This week Computer Weekly published an article entitled ‘System integrators render Cabinet Office open source strategy unworkable’. The piece has since been picked up by numerous other publications.
You can read the whole sorry tale yourself, but, to cut a long story short, open source software and Linux specialist Sirius Corporation appears to have thrown its toys out of the pram suggesting Computacenter are recommending largely Microsoft software components (as opposed to Sirius’ open source alternative) as part of the Bristol City Council’s desktop and infrastructure transformation programme.
According to Computer Weekly, Sirius CEO, Mark Taylor, believes the situation illustrates how “the UK’s oligopoly of systems integrators ensures Cabinet Office open source policy cannot and will not work”. Georgina O'Toole has considered whether Taylor's argument stacks up. Subscribers to TechMarketView's PublicSectorViews can read her conclusions here.