FOSS

What to know why FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) and open standards are important? South African Minister of Public Service and Administration Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi does a wonderful job explaining in her opening remarks for the Idlelo African Conference on FOSS and Digital Commons. A text version of her speech is also available.

Let's hope that more politicians and decision makers around the globe become as informed as those in South Africa.

The Objective Observer wrote an article entitled, "Penguin Suicide Bombers: The Terrorism of Open Source". The article is quite inflammatory although along the way the author tries to justify his handle. In any event, I thought it important to give the author the benefit of the doubt and to try my best to set the record straight... or my version of it anyway... in as positive a way as possible. What follows are the two, somewhat quick emails (please forgive any typos) I sent in response to the article... oh, and I'll be happy to include any responses I get back from him if any.