IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Fall 2013 - 46

Table I
Existing Government Support For OS Software
Country

Proposal

Date Adopted

Singapore [6]

Government agency charged with planning and executing strategies to boost
the Singapore economy offered temporary tax reductions and financial grants
to fund Linux-related projects.

2001

Germany [6]

Compensation legislation require that right holders (such as copyright holders)
may not waive in advance their rights to adequate compensation for use of their
works, with the exception for OS lobbyists that grant rights to simple use of the
work to the general public.
Bundestag mandated a new IT environment: Linux on servers,
Windows on desktop.
Government-IBM agreement that offers German government offices discounts
on IBM machines with pre-installed Linux provided by German Linux distributor
SuSE.
Legislation mandating OS software must be given preference in municipal
governments in Recife, Campinas, Solonopole, Amparo, Sao Carlos, and Porto
Alegre.
The policy on Open Standards for e-governance mandates adoption of royaltyfree open standards for all e-governance projects.

January 2002

Brazil [6]

India [6]

from the OS community will
not be a challenge.
Establish a team to counteract
software counterfeiting and
enforce the law against software piracy.
It is also argued [6] that,
between two systems producing
a public good and giving exactly
the same result, one that releases
the information produced by
that good freely and one that
does not, public policy should
favor free access. Thus even a
"neutral" government must be
in favor of OS software.

■

Open Source Software
Benefits
The benefits that OS software can
bring to individuals and businesses
in developing countries, the barriers
to its adoption, and current government support for OS software have
been presented. Based on the results
of a survey carried out on OS software in Mauritius in 2011, and results
of recently published international
surveys, a proposed ICT framework
for OSSpolicy has been developed
and presented. While the proposed
OSSpolicy will be particularly useful
in enabling developing countries -
since they are still in the process of
building their IT capabilities - to
46

embrace current ICT innovations and
harness the benefits of OS software,
it may also prove beneficial to some
developed countries that are looking
for more cost-effective but equally
capable infrastructure and application solutions.

Author Information
The authors are with the Computer
Science and Engineering Department, University of Mauritius.

References

[1] Open Source Initiative. The Open Source
Initiative [Online]. Available: http://www.
opensource.org/
[2] K. Sulayman, "free and OS software
sustainability and innovation: Lessons learnt
from Sub-Saharan Africa," in Proc ICIA 2011,
2011, pap. no. 31, pp. 199-203.
[3] The Register, "Time to dispel OS myths,"
Government Computing: Information Management in Public Services, feb. 10, 2012 [Online].
Available: http://www.government computing.
com/news/2012/feb/10/open-source-softwarestandards-liam-maxwell.
[4] C. Metz, "Microsoft gives Windows Azure
Amazonian face lift," Wired, Jun. 6, 2012
[Online]. Available: http://www.wired.com/
wiredenterprise/2012/06/zure-appfog/.
[5] Department of Public Service & Administration, South Africa, Policy on Free and OS Software use for South African Government, Aug.
2006 [Online]. Available: http://www.info.gov.
za/view/DownloadfileAction?id=94490.
[6] R.W. Hahn, "Government policy towards
open source software: An overview," in Government Policy Toward OS Software, R.W.
Hahn, Ed. Washington, DC: AEI-Brookings
Joint Center for Regulatory Studies, 2002,
pp. 1-11.

March 2002
June 2002

2001

2011

[7] North Bridge, "Sixth Annual future of OSsurvey results point to era of Open Innovation on demand" 2012 [Online]. Available:http://www.nbvp.
com/sixth-annual-future-open-source-surveyresults-point-era-%E2%80%9Copen-innovationdemand%E2%80%9D, accessedJune 2012.
[8] A. Nguyen, "Accenture believe OS adoptionby CIOs is taking off: But cost no longer
the key driver," in CIO Business Technology
Leadership, Aug. 6, 2010 [Online]. Available:
http://www.cio.co.uk/news/3234464/accenturebelieve-open-source-adoption-by-cios-istaking-off/.
[9] f. Rashid, "Open-Source Software going
main streamin Enterprises: Survey," eWeek,
May 19, 2011 [Online]. Available: http://
www.eweek.com/c/a/Linux-and-Open-Source/
OpenSource-Software-Going-Mainstream-inEnterprises-Survey-376198/.
[10] Cynapse, OS: Freedom of Choice, 2012
[Online]. Available: http://www.cynapse.com/
resources/benefits-open-source.
[11] K. Noyes, "10 Reasons OS is good for
business," in PC World, Nov. 5, 2010 [Online]. Available: http://www.pcworld.com/
businesscenter/article/209891/10_reasons_
open_source_is_good_for_business.html.
[12] GB direct, Benefits of using OS Software
[Online]. Available: http://open-source.gbdirect.
co.uk/migration/benefit.html; accessed Jun. 15,
2013.
[13] f. Mansfield, "McNealy highlights benefits of OS software at day twoof POSSCON
2012," Carolina Report and News, Mar.
30, 2012 [Online]. Available: http://www.
datelinecarolina.org/story/17287000/mcnealyhighlights-benefits-of-open-source-softwareat-day-two-of-posscon-2012.
[14] D. farber, "Sixbarriers to OS adoption,"
ZDNet, Mar. 29, 2004 [Online]. Available:
http://www.zdnetasia.com/six-barriers-toopen-source-adoption-39173298.htm.
[15] Computer Economics, Key Advantages of
OS is Not Cost Savings, May 2005 [Online].
Available:
http://www.computereconomics.
com/article.cfm?id=1043.

IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

fALL 2013

http://www.cio.co.uk/news/3234464/accenture http://http:// http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Linux-and-Open-Source/ http://www http://www.cynapse.com/ http://www.opensource.org/ http://www.pcworld.com/ http://www.open-source.gbdirect http://www.government http://www.co.uk/migration/benefit.html http://www.wired.com/ http://www http://www.datelinecarolina.org/story/17287000/mcnealy http://www.info.gov http://www.zdnetasia.com/six-barriers-to http://www.computereconomics

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