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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