Kurt sez, "FACIL, the Quebecois Free Software advocacy group, is suing the Quebec provincial government, accusing them of abusing a legal loophole to essentially create 'no-bid' government software contracts for Microsoft.
For a province that once considered independence from Canada, never mind independence from indentured servitude to US corporations, this is sublimely ironic."
sez, "FACIL, the Quebecois Free Software advocacy group, is suing the Quebec provincial government, accusing them of abusing a legal loophole to essentially create 'no-bid' government software contracts for Microsoft.For a province that once considered independence from Canada, never mind independence from indentured servitude to US corporations, this is sublimely ironic."
Government buyers are using an exception in provincial law that allows them to buy directly from a proprietary vendor when there are no alternatives. You will probably not find it in you local hardwarestore, but you can buy as many as you want.
If you aren't familiar with the KGB Fantastic Fiction reading series, the hosts (Ellen Datlow and Matt Kressel) are holding a raffle. The prizes are unbelievable. Original art from Thomas Canty, Neil Gaiman�fs keyboard (autographed), short story critiques by Ellen Datlow, Gardner Dozois�c The list goes on and on. Seriously, one of the earliest general-purpose computers. These hulking beasts are real artisanal pieces, with the hand-crafted, prideful look of devices built by loving and obsessive engineers who really, really care about their work.
Walking the grounds, I got a clear look at the magic behind the magic of Disneyland, and will give the reader a greater appreciation for the incredible efforts and innovations that create the Disneyland experience. If seeing how a magic trick works spoils the fun for you, then you might want to see these before many of the useful and salutary applications for science. Link ( via MeFi )
