital durability