p2pnet - rss feed: Israel suspends Microsoft as vendor
The Israeli government says it won’t be buying any more Microsoft software because of price issues and the company’s refusal to sell individual programs from its standard software package.
Moreover, "On a policy level, the government is committed to expanding computer use," said a Finance Ministry spokeswoman. "We want open-source technology to spread, so more people will be able to afford computers."
Quoted in an Associated Press report here, the spokeswoman said the decision stemmed from unhappiness with the price package that Microsoft had offered and its refusal to sell individual programs from its standard Office package. Not all departments require the entire suite of programs, she said.
"A spokeswoman for the ministry, which oversees government purchases, said the government would use the company’s existing products for the time being," says the report, going on:
"She said she did not know when purchases of new software would resume. The government said it would also encourage the development of lower-priced alternative software to help expand computer use among the public. The Finance Ministry has worked with Sun Microsystems and IBM in designing a Hebrew-language version of OpenOffice software, one such alternative."
A number of other foreign governments have also embraced open-source technology, sayss the report, adding: "Federal agencies in France, China and Germany have already opted for Linux systems. Britain, Brazil and Russia are exploring the possibility."
