Naturally,if anyone wanted advice on Open Source, Microsoft shouldn't be their first stop! Such F.U.D statements as, " ...The Government stands to lose to hackers, freedom to third party modification coming with Free and Open Source Software it plans to adopt increases chances of Internet attacks..." should be totally ignored! The security of a system is only as good as the level of skills of the people setting them up, not whether they are open source or proprietary! But I understand where the gentleman is coming from, if I worked for Microsoft, I would denounce all Open Source systems that I love - without blinking! Secondly, a lot needs to be done as far as educating stakeholders on how Open Source systems work and their benefits - chief of them all - REDUCED COSTS! I won't bore you with the details of other benefits! Maybe the media should also be included in the stakeholder education. To begin with, the heading 'State warned on ditching copyrighted software' was misleading since it implied that Open Source software CANNOT be copyrighted! Finally, let no one tell you we lack the skills to set up and maintain Open Source systems! I would be more than glad to give you a long list of people on this mailing list who have deployed Open Source systems for the largest telco in Kenya, Insurance companies, Banks, Micro-Finance institutions and even The National Security Intelligence Service! What is so different about the government that it can't be powered by Open Source software? Which organisation needs more efficient systems than banks? Which organisation needs systems more secure than the ones being used by the N.S.I.S? On 15 September 2012 12:10, <awatila@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

Last week, the Government issued a warning that in the next three years it will move its IT operations to Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), a move that will reduce cost by more than half in IT expenses.

http://www.standardmedia.co.**ke/?articleID=2000066158&** story_title=State-warned-on-**ditching-copyrighted-software<http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000066158&story_title=State-warned-on-ditching-copyrighted-software>

Alex Watila ICT Manager Kenya School of Law Langata-South Road, Karen P.O. Box 30369 00100 Nairobi skype: awatila Telkom Wireless +254(020) 2699581,2699582, 2699583, 2699584, 2699585, 2699586 Tel +254 20 8890 044/94, 8891 399, 8891 200 Fax +254 20 8891 722 “You can visit KSL on the internet at www.ksl.ac.ke”

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