[Ubuntu-PH] FOSS Bill (From the side of Ted Casino)

[Jopes]

Tagal ko nang naghahanap ng isang matinding FOSS speech / talk / interview
na hango sa kontekstong Pinoy. Mahusay na interview / link, Miss Yolynne.

On 12/14/06, Yolynne Medina <yolynne at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> http://www.chinwong.com/index.php/site/comments/fear_and_loathing_of_foss/
>
>
> =====
>
> Fear and loathing of FOSS
>
> BACK when IBM was the de facto standard in computing, an engineer who
> left to start his own company learned that market leaders do not
> suffer competition lightly.
>
> "FUD is the fear, uncertainty and doubt that IBM sales people instill
> in the minds of potential customers who might be considering [our]
> products," said Gene Amdahl, who founded Amdahl Corp. in the 1970s to
> compete head-to-head with IBM. Thus was born yet another
> computer-industry acronym to describe a marketing tactic based on
> sowing fear and doubt.
>
> As it was in those days, the point of any FUD campaign is to persuade
> buyers to go with the safe, established brand rather than try
> something new, even though the alternative might be cheaper, better or
> both.
>
> FUD campaigns warn of the dark consequences of straying from the
> market leader, even when such fears might be unfounded or based on the
> wrong assumptions.
>
> From the looks of it, the first shots in a FUD campaign have been
> fired against Rep. Teddy Casiño's bill, which seeks to encourage the
> use and development of free and open source software (FOSS).
> The United Nations Development Program has endorsed FOSS as a good way
> for developing countries to narrow the digital divide and develop
> their own IT industries without breaking the bank—or condoning piracy.
> All in all, a pretty good deal that has enabled a country such as
> Brazil to save $150 million a year in software licensing costs.
>
> But FOSS has powerful enemies—people who don't like the idea of losing
> $150 million a year from Brazil, and who knows how much more from the
> Philippine government if that darn Casiño bill passes.
> Coincidentally, the first shots were fired almost simultaneously by
> columnists who echoed the views of Microsoft and other big vendors of
> proprietary software represented by the Business Software Alliance.
> None of them, it seems, bothered to talk to Casiño.
>
> To correct the imbalance, I interviewed the congressman and asked him
> to respond to points raised against his bill. The responses are based
> on the interview and e-mail exchanges.
>
> On the charge that the bill was handed ready-made to Casiño by some
> vested interest.
> That really took us by surprise. We were expecting criticism of the
> bill itself, but this came from left field. We were thinking, who
> among the small players in the industry would have the capacity to do
> that? We were very proud about the way the bill was developed because
> we felt that we followed the principles of open source. We posted a
> draft on the Web, solicited a lot of feedback and from there we
> developed the bill.
>
> The bill is anti-free market.
> Our critics say the bill favors one technology platform over the
> other. But FOSS is not a technology platform. You can call it a
> business model.
>
> We are not prohibiting the use of commercial, proprietary software by
> the government much less the private sector. What we want to ensure is
> that such expensive, overbearing and restrictive software products are
> to be used by government only if there is no corresponding, viable and
> dependable free and open source alternative.
>
> The essence of free markets is a level playing field. In technology,
> that means open standards and interoperability. That means products
> that can work across various platforms and protocols. FOSS is actually
> more free market and more laissez-faire than the proprietary model,
> which tends toward monopolies.
>
> The people who say this bill is anti-free market are the people who
> want to retain the current, monopolized structure of the industry and
> to equate the existence of these monopolies to a successful capitalist
> model.
>
> If you use FOSS as a business model, what will emerge are more
> sellers, more buyers, more choice and therefore you have a freer, more
> vibrant market that is not prone to monopoly. That's why I think it's
> hypocritical—or ignorant—for people to say that this bill is anti-free
> market.
>
> Won't the bill kill local businesses that depend on selling
> proprietary software?
> People in the industry know that technology develops quickly and
> understand what being obsolete is all about. They should know by now
> that FOSS is an undeniable trend. It's time they consider changes in
> their business models, just like any other business. For example, the
> restaurant business used to be mom-and-pop and home-cooked meals, but
> eventually the business model became fast foods and franchises. Same
> thing with the software industry. Nothing stops these companies from
> developing FOSS products. Software production, after all, is a matter
> of choosing what language to use. The principles are the same.
>
> Won't retraining cost a lot of money?
> I look at this as a long-term strategy. The UNDP says the benefits are
> not in the immediate but in the long term. The initial costs [for
> migrating] may be relatively big, but if you look at the long term, it
> will be better, not only cheaper.
>
> We would like discussions to go into more long-term, substantial
> issues – the development of a self-reliant industry and accessibility
> of information technology. Because FOSS is easier to localize, more
> Filipinos would use IT products that are designed for their needs and
> locality, unlike proprietary software that tends to be a
> one-size-fits-all solution.
>
> ***
>
> Towards the end of the interview, I asked Casiño what were the
> prospects that his bill would pass, given that there's a Microsoft
> Competency Center right inside Congress. He smiled and acknowledged
> that Microsoft has been very supportive of the IT projects of many
> congressmen. On the other hand, he said, this was the same Congress
> that passed the Generics Drug Act, so they know the benefit of open
> standards. "There are open standards for drugs. Why not for IT?" he
> asked. Why not, indeed?
> Posted by Chin on 12/12/06 at 06:34 AM
>
>  __._,_.___
>
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>
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>


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Belated Labor Day (ano daw?)!

Jofell S. Gallardo
www.jofell.com

Founding Engineer
Xacktunes - iTunes backup application
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