[oclug] Re: Parliament refuses to give Linux a fair chance

[cbbrowne at hex.net]

Milan wrote:
> Chris Browne wrote:
> > One thing that wasn't clear once filtered through journalists:  Did the 
> Library
> > drop the project altogether?  Or did they proceed with it using M$ 
> vendors?  I
> > couldn't quite
> > tell...
> 
> The Library has cancelled the procurement altogether, arguing that they 
> have no more money after having to defend themselves before the Tribunal. 
> Almost all of it was spent on the Library's attempts to have the case 
> dismissed on technicalities, rather than any arguments based on the 
> substance of our complaint. From a purely Machiavellian standpoint, I 
> can't say that I blame them, either. The Library had a complaint against 
> them last year when they tried to procure the same product, and another 
> company was unhappy after being disqualified for using Lotus Notes. The 
> Library managed to get that complaint dismissed because it was filed too 
> late. See:
> 
>   http://www.citt.gc.ca/procure/orders/pr2a26ae/pr2a26ae.htm

It's crassly amusing that they've "spent all their money" on lawyers; if it 
were not for the fact that this means the Library got _NO_ functionality, and 
wasted the lot of tax dollars on this, it would be just richly worthy of 
derision.

If a few such cases come along, and result in some useful Tribunal precedents, 
that's actually a _good_ thing; wasting a few hundred grand that can then lead 
to much greater savings is a Good Thing.

Of course, the "Evil-Overlord-entertaining" part of it is that by demanding a 
Microsoft-based solution, the Library folks had a _complete_ failure of the 
business case.  In effect, it's a Microsoft failure that occurred despite there 
not being a single BSOD or the need to actually install any software or 
hardware.  Usually, failed MS projects involve a whole lot more computing 
effort
:-).