Re: Guadec and Dutch government plans for OSS and desktop

[Brian Cameron <Brian Cameron Sun COM>]

Sanne:

One thing that I notice is that your document makes no mention of
accessibility.  Many governments are interested in supporting
workers, citizens and students who are disabled.  GNOME provides,
at no cost, a wide range of accessibility support for users who are
blind, have vision problems, and have mobility impairments.  No
other free desktop yet provides the support that GNOME provides at
no cost.

Note that proprietary solutions for the disabled can be very expensive.
To make a computer using a proprietary operating system support the
same degree of accessibility support that is provided at no charge with
GNOME, it is often necessary to spend thousands of dollars purchasing
additional software needed to provide this sort of functionality.

I would think this would be of interest to any government.

Brian


> I've made a post before where I addressed the Dutch' government plans
> for OSS in their desktop. As Guadec will be in holland this year, the
> organisation is aiming to have one or a view sessions about OSS in
> public intstitutions. The government just released a consultation asking
> for feedback about their plans.
>
> The document and interaction with government could provide several
> opportunities:
> -It could give vital information about preconditions to target
> government markets.
> -Gnome could give an official reaction to them (before the end of march)
> or later in a technical magazine or webzine to praise the merits of the
> plans and criticize weaknesses, and showing themselves as a serious
> contender.
> -Could provide an opportunity for exposure as a lot of magazines might
> be interested in Gnome's thoughts about this.
> -resulting in Buzz, exposure, increased opportunities for Guadec
> fundraising, etc. etc.
>
> You decide, here it is. It's in dutch. If you think this could be
> interesting, let me know, so we might have someone translate it.
> http://wiki.noiv.nl/xwiki/bin/download/OpenDWR/WebHome/RealisatielijnOpenDWRv0.93februari.pdf
>
>
> regards,
> Sanne