If Microsoft chairman Bill Gates thought he had worries about open source stealing market share from Microsoft in the Australian public sector, Malaysia has just proved to be a much bigger problem.
Less than a month after Gates' high-profile roadshow through Asia, the Malaysian government has mandated the in-house deployment of open source software (OSS) in what may well be the biggest national backlash against proprietary software in the world, according to a report in Malaysia's national daily newspaper.
The technology section of The Star Online reports all Malaysian government technology procurement will be required to give preference to open source software under a new Malaysian Public Sector Open Source Software Masterplan.
The report quotes the Masterplan as saying, "Where advantages and disadvantages of OSS and proprietary software are equal, preference shall be given to OSS."
Chief secretary to the Malaysian government, Tan Sri Samsudin Osman is also quoted as saying that ICT suppliers will have to follow the government's lead in light of the new government commitment to the plan.
Osman was speaking at a government-sponsored Open Source Competency Centre, which is aimed at getting Malaysian OSS skill sets up and running.
Outwardly, the plan appears nothing short of bold with targets set for public sector suppliers as early as next year.
The Star quotes government sources as saying 60 percent of all new servers must "be able to run OSS operating systems" along with "30 percent of office infrastructure" such as e-mail, DNS and proxy servers .
In schools, 20 percent of computer labs will be required to run OSS applications.
In Australia, the Australian Government Information Management Office has also revealed it is preparing an open source procurement guide to assist its internal IT buyers to evaluate needs and systems before making purchasing decisions.
However, the Australian document will not be binding government policy and will allow users to make their own decisions in line with value for money and best practice.
The Star's story can be found at http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story
Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services. Discover the advantages of an open architecture multi-vendor network solution
Delivering the Power of Choice with Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Making the Business Case for IT Consolidation
How to improve employee productivity in small and medium businesses
Achieving the impossible: Unlimited application scalability
Everything you need to know about email and web security (but were afraid to ask)
Strategies for Eliminating .PST Files
Gaining Competitive Advantage Through Enterprise Planning
Zones provide focussed content from Computerworld and leading technology partners.
Discover how SOA can create smarter outcomes for your business.
Attend and learn:
- How SOA is helping leading companies to become more agile
- Where you should be applying SOA processes in your company
- The top SOA implementation mistakes to avoid
Click here for more information.
- +
Computerworld Live Podcast #97: The Future of Enterprise Networking 25/07/2008 09:45:36
This week CW Live chats with Mark Thompson, global sales and marketing manager for HP ProCurve, on the future of the enterprise networking. Mark discusses the trends we can expect to see in the near future and how the right infrastructure can ensure your enterprise network is secure. - +
Computerworld Live Podcast #96: Security at the Edge 11/06/2008 09:22:22
CW Live speaks with Amol Mitra, HP ProCurve Director of Marketing for Asia Pacific and Japan. Today's topic: how enterprises are starting to shift away from simply controlling security via server logins, firewalls and moving to more adaptive security frameworks. - +
Data Management Edition #10: Multi-Petascale Systems 02/05/2008 09:12:33
This week we look at sustainability and the development of multicore technologies to build multi-petascale systems. - +
IT Security Edition #11: How to poison the Storm botnet 01/05/2008 08:51:55
This week CW Live presents a case study on how to poison the notorious Storm botnet . Plus we take a look at Cisco's plans for Ironport. - +
IT Security Edition #10: Cyber-battles fought and won 24/04/2008 11:09:47
Vendors bow to end user pressure to improve product security, and we take a look at the latest concepts shaping the cyber-battlefield of the future.
AARNet Helps to Advance Indigenous Health 2008-12-02 12:44:00+11
Orbis selects Telstra International as its data centre partner for the UK, Europe and Middle East Region 2008-12-02 11:23:00+11
ComOps Deploys Corporate Performance Reporting Solution For Healthcare Test Manufacturer 2008-12-02 10:09:00+11
Mornington Peninsula Shire implements Objective to manage knowledge and deliver service excellence 2008-12-02 09:56:00+11
Virtual magic: HR specialist throws out 40 servers, adds 8TB SAN and saves $100,000 for disaster recovery 2008-12-01 15:28:00+11
Strategies for Eliminating .PST Files
Join industry expert Martin Tuip to discover best practice strategy for the archival and removal of .PST files using email archiving. Learn how to ensure long-term email records are there when needed, and reduce the risk to your business and clients.
Buying Guides
