Thursday, September 18, 2003
Microsoft Vs Governments
The last issue of the Economist carried an excellent story on governments shifting to open-source software and the software and the consternation it is causing in Redmond. In my mind, governments -- especially developing country ones -- using open-source software is a no-brainer, even for reasons other than cost.
In theory, the software's transparency increases security because “backdoors” used by hackers can be exposed and programmers can root out bugs from the code. The software can also be tailored to the user's specific needs, and upgrades happen at a pace chosen by the user, not the vendor. And, of course, there is no risk of being locked in to a single vendor
Obviously, Microsoft does not agree. Here's part of the reason why.
Government purchases of software totalled almost $17 billion globally in 2002, and the figure is expected to grow by about 9% a year for the next five years, according to IDC, a market-research firm (see chart). Microsoft controls a relatively small part of this market, with sales to governments estimated at around $2.8 billion. But it is a crucial market, because when a government opts for a particular technology, the citizens and businesses that deal with it often have to fall into line.
In theory, the software's transparency increases security because “backdoors” used by hackers can be exposed and programmers can root out bugs from the code. The software can also be tailored to the user's specific needs, and upgrades happen at a pace chosen by the user, not the vendor. And, of course, there is no risk of being locked in to a single vendor
Obviously, Microsoft does not agree. Here's part of the reason why.
Government purchases of software totalled almost $17 billion globally in 2002, and the figure is expected to grow by about 9% a year for the next five years, according to IDC, a market-research firm (see chart). Microsoft controls a relatively small part of this market, with sales to governments estimated at around $2.8 billion. But it is a crucial market, because when a government opts for a particular technology, the citizens and businesses that deal with it often have to fall into line.
