[AktiviX-discuss] Ethical ICT...

[max]

> Now excuse my ranting on this list:  I always feel a bit like a fraud,
> given that I'm not a techie in any meaningful sense of the word.
I think that's ok - aktivix is for activists who want to do something 
with/around/for Free Software :-) (or, for more comprehensive descriptions 
see http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~jmr59/aktivix/aktivix_what.pl)

> But I just wanted to pass something by you...
>
> A while ago, I wrote to various people about the fact that I'd just
> started working for a fairly small company who set up centres for social
> change groups.  I was hoping to push the company in an open source
> direction.
>
> I've failed miserably - but in analysing why, I think there's some stuff
> to think about, and I'd like to know if anyone else thinks any of this
> has legs / what thoughts people might have.
yes - this is interesting. it's good to see what works, and what doesn't.

> What did I try to do?
>
> 1. Ask techies I knew if they had any ideas on what I might say to my
> company.  My non-techie vagueness was met with, um, well... not very
> much positive.  Which is not surprising, coz I was vague... but see below.
I find techies can often be very (wilfully/blindly/naively) ignorant about 
Free/Open Source Software. to the extent of saying such things as "Linux 
doesn't have a graphical user interface". To some extent it could be fear - 
fear of having to learn a whole new set of everything to deal with Linux and 
co, to fear that they'll be replaced with a unix systems admin. But often i 
just think it's sheer ignorance and belief in microsoft.

> 2. Ask my company to consider open source as a route - they were in the
> process of setting up a shared system for all centres, so that
> organisations could e.g. book rooms online.  I got quite a lot of
> feedback - but in the end, the IT bod went for - oh fuck! - Microsoft
> Sharepoint, spending £4000 in the process.
ah - this is where having somebody from outside confidently saying "£600 to 
set up, and no licence fees for ever" comes in.

> Why?  Well - they're not techies, and its a really busy company who
> needed an IT solution.
>
> That's where I start to think:  well, why the f**k wasn't there an
> ethical, open source one?  How hard can it be to be able to go to
> ethical / community / social change organisations, saying -
>
> 1. Here's the reasons why traditional products suck.
>
> 2. Here's how much cheaper our solution is
>
> 3. And we can offer support and back-up, as well as bespoke
> installation.  But you'll be paying nothing for the software, we can
> integrate it with your current Microsoft systems if necessary, and we
> can even supply you with internet ready PCs for just £10!
>
> It's the ease with which this is an option that's the thing - from the
> point of view of a company shelling out a huge sum of money.  And I
> guess there are plenty of people who'd never support Microsoft
> systems... and so that means that companies like mine will just become
> more and more locked into it.
>
> So - does anyone think there's scope for some kind of not-for-profit
> company / all profits would go into the Aktivix fund to e.g. get
> Indymedia a new server, start up a community ICT project where a fund to
> pay programmers came into being / choices of project were chosen by
> consensus... see where I'm going with that?
there's quite a few social/environmental/animal rights/other activists who do 
this kind of thing. Like us - this is the main way we fund our work at Seeds 
for Change (free training for activists and campaigners 
http://seedsforchange.org.uk/free). 

But you're right, it's difficult to know who to turn to. Perhaps everyone 
who's selling or giving away their services for this kind of thing should 
drop a line to the list so we know where to go when we need advice or someone 
to do something...

> It all exists already: all that needs to happen is that someone is able
> to see it from the point of view of a company like mine - who do *try*
> to ethically audit what they do - who don't want to have to spend a
> stupendous amount of time messing about, and who hence end up going for
> what feels safest.
Yes - we do an assessment - at the end we tell people how much carrying on 
with M$ will cost, how much a M$ upgrade will be, and how much a migration 
(server/desktop/mixed) will cost, and what that means in terms of hassle and 
benefits. http://seedsforchange.org.uk/linux

Max