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Donn Washburn forwarded me a note he recieved about a Slashdot story.
I really wish "timothy" had included a link in his original post. . . .
Anyway here are some on-line versions of the AP story.
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Probably the most complete of all the AP based stories I found;
unfortunately, I found it last, after I had checked out many others.
Having done the work of reproducing them here, I am leaving them as an example media fuctioning.
BTW, is was a simple israel microsoft into Google that finally worked.
Wednesday, December 31, 2003, 12:00 A.M. Pacific
Israel stops buying Microsoft software
By Peter Enav
The Associated Press
JERUSALEM - In an apparent showdown over price, Israel's government has suspended purchases of Microsoft productivity software and is encouraging the development of an open-source alternative.
The Israeli move comes amid growing public-sector interest in open-source, or nonproprietary, software.
A spokeswoman for the Finance Ministry, which oversees government purchases, said yesterday that government agencies would use existing Microsoft Office products for the time being rather than upgrade to newer versions.
The Israeli government also will encourage the development of lower-priced alternatives to Microsoft software in an effort to help expand computer use by the public.
To that end, the Finance Ministry has cooperated with Sun Microsystems and IBM in designing the Hebrew-language version of OpenOffice software, a freely distributed open-source alternative to Microsoft Office.
"The move with Microsoft was a purely economic decision," said the Finance Ministry spokeswoman, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The Israeli government will not be purchasing new products from Microsoft, but will implement its contract to secure existing systems."
"On a policy level, the government is committed to expanding computer use. We want open-source technology to spread, so more people will be able to afford computers," she said.
The spokeswoman said the government was unhappy with Microsoft's refusal to sell individual programs from its standard Office package, which includes e-mail, spreadsheet and word-processing applications. Not all departments require the entire suite of programs, she said.
Microsoft representatives in Israel did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.
But in a statement Microsoft released through its American public-relations firm, the company said it "is always willing to discuss how we can help bring the value of Microsoft products and services to the benefit of consumers and businesses alike. We will continue to work closely with the government to explore how we can best meet their business needs."
Several foreign government agencies recently have expressed interest in open-source software led by the Linux operating system.
Some federal agencies in France, China and Germany, as well as the city government of Munich, have opted to use Linux not just on servers but also on individual workstations. Entire national governments, including those in Britain, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, China and Russia, are exploring open-source alternatives to Microsoft.
Governments are a huge software market, accounting for about 10 percent of global information-technology spending, according to research firm IDC.
Federal, state and local governments in the United States spent $34 billion last year on huge systems to track everything from tax collection to fishing licenses.
Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2001826470_microsoft31.html
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2001826470&zsection_id=268448455&slug=microsoft31&date=20031231
- The only mixed AP + reporter story I found
Posted on Wed, Dec. 31, 2003
Israel to suspend Microsoft buys
GOVERNMENT TO SEEK OPEN-SOURCE OPTIONS
By Chris O'Brien
Mercury News
Israel became the latest government to embrace the open-source movement in software, saying this week that it would suspend purchases of Microsoft's productivity software and explore less costly, open-source alternatives.
Though the full impact remains to be seen, open-source advocates embraced it as another sign that their movement -- which involves using publicly available code to create software -- is gaining momentum.
``It's an extremely big announcement,'' said Louis Suarez-Potts, community manager for OpenOffice.org. ``What we've been seeing in the last nine months is more and more national governments moving over and supporting open-source endeavors. Israel is an extremely important economy.''
Suarez-Potts said his group would soon be able to release a Hebrew language version of its software as part of a broad effort to develop localized versions.
OpenOffice.org is an effort sponsored by Sun Microsystems to develop open-source versions of software that would compete against Microsoft Office, the suite of productivity software from the Redmond, Wash., company.
Microsoft's standard Office suite includes e-mail, spreadsheet and word-processing applications.
In the short term, Israel's government agencies will use existing Microsoft Office products rather than upgrade to newer versions. In the meantime, the Israeli government will encourage the development of lower-priced, open-source alternatives to Microsoft in an effort to expand computer use by the public.
``The move with Microsoft was a purely economic decision,'' said a Finance Ministry spokeswoman, speaking on condition of anonymity to the Associated Press. ``The Israeli government will not be purchasing new products from Microsoft but will implement its contract to secure existing systems.''
Microsoft said it would not comment on the Israeli decision. But ``Microsoft is always willing to discuss how we can help bring the value of Microsoft products and services to the benefit of consumers and businesses alike,'' the company said in a brief statement issued Tuesday. ``We will continue to work closely with the government to explore how we can best meet their business needs.''
The Israeli move comes amid growing public-sector interest in open-source, or non-proprietary, software led by the Linux operating system.
Some federal agencies in France, China and Germany, as well as the city government of Munich, have opted to use Linux on servers and workstations. National governments, including those in Britain, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, China and Russia, are exploring open-source alternatives to Microsoft.
But one observer said it was too soon to tell how much impact such developments would have on Microsoft because open-source alternatives have yet to prove commercially viable on a large scale over the long term.
``There's no question the open-source community is making some inroads,'' said Michael Cherry, lead analyst for operating systems at Directions On Microsoft, a technology consulting firm in Seattle. ``They have some value to add. But you get into this interesting discussion about whether there is a business model behind open source.''
In October, Sun Microsystems announced that the Chinese government had pledged to install Sun's Linux desktop software on as many as 1 million computers over the next year. In September, a Massachusetts government official instructed the state's chief technology officer to adopt a policy of ``open standards, open source'' for all future spending on information technology.
Governments are a huge software market, accounting for about 10 percent of global information technology spending, according to research firm IDC.
Federal, state and local governments in the United States spent $34 billion last year on huge systems to track everything from tax collection to fishing licenses.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Contact Chris O'Brien at cobrien@mercurynews.com or (415) 477-2504.
© 2003 Mercury News and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.mercurynews.com
- the only completely non-AP story I found
- great analysis
2004 - the year Microsoft's prices bend, buckle or break?
By Andrew Orlowski in San Francisco
Posted: 31/12/2003 at 21:47 GMT
Get The Reg wherever you are, with The Mobile Register
Analysis The Israeli government's decision to suspend Microsoft purchases will be old news to Register readers - we broke the story back in October.
But it's the subsequent developments of sweet Thai deals, first reported by YNet, that have implications far beyond the Middle East. Procurement departments in EMEA and the Americas will be watching developments with keen interest.
Two factors contributed to the Israeli moves. The Finance Ministry plays a key strategic role, and was responsible for signing a general license agreement with Microsoft. That agreement expires today. Faced with an economic depression, Israeli government departments face IT budget cuts of 25 per cent, and OpenOffice 1.1 now looks a viable alternative.
(It's more of a de facto, rather than an explicit shut-out. Departments can still negotiate their own arrangements, and US aid ensures that some licensees are, particularly in the military.
Microsoft scorned the Treasury's decision back in November, comparing OpenOffice functionality to Word 97. But feature saturation appears to have done little to persuade the ministry that OpenOffice is a bad deal. In short, it's not more features that the users need, but lower prices.
Israel, we understand, has become the first EMEA country to ask Microsoft for Thai discounts. Faced with low-cost illicit versions of its software, Microsoft dropped the $600 list price to just $37 in the Royal Kingdom. Will Microsoft bend? And will other countries follow suit?
Microsoft can certainly afford to. Redmond's $6 billion a year Office team coasts along on profit margins of 69 per cent. (And a fitter, leaner Microsoft that could shake off the paralysis of its 'meetings culture' could boast an even higher margin). Israeli departments were enjoying a discount over list: ranging from $130 a desk for basic Windows/Office to $186, but are refusing to pay more than the Thai price. Microsoft insists that the Thai deal was strictly a one-off.
There's no doubt that Microsoft, amongst others, finds itself under margin pressure. Sun Microsystems has revamped its software pricing, vowing to turn the $20 billion global software market into a $3 billion market. Sun prices its confusingly-named Java Desktop System, a Linux PC client, at $100 per seat, or $150 in a combined package with the Java Enterprise System which includes the server software (messaging, clustering, grid, etc) too.
But not all public sector procurement departments seem to have realized what power they have. Despite Whitehall's decision to trial Linux/OpenOffice with as many as 500,000 desktops as the prize, the UK education sector recently signed a 'Memorandum of Understanding' that boasted of "spending between 20 and 37 per cent less than might have been expected". Which doesn't sound like such a great deal.
With OpenOffice and Linux bringing serious competition back to the desktop for the first time in almost a decade, Microsoft's prices have only one way to go: down. Redmond's decision to pursue other revenue sources - patents - is as the Free Software Foundation's counsel Eben Moglen said here simply the start of Plan B: "Microsoft executives are aware they have crossed a maturity threshold - they can't grow as quickly as they have before; and even blockbluster products won't change this dramatically," he observed.
So how far, and how fast? ®
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/34685.html
Interesting that they ran the AP story, & not as completely as the Seattle Times.
You might think that this was a local story for them.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1072773892236&p=1008596981749
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/Printer&cid=1072773892236
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A more complete version
Copyright © 2002 The International Herald Tribune | www.iht.com
Israel suspends Microsoft purchases
The Associated Press
Wednesday, December 31, 2003
JERUSALEM The Israeli government has suspended acquisitions of computer software from Microsoft, citing price issues and the company's refusal to sell individual programs from its standard software package, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for the ministry, which oversees government purchases, said the government would use the company's existing products for the time being. She said she did not know when purchases of new software would resume.
The government said it would also encourage the development of lower-priced alternative software to help expand computer use among the public. The Finance Ministry has worked with Sun Microsystems and IBM in designing a Hebrew-language version of OpenOffice software, one such alternative.
"The move with Microsoft was a purely economic decision," the Finance Ministry spokeswoman said. "The Israeli government will not be purchasing new products from Microsoft, but will implement its contract to secure existing systems."
The spokeswoman said the decision stemmed from unhappiness with the price package that Microsoft has offered and its refusal to sell individual programs from its standard Office package. Not all departments require the entire suite of programs, she said.
Microsoft representatives in Israel did not immediately return phone calls.
The Israeli decision came against the background of growing public-sector interest in "open standards, open source" technology. The open-source movement is a broad, philosophical endorsement of computer technology with publicly available software code that can be customized, such as the Linux operating system. Microsoft's Windows uses closed, or proprietary, code that the company closely guards.
The spokeswoman said that encouraging the development of open-source technology had also played a role in its decision. "On a policy level, the government is committed to expanding computer use. We want open-source technology to spread, so more people will be able to afford computers."
A number of other foreign governments have also embraced open-source technology. Federal agencies in France, China and Germany have already opted for Linux systems. Britain, Brazil and Russia are exploring the possibility.
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Governments are a huge software market, accounting for about 10 percent of global information technology spending, according to the research firm IDC, a research firm.
Copyright © 2002 The International Herald Tribune
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Copyright © 2002 The International Herald Tribune | www.iht.com
Israel suspends Microsoft purchases
The Associated Press
Wednesday, December 31, 2003
JERUSALEM The Israeli government has suspended acquisitions of computer software from Microsoft, citing price issues and the company's refusal to sell individual programs from its standard software package, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for the ministry, which oversees government purchases, said the government would use the company's existing products for the time being. She said she did not know when purchases of new software would resume.
The government said it would also encourage the development of lower-priced alternative software to help expand computer use among the public. The Finance Ministry has worked with Sun Microsystems and IBM in designing a Hebrew-language version of OpenOffice software, one such alternative.
"The move with Microsoft was a purely economic decision," the Finance Ministry spokeswoman said. "The Israeli government will not be purchasing new products from Microsoft, but will implement its contract to secure existing systems."
The spokeswoman said the decision stemmed from unhappiness with the price package that Microsoft has offered and its refusal to sell individual programs from its standard Office package. Not all departments require the entire suite of programs, she said.
Microsoft representatives in Israel did not immediately return phone calls.
The Israeli decision came against the background of growing public-sector interest in "open standards, open source" technology. The open-source movement is a broad, philosophical endorsement of computer technology with publicly available software code that can be customized, such as the Linux operating system. Microsoft's Windows uses closed, or proprietary, code that the company closely guards.
The spokeswoman said that encouraging the development of open-source technology had also played a role in its decision. "On a policy level, the government is committed to expanding computer use. We want open-source technology to spread, so more people will be able to afford computers."
A number of other foreign governments have also embraced open-source technology. Federal agencies in France, China and Germany have already opted for Linux systems. Britain, Brazil and Russia are exploring the possibility.
Governments are a huge software market, accounting for about 10 percent of global information technology spending, according to the research firm IDC, a research firm.
Copyright © 2002 The International Herald Tribune
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Even more complete
Thursday » January 1 » 2004
Israel suspends Microsoft purchases
Peter Enav
The Associated Press
Wednesday, December 31, 2003
In an apparent showdown over price, Israel's government has suspended purchases of Microsoft productivity software and is encouraging the development of an open-source alternative.
A spokeswoman for the Finance Ministry, which oversees government purchases, said Tuesday that government agencies will use existing Microsoft Office products for the time being rather than upgrade to newer versions.
The Israeli government will also encourage the development of lower-priced alternatives to Microsoft software to help expand computer use by the public.
To that end, the Finance Ministry has co-operated with Sun Microsystems and IBM in designing the Hebrew-language version of OpenOffice software, a freely distributed open-source alternative to Microsoft Office.
"The move with Microsoft was a purely economic decision," said the Finance Ministry spokeswoman, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The Israeli government will not be purchasing new products from Microsoft, but will implement its contract to secure existing systems.
"On a policy level, the government is committed to expanding computer use. We want open-source technology to spread so more people will be able to afford computers," she said.
The spokeswoman said the government was unhappy with Microsoft's refusal to sell individual programs from its standard Office package, which includes an e-mail client, spreadsheet and word-processing applications. Not all departments require the entire suite of programs, she said.
Microsoft representatives in Israel did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.
Entire national governments, including those in Britain, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, China and Russia, are exploring open-source alternatives to Microsoft.
Governments are a huge software market, accounting for about 10 per cent of global information technology spending, according to research firm IDC.
© Copyright 2003 Calgary Herald
Copyright © 2004 CanWest? Interactive, a division of CanWest? Global Communications Corp. All rights reserved.
Optimized for browser versions 4.0 and higher.
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Thursday » January 1 » 2004
Israel suspends Microsoft purchases
Peter Enav
The Associated Press
Wednesday, December 31, 2003
In an apparent showdown over price, Israel's government has suspended purchases of Microsoft productivity software and is encouraging the development of an open-source alternative.
A spokeswoman for the Finance Ministry, which oversees government purchases, said Tuesday that government agencies will use existing Microsoft Office products for the time being rather than upgrade to newer versions.
The Israeli government will also encourage the development of lower-priced alternatives to Microsoft software to help expand computer use by the public.
To that end, the Finance Ministry has co-operated with Sun Microsystems and IBM in designing the Hebrew-language version of OpenOffice software, a freely distributed open-source alternative to Microsoft Office.
"The move with Microsoft was a purely economic decision," said the Finance Ministry spokeswoman, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The Israeli government will not be purchasing new products from Microsoft, but will implement its contract to secure existing systems.
"On a policy level, the government is committed to expanding computer use. We want open-source technology to spread so more people will be able to afford computers," she said.
The spokeswoman said the government was unhappy with Microsoft's refusal to sell individual programs from its standard Office package, which includes an e-mail client, spreadsheet and word-processing applications. Not all departments require the entire suite of programs, she said.
Microsoft representatives in Israel did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.
Entire national governments, including those in Britain, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, China and Russia, are exploring open-source alternatives to Microsoft.
Governments are a huge software market, accounting for about 10 per cent of global information technology spending, according to research firm IDC.
© Copyright 2003 Calgary Herald
Copyright © 2004 CanWest? Interactive, a division of CanWest? Global Communications Corp. All rights reserved.
Optimized for browser versions 4.0 and higher.
COMMENT: In addition to the mention of governments now considering MS alternatives, there's the ones that have already done so. I'm under the impression that Germany is pushing in the direction of SUSE, and has been doing so (installing new systems) for around 6 months...
PeteJamison - 04 Jan 2004
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http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/info/business/story.html?id=C8F948E1-0D2B-40A1-89FA-A667D6E86881'javascript:openPrintStoryWindow()'
javascript:openPrintStoryWindow()
Roughly as good -- note the MScomment
Wednesday, December 31, 2003
Business ©2002 The Olympian
Israel suspends Microsoft software purchases
Country seeks affordable alternatives
PETER ENAV THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JERUSALEM -- In an apparent showdown over price, Israel's government has suspended purchases of Microsoft productivity software and is encouraging the development of an open-source alternative.
A spokeswoman for the Finance Ministry, which oversees government purchases, said Tuesday that government agencies would use existing Microsoft Office products for the time being rather than upgrade to newer versions.
The Israeli government also will encourage the development of lower-priced alternatives to Microsoft software in an effort to help expand computer use by the public.
To that end, the Finance Ministry has cooperated with Sun Microsystems and IBM in designing the Hebrew language version of OpenOffice software, a freely distributed open-source alternative to Microsoft Office.
"The move with Microsoft was a purely economic decision," said the Finance Ministry spokeswoman, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"On a policy level, the government is committed to expanding computer use. We want open-source technology to spread, so more people will be able to afford computers," she said.
The spokeswoman said the government was unhappy with Microsoft's refusal to sell individual programs from its standard Office package, which includes an e-mail client, spreadsheet and word-processing applications.
In a statement Microsoft released through its U.S. public-relations firm, the company said it "is always willing to discuss how we can help bring the value of Microsoft products and services to the benefit of consumers and businesses alike. We will continue to work closely with the government to explore how we can best meet their business needs."
©2003 The Olympian
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Sorry, I can't make a direct link to the printer version.
Wednesday, December 31, 2003
Business ©2002 The Olympian
Israel suspends Microsoft software purchases
Country seeks affordable alternatives
PETER ENAV THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JERUSALEM -- In an apparent showdown over price, Israel's government has suspended purchases of Microsoft productivity software and is encouraging the development of an open-source alternative.
A spokeswoman for the Finance Ministry, which oversees government purchases, said Tuesday that government agencies would use existing Microsoft Office products for the time being rather than upgrade to newer versions.
The Israeli government also will encourage the development of lower-priced alternatives to Microsoft software in an effort to help expand computer use by the public.
To that end, the Finance Ministry has cooperated with Sun Microsystems and IBM in designing the Hebrew language version of OpenOffice software, a freely distributed open-source alternative to Microsoft Office.
"The move with Microsoft was a purely economic decision," said the Finance Ministry spokeswoman, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"On a policy level, the government is committed to expanding computer use. We want open-source technology to spread, so more people will be able to afford computers," she said.
The spokeswoman said the government was unhappy with Microsoft's refusal to sell individual programs from its standard Office package, which includes an e-mail client, spreadsheet and word-processing applications.
In a statement Microsoft released through its U.S. public-relations firm, the company said it "is always willing to discuss how we can help bring the value of Microsoft products and services to the benefit of consumers and businesses alike. We will continue to work closely with the government to explore how we can best meet their business needs."
©2003 The Olympian
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http://news.google.com/news?num=100&hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Israel+suspends+Microsoft+Office+purchases+&btnG=Search+News
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http://news.google.com/news?num=100&hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Israel+suspends+Microsoft+Office+purchases+&btnG=Search+News
the "more" page -- lots more
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=active&num=30&newsclusterurl=http://slashdot.org/articles/03/12/31/1527231.shtml%3Ftid%3D109%26tid%3D187%26tid%3D98%26tid%3D99
"Results 1 - 30 of about 62." -- that's a lot of news outlets.
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IsraelSuspendsMicrosoftOfficePurchases_SeattleTimes
IsraelSuspendsMicrosoftOfficePurchases_MercuryNews
IsraelSuspendsMicrosoftOfficePurchases_TheRegister
IsraelSuspendsMicrosoftOfficePurchases_InternationalHeraldTribune
IsraelSuspendsMicrosoftOfficePurchases_CalgaryHerald
IsraelSuspendsMicrosoftOfficePurchases_Olympian
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%META:TOPICINFO{author="RickArchibald" date="1072976580" format="1.0" version="1.1"}%
%META:TOPICPARENT{name="WebHome"}%
Posted by timothy on Wednesday December 31, @10:20AM
from the bidi-bidi-bum dept.
case_igl writes "The Seattle Times is reporting 'that in an apparent
showdown over price, Israel's government has suspended purchases of
Microsoft Office software and is encouraging the development of an
open-source alternative.' The Finance Ministry has cooperated with Sun
Microsystems and IBM in designing the Hebrew-language version of OpenOffice
software, a freely distributed open-source alternative to Microsoft Office.
The spokeswoman said the government was unhappy with Microsoft's refusal to
sell individual programs from its standard Office package, which includes
e-mail, spreadsheet and word-processing applications. Microsoft
representatives in Israel did not immediately return phone calls seeking
comment." The Associated Press article is carried on many other sites as
well.
http://slashdot.org/articles/03/12/31/1527231.shtml?tid=109&tid=187&tid=98&tid=99
A more complete version
Copyright © 2002 The International Herald Tribune | www.iht.com
Israel suspends Microsoft purchases
The Associated Press
Wednesday, December 31, 2003
JERUSALEM The Israeli government has suspended acquisitions of computer software from Microsoft, citing price issues and the company's refusal to sell individual programs from its standard software package, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for the ministry, which oversees government purchases, said the government would use the company's existing products for the time being. She said she did not know when purchases of new software would resume.
The government said it would also encourage the development of lower-priced alternative software to help expand computer use among the public. The Finance Ministry has worked with Sun Microsystems and IBM in designing a Hebrew-language version of OpenOffice software, one such alternative.
"The move with Microsoft was a purely economic decision," the Finance Ministry spokeswoman said. "The Israeli government will not be purchasing new products from Microsoft, but will implement its contract to secure existing systems."
The spokeswoman said the decision stemmed from unhappiness with the price package that Microsoft has offered and its refusal to sell individual programs from its standard Office package. Not all departments require the entire suite of programs, she said.
Microsoft representatives in Israel did not immediately return phone calls.
The Israeli decision came against the background of growing public-sector interest in "open standards, open source" technology. The open-source movement is a broad, philosophical endorsement of computer technology with publicly available software code that can be customized, such as the Linux operating system. Microsoft's Windows uses closed, or proprietary, code that the company closely guards.
The spokeswoman said that encouraging the development of open-source technology had also played a role in its decision. "On a policy level, the government is committed to expanding computer use. We want open-source technology to spread, so more people will be able to afford computers."
A number of other foreign governments have also embraced open-source technology. Federal agencies in France, China and Germany have already opted for Linux systems. Britain, Brazil and Russia are exploring the possibility.
Governments are a huge software market, accounting for about 10 percent of global information technology spending, according to the research firm IDC, a research firm.
Copyright © 2002 The International Herald Tribune
http://www.iht.com/articles/123307.htm
http://www.iht.com/cgi-bin/generic.cgi?template=articleprint.tmplh&ArticleId=123307
Even more complete
Thursday » January 1 » 2004
Israel suspends Microsoft purchases
Peter Enav
The Associated Press
Wednesday, December 31, 2003
In an apparent showdown over price, Israel's government has suspended purchases of Microsoft productivity software and is encouraging the development of an open-source alternative.
A spokeswoman for the Finance Ministry, which oversees government purchases, said Tuesday that government agencies will use existing Microsoft Office products for the time being rather than upgrade to newer versions.
The Israeli government will also encourage the development of lower-priced alternatives to Microsoft software to help expand computer use by the public.
To that end, the Finance Ministry has co-operated with Sun Microsystems and IBM in designing the Hebrew-language version of OpenOffice software, a freely distributed open-source alternative to Microsoft Office.
"The move with Microsoft was a purely economic decision," said the Finance Ministry spokeswoman, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The Israeli government will not be purchasing new products from Microsoft, but will implement its contract to secure existing systems.
"On a policy level, the government is committed to expanding computer use. We want open-source technology to spread so more people will be able to afford computers," she said.
The spokeswoman said the government was unhappy with Microsoft's refusal to sell individual programs from its standard Office package, which includes an e-mail client, spreadsheet and word-processing applications. Not all departments require the entire suite of programs, she said.
Microsoft representatives in Israel did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.
Entire national governments, including those in Britain, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, China and Russia, are exploring open-source alternatives to Microsoft.
Governments are a huge software market, accounting for about 10 per cent of global information technology spending, according to research firm IDC.
© Copyright 2003 Calgary Herald
Copyright © 2004 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest Global Communications Corp. All rights reserved.
Optimized for browser versions 4.0 and higher.
http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/info/business/story.html?id=C8F948E1-0D2B-40A1-89FA-A667D6E86881
http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/info/business/story.html?id=C8F948E1-0D2B-40A1-89FA-A667D6E86881'javascript:openPrintStoryWindow()'
javascript:openPrintStoryWindow()
Roughly as good -- note the MScomment
Wednesday, December 31, 2003
Business ©2002 The Olympian
Israel suspends Microsoft software purchases
Country seeks affordable alternatives
PETER ENAV THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JERUSALEM -- In an apparent showdown over price, Israel's government has suspended purchases of Microsoft productivity software and is encouraging the development of an open-source alternative.
A spokeswoman for the Finance Ministry, which oversees government purchases, said Tuesday that government agencies would use existing Microsoft Office products for the time being rather than upgrade to newer versions.
The Israeli government also will encourage the development of lower-priced alternatives to Microsoft software in an effort to help expand computer use by the public.
To that end, the Finance Ministry has cooperated with Sun Microsystems and IBM in designing the Hebrew language version of OpenOffice software, a freely distributed open-source alternative to Microsoft Office.
"The move with Microsoft was a purely economic decision," said the Finance Ministry spokeswoman, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"On a policy level, the government is committed to expanding computer use. We want open-source technology to spread, so more people will be able to afford computers," she said.
The spokeswoman said the government was unhappy with Microsoft's refusal to sell individual programs from its standard Office package, which includes an e-mail client, spreadsheet and word-processing applications.
In a statement Microsoft released through its U.S. public-relations firm, the company said it "is always willing to discuss how we can help bring the value of Microsoft products and services to the benefit of consumers and businesses alike. We will continue to work closely with the government to explore how we can best meet their business needs."
©2003 The Olympian
http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20031231/business/3452.shtml
http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20031231/business/3452_Printer.shtml
http://news.google.com/news?num=100&hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Israel+suspends+Microsoft+Office+purchases+&btnG=Search+News
-- RickArchibald - 01 Jan 2004 |