http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.org.fsf.uk hourly 1 1901-01-01T00:00+00:00 http://gmane.org/img/gmane-25t.png http://gmane.org http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.fsf.uk/6016 <pre>Goverment Open Standards consultation has just gone live. This is important stuff http://consultation.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/openstandards/ Please respond </pre> Glyn Wintle 2012-02-10T11:47:00 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.fsf.uk/6013 <pre>Want to help fight UK software patents? Please take a few moments to comment on these patents. https://ktn.innovateuk.org/web/peertopatentuk If there is some thing that prevents you from commenting, please point it out here. </pre> Glyn Wintle 2011-09-20T15:13:07 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.fsf.uk/6011 <pre>Lucky the figures were provided in CSV format! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14765545 Can Whitehall open up to open source? What's Whitehall's attitude to software procurement? A cynic might sum it up as "nobody ever got sacked for buying Microsoft". The current government has vowed to change the civil service mindset that has always preferred to spend money with the biggest firms and has been conservative about open source software. The Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude has vowed to create a level playing field for open source as part of a drive to cut costs. Now a BBC Freedom of Information (FOI) request has given us a glimpse of how big the challenge will be. We asked government departments for details of how much they had spent on proprietary software over the past year, and how much open source software they had acquired. The responses have been dribbling in for months now (available as a Google doc, an Excel spreadsheet or as separate .csv files below), and they've varied from detailed accounts of software and expenditure, to refusals to provide any information on the grounds that it would cost too much. Our excellent FOI researcher Julia Ross has compiled a spreadsheet of each department's responses. Mixed response This is not the kind of FOI request that unveils some shocking secret, but it does provide insights into the kind of software civil servants are buying, and why open-source providers may struggle to get a hearing. So, for instance, the Home Office provided a detailed list of about £26m worth of proprietary software acquired over 18 months. Of that, £21m went to just one business, Raytheon Systems for "IT, Broadcasting and Telecoms software". It seems extraordinary to push something like 80% of your software budget to one provider - but who knows whether an open-source supplier could have provided a product that would have done the job? The Ministry of Defence was unable to provide a breakdown but says its biggest IT organisation DE&amp;S ISS spent £40.7m on procuring software between February 2009 and March 2011. Perhaps not a huge budget for such a big organisation but where did the money go? They do mention a few products - much of it security software like McAfee Anti Virus - but do not say what individual items cost. In its response the department says that, while it is progressively taking a more centralised approach, "there is no centrally held record of software (proprietary or open source) held across the MOD". There is also a partial list of some open-source products used, including the Firefox browser - though last time I inquired it seemed you were more likely to find an ancient version of Internet Explorer on a soldier's desktop PC. By contrast, the Department for Schools did supply quite a lot of detail. One item that caught my eye was £164,063 on something called Colligo Solution. This is described as something which will "enhance the interoperability of Microsoft Office 2003 specifically Microsoft Outlook/Exchange 2003, with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007" for all of the department's 3,500 staff. I asked Stuart Mackintosh of the open-source firm OpusVL for his view on what the documents revealed. He is on a Cabinet Office committee advising on how open source might best be promoted in Whitehall, and is not unsympathetic to the efforts of some civil servants to make this happen. But he points to that Colligo Solution software - needed to upgrade an existing Microsoft program - as an example of the challenges. "I don't know the exact story with that product but often they've already wasted a lot of money in the wrong place," he says. "They're locked in, and then they need to pay more money to stay where they are." Uphill struggle He thinks there is a big cultural problem because, while civil servants know how to deal with big firms like Microsoft and have existing relationships with them, they simply don't know how to start with open source. "How do you buy something that's free?" he asks. "It's the job of people like me to help them work it out." Mr Mackintosh also believes that by outsourcing so much of its IT operations, Whitehall has lost the ability to understand what might work. He says: "They need to be able to take a few more risks, but they don't have the skills internally to assess the software." I also showed the documents to Bryan Glick who, as editor of Computer Weekly, spends much of his time reporting on government IT policy. Pointing at the numerous small amounts spent here and there he says: "It shows how little centralised spending control there is and how much duplication." This, he thought, reinforced what Sir Philip Green said in his purchasing review last year about government missing out on economies of scale. Bryan was not surprised that many of the government departments could not give us much detail on their software spending. "Where a large private sector firm would almost certainly have some form of software asset register for audit purposes, there's nothing like that in Whitehall," he explained, "although they're working on just that at the Cabinet Office." Right now, the idea of trying to work with Whitehall is pretty daunting to small, open-source providers. The good news is that there is plenty of political weight behind opening the doors to new software ideas - especially if they can save money. _______________________________________________ Fsfe-uk mailing list Fsfe-uk&lt; at &gt;gnu.org https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/fsfe-uk </pre> Jon Grant 2011-09-07T11:35:05 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.fsf.uk/6010 <pre>The EU is consulting on cloud computing until 31 August at http://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/ipm/forms/dispatch?form=cloudcomputing&amp;lang=en Cloud computing could be a great opportunity for free software, with potential for more users to take control of their computing infrastructure; but it could also be a great threat, which may make users even more vulnerable to proprietary lock-in at either server or service level. Have you answered this consultation? If so, anything you'd like to point out to other free software supporters before we undermine you? ;) Thanks, </pre> MJ Ray 2011-08-25T18:07:26 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.fsf.uk/6009 <pre>Hi, I noticed that you had a stand at Oggcamp last week. On 24th-25th September we have PyCon UK 2011, in Coventry. website : http://pyconuk.org wiki: http://pyconuk.net Maybe fsfe-uk would like to come and have a stand, even better give a Talk. PyCon UK is being run on an Unconference basis this year, so please add a talk to the Talks page if you wish, you just need to create a login first - follow the 'Create an Account' link on the wiki home page. Best wishes, John -- </pre> John Pinner 2011-08-21T13:15:01 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.fsf.uk/5991 <pre>Already sent to other lists, but in case you missed it: _19.00, Wednesday 30th March, Friends Meeting House Manchester_ This Wednesday is Document Freedom Day - a global celebration of Open Standards and document liberation (http://documentfreedom.org). I shall give a talk at 19.00 entitled Preserving culture &amp; knowledge with Open Standards, describing the relationship between the three and examining threats to our cultural future. There will be a question and answer session at the end, and probably some drinks too. I hope to see Free Software, Open Data and of course Open Standards enthusiasts in the audience! The location is right next to Manchester Central Library. More info here: http://www.quakertrading.co.uk/central-manchester/getting-here Unfortunately I had trouble booking a venue which explains the short notice. Best Wishes, Sam. </pre> Sam Tuke 2011-03-29T13:56:01 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.fsf.uk/5987 <pre>Gov survey in open standards, please respond http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/UKGovOpenStandards </pre> Glyn Wintle 2011-03-08T15:14:22 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.fsf.uk/5981 <pre>http://www.ipo.gov.uk/ipreview/ipreview-c4e/ipreview-c4e-paper.htm "The Government has asked Professor Ian Hargreaves to lead a short review of the Intellectual Property (IP) framework (law and practice) to consider how it might be changed in the interest of promoting innovation and economic growth. The Review will take into account the conclusions and evidence provided to previous reviews in this area, but we invite fresh evidence on the extent to which the current IP system successfully promotes innovation and growth and how it could do so more effectively." "[...] the Review seeks economic data and related evidence which are methodologically sound, robust and clearly sourced. Responses relying on empirical data should clearly identify the methodology used and any critical assumptions relied upon, identify the source(s) of the data, and provide a copy of or a citation to each such source. At the same time, the Review welcomes evidence in the form of case-studies and individual experiences which illustrate one or more of the issues under consideration." Submissions should be sent to the IP and Growth Review Team, by 4 March 2011. They prefer submissions to callforevidence&lt; at &gt;ipo.gov.uk Before we blunder into this minefield without a map, would anyone like to offer hints and tips about what would be best to submit? Thanks, </pre> MJ Ray 2011-02-21T12:26:36 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.fsf.uk/5969 <pre>Hello Everyone I have been trying to get a refund for the un-used/un-registered Windows7 which came with my Acer laptop. The retailer indicates only AcerUK can refund. Purchased on 6 Jan, I've been communicating about refund since mid Jan. Unfortunately AcerUK will only refund their cost (they said approx €30) if: A) I post the laptop to Plymouth at my expense. B) They wipe the HDD themselves (well.. already has Ubuntu on it now as it was wiped by me). I kept a few photos and records as I went, AcerUK indicate that is insufficient. If anyone has any suggestions, or examples how it has been achieved in the UK before I would love to hear. I found this old case, but was purchased direct from Dell: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6144782.stm Best regards, Jon </pre> Jon Grant 2011-02-08T22:42:07 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.fsf.uk/5967 <pre> Software Freedom Day (SFD) is an excellent annual opportunity to promote the Free Software philosophy. SFD is not widely known about in the UK, even among Free Software advocates! This needs to change. FFSUK is pushing to get events in all areas of the UK and to assist events in organising. SFD2011 is on Saturday, 17th September 2011. Current likely SFD2011 event locations in the UK: * Dundee o No 2011 page yet * Newcastle o No 2011 page yet * Manchester o No 2011 page yet * Herefordshire o No 2011 page yet * Devon o No 2011 page yet * London o No 2011 page yet If there are any locations in the UK that are going to run a SFD2011 event then please let us know at iwanttohelp at ffsuk dot org dot uk. FFSUK will focus on helping to start events in the following areas: * Northern Ireland * Yorkshire and the Humber * Wales * East Midlands * East of England * London If you would like to help with starting an SFD2011 event in these areas then please contact us at iwanttohelp at ffsuk dot org dot uk. FFSUK assisting in SFD: FFSUK will be assisting SFD marketing for the purpose of helping to promote SFD in the UK. Such as: * English communication including proof reading. * Contacting, and providing contacts of, local communities in the United Kingdom. FFSUK "Software Freedom Day (SFD) in the UK" project page: http://www.ffsuk.org.uk/sfd/ Regards, Mike. _______________________________________________ Fsfe-uk mailing list Fsfe-uk&lt; at &gt;gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/fsfe-uk </pre> Michael Dorrington 2011-02-03T09:34:45 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.fsf.uk/5966 <pre> Richard Stallman, aka rms, founder of the Free Software Foundation (FSF), GNU's Not Unix (GNU) and the Free Software Movement is doing a speaking tour of Great Britain (unfortunately, Northern Ireland is not included in the tour) at the beginning of March 2011. FFSUK recommends attendance. The individual events are being organised by local IET &lt;http://www.theiet.org/&gt; committees and *registration is required*. FFSUK will be present at all the events. If you would like to chat with us before or after an event then please let us know at iwanttohelp at ffsuk dot org dot uk. Locations with dates: * Cambridge on Tuesday, 1st March 2011 Registration open. Cambridge event details and registration: http://www.theiet.org/local/uk/east/cambridge/free-software.cfm * Preston on Wednesday, 2nd March 2011 Registration open. Preston event details and registration: http://www.theiet.org/local/uk/northwest/lancs-cumbria/freedigitalsocietyMarch2011.cfm * Dundee on Thursday, 3rd March 2011 Venue to be confirmed. * Sheffield on Saturday, 5th March 2011 Registration open. Sheffield event details and registration: http://www.theiet.org/local/uk/yorks/south/11-03-stallman-lecture.cfm * London on Monday, 7th March 2011 Venue to be confirmed. * Brighton on Tuesday, 8th March 2011 Registration open. Brighton event details and registration: http://www.theiet.org/local/uk/southeast/sussex/rs-soft-pat.cfm FFSUK "Richard Stallman (rms) in the UK 2011" project page: http://www.ffsuk.org.uk/rms2011/ Regards, Mike. _______________________________________________ Fsfe-uk mailing list Fsfe-uk&lt; at &gt;gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/fsfe-uk </pre> Michael Dorrington 2011-02-03T09:29:22 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.fsf.uk/5960 <pre>Hi all, Am looking for some where to buy a new netbook/notebook for use with GNU+Linux (current dev machine, Compaq 702EA intel atom is on last legs) Found only two shops doing sans-microsoft laptops, linux emporium, and novatech. All of those on offer are pretty heavy, or netbooks from old gen intel atom with only 1GB RAM etc. Looking around, my current short list from regular retailers is: Samsung X125 11 inch Asus Eee PC 1215N 12 inch Asus Eee PC 1201N 12 inch HP Pavilion dv2-1127ea 12 inch Reading online sounds like Asus don't bother supporting linux kernel drivers anymore, so i may avoid them. Anyone have any tips!? Please reply ASAP if comments, as VAT is going up so I only have 22 hours left to order! Cheers, Jon </pre> Jon Grant 2011-01-03T02:26:28 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.fsf.uk/5958 <pre>Some of you may have seen the recent blog post http://blogs.fsfe.org/maelle/?p=60 about those government websites which link to Adobe's PDF reader which is also discussed at http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.fsf.europe.discussion/3597 I'm pretty sure that links are advertising. Lots of businesses would love an main-body link from .gov.uk and would probably pay for them. Heck, I get approaches offering to buy links on much less attractive sites that the co-op maintaines. However, does anyone know the law about advertising on ukgov websites? Are those adverts legal in the UK? Thanks for any info, </pre> MJ Ray 2010-10-07T09:09:15 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.fsf.uk/5956 <pre>Is anyone available and interested to do some GTK and Graphics programming for a project my company is going for? The work would be done on a full-time basis in London. We don't have anyone available currently so thought I would ask here. I realise this isn't a recruitment list, but thought I would try asking as it is GTK + Graphics programming work! While the APIs are GTK, and would be working on a GNU+Linux environment, the end product won't be GPL. So would need to be happy working on that basis. My company is well established, and well funded, so there would not be any problems getting paid promptly on time every month! Give me a quick email off list if anyone is interested in this. Best regards, Jon </pre> Jon Grant 2010-09-28T19:45:33 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.fsf.uk/5955 <pre>"UK Gov IT chief backs open source, small business" The UK government’s deputy Chief Information Officer has outlined plans to hand public sector IT contracts over to small businesses and suppliers of open-source and cloud-based solutions in an attempt to balance the books. http://www.thinq.co.uk/2010/9/22/uk-gov-it-chief-backs-open-source-small-business/ </pre> Jon Grant 2010-09-23T22:27:16 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.fsf.uk/5939 <pre>_______________________________________________ Fsfe-uk mailing list Fsfe-uk&lt; at &gt;gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/fsfe-uk </pre> Sam Tuke 2010-09-13T14:59:14 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.fsf.uk/5938 <pre>_______________________________________________ Fsfe-uk mailing list Fsfe-uk&lt; at &gt;gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/fsfe-uk </pre> Michael Dorrington 2010-09-04T10:45:32 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.fsf.uk/5935 <pre>Thanks to Andrew who drew my attention to the message from Jon Grant re the OSS Watch newsletter. We've fixed the dodgy email link (ooops), it should be info &lt;at&gt; oss-watch.ac.uk Since Jon has never heard of us I imagine others here are in the same position. So I thought I'd introduce us. We are an advisory service to the UK Higher and Further education sector on all things Free and Open Source. That is we advise on legal issues, procurement and software development. For more information see http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk/about/ Our relationship with FSFE and FSFE-UK is not as strong as it could be. Last year we updated our advisory committee and invited Phil Hands to represent the Free Software point of view. My understanding that Phil is a member of FSFE-UK. Unfortunately Phil has been unable to participate in any of our three advisory meetings to date. For more information about our advisory committee see http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk/advisory/membership.xml I'm now subscribed to this list and I see it is fairly low traffic so I might even stay subscribed. I look forward to seeking opportunities for positive collaboration. Ross </pre> Ross Gardler 2010-08-16T15:07:18 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.fsf.uk/5933 <pre>People may be interested in this.. -------- Original Message -------- Subject: OSS Watch's August newsletter published Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2010 11:34:03 +0100 From: Elena Blanco &lt;elena.blanco&lt; at &gt;OUCS.OX.AC.UK&gt; Reply-To: Elena Blanco &lt;elena.blanco&lt; at &gt;OUCS.OX.AC.UK&gt; To: OSSWATCH-ANNOUNCE&lt; at &gt;JISCMAIL.AC.UK We are pleased to say that OSS Watch's August newsletter has been published at http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk/newsletters/august2010.pdf As you know we are here to help you so why not put us to work? This month's featured article comes from Steve Lee who explains how to engage OSS Watch in support of your project bid. The full version of Steve's article, available on the OSS Watch website, also includes a checklist designed to be used as you work on your bid. In his blog piece Sander van der Waal talks about how OSS Watch has helped the Wookie project sustain itself beyond its initial funding period. To round us off Rowan Wilson brings us a chilling tale about what happens when the debates around software licensing meet the realities of using a pacemaker. Scary stuff. As ever, do let us know if we can help you by emailing info&lt; at &gt;osswatch-ac.uk . Elena -- Elena Blanco, OSS Watch http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk </pre> Tim Dobson 2010-08-10T13:32:44 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.fsf.uk/5924 <pre>-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA256 Can open source be secure? http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=conWebDoc.36428 And have a read of the comments on it. Cheers, Mike. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iQIcBAEBCAAGBQJMUp26AAoJENdybD6q+OPvF4EQALNyNLb0F0kZm0+T8rDi+OsC d6kSoeTLM9V2qbXhqPQjUnsZDpMQPMnTuqy53tdyF3cH4LHNMj7BYcrhLFsXsk5S 2x+GJlP7Sib1j1yz20ZhCkHdJL0VJCntmFkEju4gmw6Nljs/v7i7dzVXe6NbxGtu 0vuOxkXXoCiqHJW0qXojnWatz3hI5+t/v7AmlMMNWBs42O0cYcpHR0noCUZr0BSS tXzdagKHXmBcFD2YdF4qA/eW+Z84/YHey0r8XSpIqcUf670BXPE4ytikpMjaWPYN 1unstaMCsC7M45WTh9Hhj3g+iszGQwUT+hJUXVoZi7gEzfIaCyovRp+DMjmVqt8H x7PQ1PagIWAL00/LKv4l2+EY0hZW7SKUVTQg5yykHIUkvtvrxU5ZAglST3bjYIR4 pm93DxS29pDfBubuN7xxys7mBvGvHSZ0Dm4/5TFTn50D+e+HylRKepkChY3nMK5h 4Bi8sgGgdabgt/M/V+dB+i7/0U6a+O5y3zWcHoiuzOevnsU3N8GtVm1OZ/je4D3y RC30yT51zc8B/lwp7PDsrthQMlDvj7g72N0Jhpdm2MdFPRIKY+EI2g5IxxElagck c4tmzJBhsD9sx7vnXjboHGJsD3Uv7NU6QLoqc17mfsiSQPie5uOyvss+HxBWXdnC Pmqd1FcDp2RdLcC05VTM =vVY2 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- </pre> Michael Dorrington 2010-07-30T09:39:06 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.fsf.uk/5922 <pre>(Please forward this email to anyone you think it might interest) This email is Manchester specific, but Young Rewired State is happening across the UK. :) - What is Young Rewired State? Young Rewired State (YRS) is a initiative that aims to support young developers and coders in using public data to build apps, websites and anything else that people may use. It is about mashing up and getting out there with data people may not have seen or experienced before. - Who can take part? Anyone aged between 15-18. - When is it? YRS will take place *next week* between Monday 2nd August and Friday 6th August 2010 - Where is it taking place? YRS is taking place at centres across the country - there are centres in Brighton, London, Norwich, Oxford, Birmingham and Manchester. In Manchester we will be based at the MadLab - a space well-known for digital collaboration in the city centre. - What will happen? We will meet on the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the MadLab and work together on ideas and developments. On Friday 6th August we will take the train down to London to meet the other teams, show &amp; tell our work and perhaps win a prize! - Do I need to have skills? The nature of Young Rewired State means that people will get quite technical however we are looking more for a mindset rather than simply technical skills. If you have programming experience then you are very welcome and if you are interested in developing apps, websites or good uses of public data, then by all means come along. Basically, we want you to have 'tinkered' with computers in your own time and of your own accord. - What time will it be each day? We can meet at MadLab at 10.30am each day, and try and finish around 5pm or so. - Who else is involved? In Manchester we are supported by the MadLab and staff from Substance, Blackpool Council and Digital Freedom in Education and Youth. All support staff will be CRB checked and we will always be in a group. - How much does the whole week cost to attend? It's free to attend. Nada. Nothing. £0.00. All we ask is that you commit to turning up on time each day. :) - Do I need to register? Yes - there is a central registration form at YRS (http://events.osmosoft.com/recipes/yrs/tiddlers.wiki ), but if you would be as kind to email us to let us know that you've registered we can pass information straight over to you! - What else do I need to do? We need to know that you've told an responsible adult as to where you'll be - particularly if you come to London. By all means, put them in contact with us, if there is anything not clear? - So, why should I do this? YRS is the great opportunity to develop the next killer app whilst getting a headstart into IT and meeting people at the cutting edge of technology! - It's been a long time since I was 18 but this sounds rather exciting, is there any way I can lend a hand? Yes! Can you forward this email to anyone who would be interested in attending? Please do pass it on! We are looking for extra sponsors and mentors. Donations of developer time, money or prizes would be very gratefully recieved. Contact the organisers: Tim Dobson/Steven Flower: yrs&lt; at &gt;tdobson.net Tim: 01457 597 007 --- P.S. Sorry if you've recieved this via several lists </pre> Tim Dobson 2010-07-28T00:01:48 Search the mailing list at Gmane query http://search.gmane.org/?group=$group=gmane.org.fsf.uk