[kictanet] Standard Digital News : State warned on ditching copyrighted software

[Moses Muya]

Naturally,if anyone wanted advice on Open Source, Microsoft shouldn't be
their first stop! Such F.U.D statements as, " ...The Government stands to
lose to hackers, freedom to third party modification coming with Free and
Open Source Software it plans to adopt increases chances of Internet
attacks..."
should be totally ignored! The security of a system is only as good as the
level of skills of the people setting them up, not whether they are open
source or proprietary! But I understand where the gentleman is coming from,
if I worked for Microsoft, I would denounce all Open Source systems that I
love - without blinking!

Secondly, a lot needs to be done as far as educating stakeholders on how
Open Source systems  work and their benefits - chief of them all - REDUCED
COSTS! I won't bore you with the details of other benefits! Maybe the media
should also be included in the stakeholder education. To begin with, the
heading  'State warned on ditching copyrighted software' was misleading
since it implied that Open Source software CANNOT be copyrighted!

Finally, let no one tell you we lack the skills to set up and maintain Open
Source systems! I would be more than glad to give you a long list of people
on this mailing list who have deployed Open Source systems for the largest
telco in Kenya, Insurance companies, Banks, Micro-Finance institutions and
even The National Security Intelligence Service! What is so different about
the government that it can't be powered by Open Source software? Which
organisation needs more efficient systems than banks? Which organisation
needs systems more secure than the ones being used by the N.S.I.S?

On 15 September 2012 12:10, <awatila at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> Last week, the Government issued a warning that in the next three
> years it will move its IT operations to Free and Open Source Software
> (FOSS), a move that will reduce cost by more than half in IT expenses.
>
> http://www.standardmedia.co.**ke/?articleID=2000066158&**
> story_title=State-warned-on-**ditching-copyrighted-software<http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000066158&story_title=State-warned-on-ditching-copyrighted-software>
>
>
>
> Alex Watila
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> Kenya School of Law
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-- 
Kind Regards,

Moses Muya.
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