No, because the gov't are issuing the contract it is up to the gov't to ensure that the product supplied (in this case a website but the same follows for absolutely anything that the government invites tenders for) is accesible to all the citizens who wish to use it. If a website cannot be accessed with a Mac or Linux computer then users of those operating systems are being excluded.
As to what Open Source software can provide to government, the evidence is out there if you would care to look. There are open source equivalents of almost all proprietary software packages, available at a fraction of the cost and with the added bonus of them being <em>open</em>. Instead of having a select group of hand picked programmers picking over the code, open source software benefits from hundreds if not thousands of enthusiasts looking at the code, refining it, making it better. As a result, Linux is more secure, more stable and more adaptable than Windows.
Keith Neilson
Posted on 20 Jan 2008 11:24 pm
No, because the gov't are issuing the contract it is up to the gov't to ensure that the product supplied (in this case a website but the same follows for absolutely anything that the government invites tenders for) is accesible to all the citizens who wish to use it. If a website cannot be accessed with a Mac or Linux computer then users of those operating systems are being excluded.
As to what Open Source software can provide to government, the evidence is out there if you would care to look. There are open source equivalents of almost all proprietary software packages, available at a fraction of the cost and with the added bonus of them being <em>open</em>. Instead of having a select group of hand picked programmers picking over the code, open source software benefits from hundreds if not thousands of enthusiasts looking at the code, refining it, making it better. As a result, Linux is more secure, more stable and more adaptable than Windows.