[ILUG] email sent to potiticians about Mary Hannafin's decision not to use open source

[Murf]

On Mon, 3 May 2004, Timothy Murphy wrote:

> So I would suggest that the term "open standards" needs to be defined.
> It is perfectly reasonable to ask Ms Hanafin what she understands by this term
> since she has said government policy will rely on it.
>
> Sadly, I haven't seen anything on the ILUG mailing list so far
> that I would consider likely to change the government's mind.
> May I suggest that ILUG should take a leaf out of ICTE's success.
> Margaret McGaley, Colm MacCarthaigh et al
> were endlessly courteous, never insulting ministers
> or suggesting that they had secret agendas.
>
> Also ICTE had one simple message - VVAT -
> backed by rational argument.
>
> In my opinion, open standards - strictly adhered to -
> will allow Linux to compete on a level field.
>

If I can offer my 2c, Tim has hit the nail on the head here. A simple
point, driven home well, can have a far greater effect. Also, by aiming
for 'open standards' (by this I mean, they're fully disclosed,
non-patented, and free, as in beer, to whoever needs to know them) one can
avoid the charge of being 'anti-microsoft'.

Also, basing your position as being against microsoft is a very negative
outlook.

Murf...