The UN recommends Open Source

Open source software is the key
I truly believe that open source software is the key for developing countries to catch up to rest of the G8+ world. Why do I boldly make such a claim?
It’s simple: Co$t.

Quite frankly, when you’re a developing nation, it’s pointless to send a great deal of your hard-earned cash to Bill Gate’s bank account for the right to run his company’s virus-infested Windows operating system. Furthermore, your entire country is at the mercy of a foreign entity.

A possible scenario
Now, what would happen if China and the US became hostile towards each other? Well, now your IT infrastructure is, potentially, vulnerable from the perspective of Chinese security “experts” if matters were to get out of hand. Right? Of course I’m going off the deep end here. But, but do you really believe the Chinese government sincerely wants their critical IT systems running on closed source foreign technology – especially (gasp!) Windows?

Not on your life. Just take a peek at the about us page for Red Flag Linux if you think I’m kidding around. Incidentally, the project came to life thanks to funding from the “people’s” government. And who can blame them? Heck, if you think the Patriot Act is insidious towards American citizens, then imagine when an entire country is pitted against another?

And look at this, the UN agrees too!

UN recommends open source
As usual, the UN brain trust took some time to “get it.” But better late than never, eh? {Hey, I’m Canadian!}

The United Nations has recommended its members use open source software, particularly in areas related to health, education and international commerce, UN inspector Dominique Ouredrago said during a speech at the II international open source conference in Spain.

Oh wow, the UN “recommended” the use of open source software?
Hello, earth to the UN…anyone at home?
Um, people have been using Linux, OpenOffice, Mozilla-based browsers, MySQL, Apache, JBoss, Compiere, Open Biblio, Moodle (e-Learning), Care2X (e-Health; see more software), GNU Bayonne (telephony), SQL-Ledger (accounting), osCommerce (eCommerce), PHP, Python, Zope, etc. for a couple of years now!

It’s as though a light bulb finally went off inside some one’s head in Geneva or New York.
Well, at least they’re on board, which is my point.

Conclusion
It doesn’t matter if you’re from a developing or G8 nation. Nor does it matter if you’re from a small company, non-profit organisation, or a multi-billion dollar Fortune 500 corporation.
All I can say is that utilising open source software will lower your bottom line. It will also provide you with some peace of mind since you’re not at the mercy of one proprietary supplier.