http://www.randomhacks.net/articles/2002/08/12/ca-open-source-bill en-us 40 Technology and Other Fun Stuff <p>According to <a href='http://news.com.com/2100-1001-949241.html'>CNET</a> (via <a href='http://lwn.net/'>LWN</a>), IBM, RedHat and several others are backing a bill which would prohibit the California government from purchasing proprietary software. If this is true, these companies have taken leave of their senses.</p> <p>I write free software for a living, and I would be <i>adamantly</i> opposed to any such legislation. This is bad strategy (it would only alienate potential users), bad policy (there <i>aren't</i> open source products in many important markets), bad politics (it makes the sponsors look like self-serving fools without even a chance of victory), and bad business (running to the government when you can't compete in the market is tacky).</p> <p>I have a hard time believing that RedHat is this dumb--or that IBM is this united behind a single proposal--so I'll wait a few days and see if CNET is misquoting the sponsors. But if the bill really says what CNET claims, I'm ready to oppose it.</p> Mon, 12 Aug 2002 00:00:00 +0000 urn:uuid:6da6bbc4-8e8f-47c0-b4b6-fd01f34caa11 Eric http://www.randomhacks.net/articles/2002/08/12/ca-open-source-bill http://www.randomhacks.net/articles/trackback/20