MS geeft korting om Linux buiten de deur te houden

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Dit lijkt me nou typisch iets voor Bolkestein als bewaker van gelijke kansen voor iedere leverancier op de interne markt.

Microsoft gives German government discount
But Germans will still use open source too
http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/04/11/HNGermany_1.html

By John  Blau April 11, 2003

  Governments and multinational companies should take note of Microsoft Corp.'s willingness to bend on prices to keep key accounts for its
Windows operating system from wandering into the open-source Linux camp.

The German Interior Ministry has signed a licensing agreement with Microsoft to receive favorable conditions for both buying and leasing the
U.S. company's software products, the ministry said Thursday in a statement.

The agreement will save federal, state and local governments "much money," Interior Minister Otto Schily said in the statement.

The deal comes just weeks after Microsoft Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Steve Ballmer paid a visit to government officials in Germany .
Microsoft has been scrambling to find ways to retain huge public sector software contracts in Germany ever since the German government, in an
effort to lower costs and increase security, agreed last year to a partnership with IBM Corp. for the delivery of computers with the open-source
Linux operating system to federal, state and local governments.

The German government is keen to have Microsoft products coexist with rival products, according to the Interior Ministry. "Our strategy is to
combine the world of the commercial software companies with the world of open-source providers," Schily said in the statement.

Under the agreement, German government agencies can acquire Microsoft software at favorable rates without having to commit themselves to
using the company's products exclusively, the ministry said in the statement.

A ministry spokeswoman declined to comment on the new pricing scheme.

 Microsoft has also agreed to publish specifications for interfaces and data formats, in addition to supporting open standards in its products,
according to the ministry. These assurances will give the agencies greater flexibility in building their IT systems, it said.


Groet,

Cees Binkhorst - cees at binkhorst.xs4all.nl

Een paar recente uitspraken:
'Als de VN relevant willen zijn, moeten ze precies doen wat ik zeg.'
'Ik weet dat ik tegen de wensen van de Security Council en de tekst
van het VN-verdrag in ga, maar ik doe het wel om een VN-resolutie
uit te voeren.'
Een oude uitspraak van Thomas Paine uit 1795 "Every man must
finally  see the necessity of  protecting the rights of others as the
most effectual security for his own"

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