Government
http://badvista.fsf.org
daily12007-03-30T18:09:52ZUK citizens: Sign this free software petition by July 22 http://badvista.fsf.org/blog/uk-citizens-sign-this-free-software-petition-by-july-22 <p>An important part of the BadVista.org campaign is <a href="http://badvista.fsf.org/blog/support-governments-moving-away-from-windows-vista-and
-toward-free-software">making sure our respective governments
know</a>
that we think it's their obligation to use free software. </p>
<p>UK citizens can <a href="http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Open-IT-projects/">sign this
petition</a> in support of requiring
that all publicly funded software projects publish source code under a free
license.</p>
<p>There are currently 801 signatures. Let's see how many more we can get beforethe July 22 deadline.</p>
<p>Is there one out there for your country? Can you start one?</p>
No publisherjohns2007-07-05T21:13:35ZCOREBlog EntrySupport governments moving away from Windows Vista and toward free software http://badvista.fsf.org/blog/support-governments-moving-away-from-windows-vista-and-toward-free-software <!-- -*-mode:nxml-*- -->
<!-- $Id: governments.txt,v 1.1.1.1 2007/04/20 16:56:35 johns Exp $ -->
<p>
Since the launch of Vista several governments and government agencies around
the world have said publicly that they will not use it, including the US
Department of Transportation and the US National Institute of Standards and
Technology. But we need to make sure that the space this creates is filled by
free software operating systems like GNU/Linux.
</p>
<p>
In some cases, governments are instead moving to other kinds of proprietary
software. This is why we need to emphasize the <strong>freedom</strong> of free
software operating systems like GNU/Linux and not just their technical
advantages (as represented by the term “open source”). What we want
is not the rejection of Microsoft in particular—we want governments to
acknowledge the ethical ramifications of their software choices and leave
proprietary software behind entirely.
</p>
<p>
Though the rejections so far are good news, we shouldn't get complacent. In
some cases these Vista bans are being presented as only temporary measures,
with Vista still under long-term consideration. We still need to let our
government officials know that we support free software.
</p>
<p>
If you are a Massachusetts resident, you can let Governor Patrick know that you
want the Commonwealth to free itself from proprietary software interests for
good by going to <a
href="http://devalpatrick.com/issue/freesoftware">http://devalpatrick.com/issue/freesoftware</a>
and endorsing the issue.
</p>
<p>
What can be done in other states, and other countries?
</p>
<p>
<a href="http://del.icio.us/badvista/government"><em>Read more Stories about
government agencies that have rejected Windows Vista.</em></a>
</p>
No publisherjohns2007-04-20T18:11:12ZCOREBlog Entry