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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>South African Cabinet endorsement of FLOSS policy proposals last week
bode well for the OSGeo Africa community. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Cabinet goes for open source software <br>
<!--head0-->Lesley Stones, Business Day 23 Feb 07<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><!--box1-->Information Technology Editor<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><!--blurb1--><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>THE cabinet has reconfirmed a commitment to use more free and open
source software in government departments to slash its technology running costs
and increase the opportunities for local software developers, according to
government spokesman Themba Maseko.<!--blurb0--> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><!--par1--><!--par0--><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><!--par1-->Unlike costly brand name packages, open
source software is free to use and can be modified to suit the needs of its
users. Wednesday’s cabinet meeting revolved all new software developed
for government would use open rather then proprietary standards, and that the
software now in use would gradually be replaced by open source alternatives. That
would eliminate annual licence fees and enhance local development skills,
Maseko said.<!--par0--> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><!--par1--><!--par0--><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><!--par1-->The repercussions for software companies
threaten to be enormous, as government is SA’s largest spender on
technology. But a policy of gradually switching to open source has been in
place since early 2003, with little noticeable effect so far. Now a new date
has been proposed, with a project office to be set up by April to ensure a
smooth transition throughout SA.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=section1 style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Gavin Fleming MSc</span></font><font
size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=section1 style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Senior GISc and
Sustainable Development Researcher <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=section1 style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Mintek </span></font><font
size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=section1 style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>w: +27-11-709-4668</span></font><font
size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=section1 style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>c: 0845965680</span></font><font
size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=section1 style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>f: 0866164820<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=section1 style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>xmpp (Jabber, Google
Talk, etc.): <a href="mailto:gavinjfleming@gmail.com"><font size=1 face=Tahoma><span
style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>gavinjfleming@gmail.com</span></font></a></span></font><font
size=1><span style='font-size:8.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=section1 style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Skype: phlemingo<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=section1 style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>postal: P/Bag X3015,
Randburg, 2125</span></font><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=section1 style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>physical:
<st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address tabIndex="0"
style="BACKGROUND-POSITION: left bottom; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(res://ietag.dll/#34/#1001); BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat-x"
w:st="on">200 Hans Strijdom Drive</st1:address></st1:Street>, Randburg<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=section1 style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
lang=EN-US style='font-size:12.0pt'>South Africa</span></font></st1:place></st1:country-region><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=section1 style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:12.0pt'>27.9782E
26.0896S</span></font><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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