Citizens Against Common Sense

I came across this press release linked from Slashdot. Seems that “The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste” has taken exception to Massachusetts mandating OSS software for all state expenditures. Now I’m not really a fan of barring anyone from the marketplace, but I gotta make an exception when it’s one of the most rabidly anti-competitive corporations known to man. Lemmie take a stab at a few of the “points” in the press release.

“People mistakenly refer to Linux as ‘free’ software because it can be freely altered and distributed. Yet while the software itself is free, the cost to maintain and upgrade it can become very expensive.” Bullsh*t. All the TCO studies that have been done have shown that claim to be false. Speaking as a systems admin, I can automate just about every aspect of our linux boxen to the point that I’m almost not needed on a day-to-day basis. I’ve tried that with the other os, and without paying $$$ for a specialized server I’m pretty much sol.

“It is ironic that Massachusetts, as the only state remaining in the lawsuit accusing Microsoft of antitrust violations, is creating its own state-imposed monopoly on software.” I fail to see the monopoly here. Anyone’s software is welcome, as long as it’s licesensed in a free (as in speech) manner. This doesn’t hurt the marketplace at all, and I’m betting that in our current economy it will actually help.

There’s more there, but it’s the usual FUD and I’ve got work to do….