Globe & Mail article on FOSS use by Cdn gov't

[Evan Leibovitch]

Darryl Moore wrote:
> Does your definition of inertia in the article, (and this list
> previously) include the cost of vendor lock in? That is a pretty big
> hurdle to change for larger companies

It does, but in my experience the psychological forms of lock-in are
even greater than the technical barriers. Managers have invested their
own careers into one way of doing things, and that's all they know. Or
they've allowed a small number of vendors to essentially make their IT
strategy for them by proxy. They're scared to death of solutions that
break that comfort zone, and even if they're cheaper and more robust and
completely interoperable. They don't want staff that know more about the
new tech than they do. And they don't want to make choices that until
now they've allowed their vendors to make on their behalf. (Heck, FOSS
completely wrecks the traditional VAR model because there's nothing to
resell and the VAR actually has to *prove* their added value! Think of
what FUD the VAR sector has to spread about FOSS to protect their
interests, FUD that is readily swallowed by businesses as evidence
against change.)

Of course, there are still technical barriers to entry, and the
opponents of FOSS keep trying to make news ones all the time (OOXML,
anyone?). But even when the technical barriers have been eliminated, the
personal barriers may prove to be harder to overcome. In some cases,
change simply will not come until people retire. Managers have become
complacent, or too voluntarily dependent on vendors, or simply too
scared to make any significant change on their own initiative. And
senior management is too timid to force them out of that comfort zone --
apparently, especially in Canada.

- Evan


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