[OSGeo Africa] Good news for Open Source in South Africa

[Gavin Fleming]

South African Cabinet endorsement of FLOSS policy proposals last week
bode well for the OSGeo Africa community. 

 

Cabinet goes for open source software  
Lesley Stones, Business Day 23 Feb 07

________________________________

Information Technology Editor

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. 

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. 

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.

 

 

Gavin Fleming MSc

Senior GISc and Sustainable Development Researcher 

Mintek 

w: +27-11-709-4668

c: 0845965680

f: 0866164820

xmpp (Jabber, Google Talk, etc.): gavinjfleming at gmail.com
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Skype: phlemingo

postal: P/Bag X3015, Randburg, 2125

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South Africa

27.9782E 26.0896S

 

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