UNIX and Open Systems group, calls on Federal and State agencies to further
accelerate the adoption of Open Source software deployment within the Government
sector.”
SYDNEY, Australia — 20 August 2002 — The Australian UNIX and Open
Systems User Group (AUUG, Inc.) today congratulated the Government sector
on recent progress in the adoption of Open Source and called for the accelerated
adoption of Open Standards based Open Source solutions such as Linux and
BSD within departments and agencies. The call follows two recent significant
Open Source wins. The first a month ago, when the key federal government
department CentreLink, the world’s twelfth largest processing organisation,
announced that it had established a world class Linux Laboratory in collaboration
with IBM to reduce costs and raise the flexibility of the agency’s IT systems.
The second came last week, when the Federal Department of Veterans’ Affairs
announced that it is moving file and print services for all branch offices
to an IBM zSeries mainframe running Linux.
“It’s clear that IT departments within government agencies are being
attracted to Open Source software such as Linux,” says Gordon Hubbard,
AUUG Inc. Press Secretary. “What we’d like to see now is a commitment
within government that actively supports and encourages the use of Linux
and other Open Source systems to reduce licensing fees, thus saving money,
and to provide open, stable and secure government IT infrastructure solutions.”
AUUG is calling on the Government sector to review all areas of IT procurement
and information standards to ensure that there is no bias against Open
Standards based Open Source solutions. This would allow government IT managers
to calculate the true ROI for each software acquisition and deployment
– enabling the comparison of open and closed solutions on an equal footing.
A comparison that AUUG believes Open Source will win. Ultimately delivering
major savings to Australian tax payers.
In addition to ROI issues Open Standards based systems provide Open
file formats and interfaces, thus increase the accessibility of Government
information and services to all citizens without discrimination.
“We are asking for a level playing field which will empower government
IT managers to consider all of the options when considering server operating
environments”, said Hubbard. The AUUG call follows recent announcements
by government bodies in Germany, France, Taiwan and Peru to variously endorse
and encourage the use of open source solutions within their agencies.
AUUG’s call comes ahead of its annual national conference, to be held
in Melbourne from 1-6 September 2002. Themed “Measure, Monitor, Control”,
the conference will focus on Security, Network Monitoring, Open Source
and Business, Large Scale System Management and Wireless Networking. The
conference will also see the presentation of the inaugural Australian Open
Source Awards to encourage and recognise the excellence and dedication
of Australians contributing in the Open Source arena. For conference information
and registration details visit http://www.auug.org.au/conf/auug2002/.
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About AUUG Incorporated
AUUG Inc. is the Australian UNIX and Open Systems User Group, a professional
association for end users, corporations, developers and vendors that promotes
UNIX® and related systems, including Linux and BSD. Dating from
1975, AUUG is a national body with chapters that organize local activities
in most capital cities.
Visit http://www.auug.org.au/
or contact AUUG at: AUUG Inc., PO Box 366, Kensington, NSW 2033, Australia.
Free Call 1800 625 655, Fax 02 8824 9522, International: Tel +61 2 8824
9511, Fax +61 2 8824 9522, E-mail: auug@auug.org.au.
ACN A00 166 36N, ABN 15 645 981 718.
Press Contact
Gordon Hubbard
Treasurer and Press Secretary, AUUG Inc.
<Gordon.Hubbard@auug.org.au>
Tel: 02 9659 9590
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