Asosiasi Open Source Indonesia

The Death andLife of WiMAX

2010-03-12T18:47:00.000-08:00

Mundurnya CISCO dari Bisnis WiMAX merupakan pukulan berat bagi industri WiMAX masa depan. Namun WiMAX 802.16e akan terus berkembang sedikit demi sedikit, menuju ke standar 802.11m yang akan kompatibel dengan LTE. LTE akan tetap mendominasi pangsapasar Broadband WirelessAccess dimasadepan.

Berikut ini adalah berita lengkapnya.

The exit of Cisco from the WiMax radio sector does nothing to alter the perception that Long Term Evolution (LTE) will be the winner in, well, the long term.

As reported in a number of places, including Computerworld, Cisco is backing off from its strong advocacy for WIMax that saw it acquire Navini Networks in 2007. Navini, the story says, brought its WiMax radio access network (RAN) gear to Cisco. In the interim, as the story points out, LTE has made steady and methodical progress. The technology will be deployed by AT&T and Verizon Wireless. Indeed, the move away from WIMax may be interpreted as a sign that the Cisco has no desire to bite two hands that feed it.

This isn’t, of course, good news for WiMax and the companies such as Intel that have labored long and hard to see it develop. But there is no suggestion that WiMax is going away. Clearwire, the largest WiMax player in the world, is a viable company that seems to be making good on its expansive expansion plans.

Intel says the next version of the technology – 802.16m – will replace 802.16e and be ready for deployment in 2012, according to Network World. That seems like a long time in the future. In a sense, it should cheer WiMax supporters that the big thinkers – and big investors – are still thinking ahead. It is said that the new version will offer 170 megabits per second (Mbps) downloads and 90 Mbps upstream. Current WiMax speeds are 16 Mbps and 4 Mbps downstream and up, respectively. The story quotes an Intel executive as saying that there will be between 6 million and 10 million WiMax users worldwide.

The resiliency of the WiMax sector – regardless of its success vis a vis LTE – also is evident in announcements that it is creating niche relationships and these numbers from Infonetics Research. The firm said that the device and equipment market is up for the third consecutive quarter and that subscriber counts rose 75 percent last year. The release, which mentions Russian provider Yota and Japanese firm UQ in addition to Clearwire, offers seven bullet points which paint a positive picture. In a more anecdotal assessment of its health, VMAX Telecom has outfitted 1,000 taxis in Taipei with WiMax consoles.

Technology is not an either/or game. The Cisco move clearly is not good news for WiMax, both in terms of image and because the vendor brings a lot to any table at which it choose to sit. It’s also clear that WiMax will not be as big as LTE. All that said, however, it will is apparent that WiMax remains a significant wireless networking force.

Jawaban Angota Parlemen Peru atas keluhan Microsoft terhadap UU Penggunaan Software Open Source

2010-02-28T18:28:00.001-08:00

Lima, 8 April 2002
To: Señor JUAN ALBERTO GONZÁLEZ
General Manager of Microsoft, Perú
Dear Sir:
First of all, I thank you for your letter of March 25, 2002 in which you state the official position of Microsoft relative to Bill Number 1609, Free Software in Public Administration, which is indubitably inspired by the desire for Peru to find a suitable place in the global technological context.
In the same spirit, and convinced that we will find the best solutions through an exchange of clear and open ideas, I will take this opportunity to reply to the commentaries included in your letter.
While acknowledging that opinions such as yours constitute a significant contribution, it would have been even more worthwhile for me if, rather than formulating objections of a general nature (which we will analyse in detail later) you had gathered solid arguments for the advantages that proprietary software could bring to the Peruvian State, and to its citizens in general, since this would have allowed a more enlightening exchange in respect of each of our positions.
With the aim of creating an orderly debate, we will assume that what you call "open source software" is what the Bill defines as "free software", since there exists software for which the source code is distributed together with the program, but which does not fall within the definition established by the Bill; and that what you call "commercial software" is what the Bill defines as "proprietary" or "unfree", given that there exists free software which is sold in the market for a price like any other good or service.
It is also necessary to make it clear that the aim of the Bill we are discussing is not directly related to the amount of direct savings that can by made by using free software in state institutions.
That is in any case a marginal aggregate value, but in no way is it the chief focus of the Bill.
The basic principles which inspire the Bill are linked to the basic guarantees of a state of law, such as:

Free access to public information by the citizen.
Permanence of public data.
Security of the State and citizens.

To guarantee the free access of citizens to public information, it is indispensable that the encoding of data is not tied to a single provider.
The use of standard and open formats gives a guarantee of this free access, if necessary through the creation of compatible free software.
To guarantee the permanence of public data, it is necessary that the usability and maintenance of the software does not depend on the goodwill of the suppliers, or on the monopoly conditions imposed by them.
For this reason the State needs systems the development of which can be guaranteed due to the availability of the source code.
To guarantee national security or the security of the State, it is indispensable to be able to rely on systems without elements which allow control from a distance or the undesired transmission of information to third parties.
Systems with source code freely accessible to the public are required to allow their inspection by the State itself, by the citizens, and by a large number of independent experts throughout the world.
Our proposal brings further security, since the knowledge of the source code will eliminate the growing number of programs with *spy code*.
In the same way, our proposal strengthens the security of the citizens, both in their role as legitimate owners of information managed by the state, and in their role as consumers.
In this second case, by allowing the growth of a widespread availability of free software not containing *spy code* able to put at risk privacy and individual freedoms.
In this sense, the Bill is limited to establishing the conditions under which the state bodies will obtain software in the future, that is, in a way compatible with these basic principles.
From reading the Bill it will be clear that once passed:

-the law does not forbid the production of proprietary software
-the law does not forbid the sale of proprietary software
-the law does not specify which concrete software to use
-the law does not dictate the supplier from whom software will be bought
-the law does not limit the terms under which a software product can be licensed.

What the Bill does express clearly, is that, for software to be acceptable for the state it is not enough that it is technically capable of fulfilling a task, but that further the contractual conditions must satisfy a series of requirements regarding the license, without which the State cannot guarantee the citizen adequate processing of his data, watching over its integrity, confidentiality, and accessibility throughout time, as these are very critical aspects for its normal functioning.
We agree, Mr. Gonzalez, that information and communication technology have a significant impact on the quality of life of the citizens (whether it be positive or negative).
We surely also agree that the basic values I have pointed out above are fundamental in a democratic state like Peru.
So we are very interested to know of any other way of guaranteeing these principles, other than through the use of free software in the terms defined by the Bill.
As for the observations you have made, we will now go on to analyse them in detail:
Firstly, you point out that:
"1. The bill makes it compulsory for all public bodies to use only free software, that is to say open source software, which breaches the principles of equality before the law, that of non-discrimination and the right of free private enterprise, freedom of industry and of contract, protected by the constitution."
This understanding is in error.

The Bill in no way affects the rights you list; it limits itself entirely to establishing conditions for the use of software on the part of state institutions, without in any way meddling in private sector transactions.
It is a well established principle that the State does not enjoy the wide spectrum of contractual freedom of the private sector, as it is limited in its actions precisely by the requirement for transparency of public acts; and in this sense, the preservation of the greater common interest must prevail when legislating on the matter.
The Bill protects equality under the law, since no natural or legal person is excluded from the right of offering these goods to the State under the conditions defined in the Bill and without more limitations than those established by the Law of State Contracts and Purchasing (TUO por Decreto Supremo No. 012-2001-PCM).
The Bill does not introduce any discrimination whatever, since it only establishes *how* the goods have to be provided (which is a state power) and not *who* has to provide them (which would effectively be discriminatory, if restrictions based on national origin, race religion, ideology, sexual preference etc. were imposed).
On the contrary, the Bill is decidedly anti-discriminatory.
This is so because by defining with no room for doubt the conditions for the provision of software, it prevents state bodies from using software which has a license including discriminatory conditions.
It should be obvious from the preceding two paragraphs that the Bill does not harm free private enterprise, since the latter can always choose under what conditions it will produce software; some of these will be acceptable to the State, and others will not be since they contradict the guarantee of the basic principles listed above.
This free initiative is of course compatible with the freedom of industry and freedom of contract (in the limited form in which the State can exercise the latter).
Any private subject can produce software under the conditions which the State requires, or can refrain from doing so.
Nobody is forced to adopt a model of production, but if they wish to provide software to the State, they must provide the mechanisms which guarantee the basic principles, and which are those described in the Bill.
By way of an example: nothing in the text of the Bill would prevent your company offering the State bodies an office "suite", under the conditions defined in the Bill and setting the price that you consider satisfactory.
If you did not, it would not be due to restrictions imposed by the law, but to business decisions relative to the method of commercializing your products, decisions with which the State is not involved.
To continue; you note that:
" 2. The bill, by making the use of open source software compulsory, would establish discriminatory and non competitive practices in the contracting and purchasing by public bodies..."
This statement is just a reiteration of the previous one, and so the response can be found above. However, let us concern ourselves for a moment with your comment regarding "non-competitive ... practices."
Of course, in defining any kind of purchase, the buyer sets conditions which relate to the proposed use of the good or service.
From the start, this excludes certain manufacturers from the possibility of competing, but does not exclude them "a priori", but rather based on a series of principles determined by the autonomous will of the purchaser, and so the process takes place in conformance with the law.
And in the Bill it is established that *no-one* is excluded from competing as far as he guarantees the fulfillment of the basic principles.
Furthermore, the Bill *stimulates* competition, since it tends to generate a supply of software with better conditions of usability, and to better existing work, in a model of continuous improvement.
On the other hand, the central aspect of competitivity is the chance to provide better choices to the consumer.
Now, it is impossible to ignore the fact that marketing does not play a neutral role when the product is offered on the market (since accepting the opposite would lead one to suppose that firms' expenses in marketing lack any sense), and that therefore a significant expense under this heading can influence the decisions of the purchaser.
This influence of marketing is in large measure reduced by the bill that we are backing, since the choice within the framework proposed is based on the *technical merits* of the product and not on the effort put into commercialization by the producer; in this sense, competitivity is increased, since the smallest software producer can compete on equal terms with the most powerful corporations.
It is necessary to stress that there is no position more anti-competitive than that of the big software producers, which frequently abuse their dominant position, since in innumerable cases they propose as a solution to problems raised by users: "update your software to the new version" (at the user's expense, naturally); furthermore, it is common to find arbitrary cessation of technical help for products, which, in the provider's judgment alone, are "old"; and so, to receive any kind of technical assistance, the user finds himself forced to migrate to new versions (with non-trivial costs, especially as changes in hardware platform are often involved).
And as the whole infrastructure is based on proprietary data formats, the user stays "trapped" in the need to continue using products from the same supplier, or to make the huge effort to change to another environment (probably also proprietary).
You add:
"3. So, by compelling the State to favor a business model based entirely on open source, the bill would only discourage the local and international manufacturing companies, which are the ones which really undertake important expenditures, create a significant number of direct and indirect jobs, as well as contributing to the GNP, as opposed to a model of open source software which tends to have an ever weaker economic impact, since it mainly creates jobs in the service sector."

I do not agree with your statement.
Partly because of what you yourself point out in paragraph 6 of your letter, regarding the relative weight of services in the context of software use.
This contradiction alone would invalidate your position.
The service model, adopted by a large number of companies in the software industry, is much larger in economic terms, and with a tendency to increase, than the licensing of programs.
On the other hand, the private sector of the economy has the widest possible freedom to choose the economic model which best suits its interests, even if this freedom of choice is often obscured subliminally by the disproportionate expenditure on marketing by the producers of proprietary software.
In addition, a reading of your opinion would lead to the conclusion that the State market is crucial and essential for the proprietary software industry, to such a point that the choice made by the State in this bill would completely eliminate the market for these firms.
If that is true, we can deduce that the State must be subsidizing the proprietary software industry.
In the unlikely event that this were true, the State would have the right to apply the subsidies in the area it considered of greatest social value; it is undeniable, in this improbable hypothesis, that if the State decided to subsidize software, it would have to do so choosing the free over the proprietary, considering its social effect and the rational use of taxpayers money.
In respect of the jobs generated by proprietary software in countries like ours, these mainly concern technical tasks of little aggregate value; at the local level, the technicians who provide support for proprietary software produced by transnational companies do not have the possibility of fixing bugs, not necessarily for lack of technical capability or of talent, but because they do not have access to the source code to fix it.
With free software one creates more technically qualified employment and a framework of free competence where success is only tied to the ability to offer good technical support and quality of service, one stimulates the market, and one increases the shared fund of knowledge, opening up alternatives to generate services of greater total value and a higher quality level, to the benefit of all involved: producers, service organizations, and consumers.
It is a common phenomenon in developing countries that local software industries obtain the majority of their takings in the service sector, or in the creation of "ad hoc" software.
Therefore, any negative impact that the application of the Bill might have in this sector will be more than compensated by a growth in demand for services (as long as these are carried out to high quality standards).
If the transnational software companies decide not to compete under these new rules of the game, it is likely that they will undergo some decrease in takings in terms of payment for licenses; however, considering that these firms continue to allege that much of the software used by the State has been illegally copied, one can see that the impact will not be very serious.
Certainly, in any case their fortune will be determined by market laws, changes in which cannot be avoided; many firms traditionally associated with proprietary software have already set out on the road (supported by copious expense) of providing services associated with free software, which shows that the models are not mutually exclusive.
With this bill the State is deciding that it needs to preserve certain fundamental values.
And it is deciding this based on its sovereign power, without affecting any of the constitutional guarantees.
If these values could be guaranteed without having to choose a particular economic model, the effects of the law would be even more beneficial.
In any case, it should be clear that the State does not choose an economic model; if it happens that there only exists one economic model capable of providing software which provides the basic guarantee of these principles, this is because of historical circumstances, not because of an arbitrary choice of a given model.
Your letter continues:
"4. The bill imposes the use of open source software without considering the dangers that this can bring from the point of view of security, guarantee, and possible violation of the intellectual property rights of third parties."

Alluding in an abstract way to "the dangers this can bring", without specifically mentioning a single one of these supposed dangers, shows at the least some lack of knowledge of the topic.
So, allow me to enlighten you on these points.

On security:
National security has already been mentioned in general terms in the initial discussion of the basic principles of the bill.
In more specific terms, relative to the security of the software itself, it is well known that all software (whether proprietary or free) contains errors or "bugs" (in programmers' slang).
But it is also well-known that the bugs in free software are fewer, and are fixed much more quickly, than in proprietary software.
It is not in vain that numerous public bodies responsible for the IT security of state systems in developed countries require the use of free software for the same conditions of security and efficiency.
What is impossible to prove is that proprietary software is more secure than free, without the public and open inspection of the scientific community and users in general.
This demonstration is impossible because the model of proprietary software itself prevents this analysis, so that any guarantee of security is based only on promises of good intentions (biased, by any reckoning) made by the producer itself, or its contractors.
It should be remembered that in many cases, the licensing conditions include Non-Disclosure clauses which prevent the user from publicly revealing security flaws found in the licensed proprietary product.

In respect of the guarantee:
As you know perfectly well, or could find out by reading the "End User License Agreement" of the products you license, in the great majority of cases the guarantees are limited to replacement of the storage medium in case of defects, but in no case is compensation given for direct or indirect damages, loss of profits, etc...
If as a result of a security bug in one of your products, not fixed in time by yourselves, an attacker managed to compromise crucial State systems, what guarantees, reparations and compensation would your company make in accordance with your licensing conditions?
The guarantees of proprietary software, inasmuch as programs are delivered ``AS IS'', that is, in the state in which they are, with no additional responsibility of the provider in respect of function, in no way differ from those normal with free software.

On Intellectual Property:
Questions of intellectual property fall outside the scope of this bill, since they are covered by specific other laws.
The model of free software in no way implies ignorance of these laws, and in fact the great majority of free software is covered by copyright.
In reality, the inclusion of this question in your observations shows your confusion in respect of the legal framework in which free software is developed.
The inclusion of the intellectual property of others in works claimed as one's own is not a practice that has been noted in the free software community; whereas, unfortunately, it has been in the area of proprietary software.
As an example, the condemnation by the Commercial Court of Nanterre, France, on 27th September 2001 of Microsoft Corp. to a penalty of 3 million francs in damages and interest, for violation of intellectual property (piracy, to use the unfortunate term that your firm commonly uses in its publicity).

You go on to say that: "The bill uses the concept of open source software incorrectly, since it does not necessarily imply that the software is free or of zero cost, and so arrives at mistaken conclusions regarding State savings, with no cost-benefit analysis to validate its position."
This observation is wrong; in principle, freedom and lack of cost are orthogonal concepts: there is software which is proprietary and charged for (for example, MS Office), software which is proprietary and free of charge (MS Internet Explorer), software which is free and charged for (Red Hat, SuSE etc Gnu/Linux distributions), software which is free and not charged for (Apache, OpenOffice, Mozilla), and even software which can be licensed in a range of combinations (MySQL).
Certainly free software is not necessarily free of charge.
And the text of the bill does not state that it has to be so, as you will have noted after reading it.
The definitions included in the Bill state clearly *what* should be considered free software, at no point referring to freedom from charges.
Although the possibility of savings in payments for proprietary software licenses are mentioned, the foundations of the bill clearly refer to the fundamental guarantees to be preserved and to the stimulus to local technological development.
Given that a democratic State must support these principles, it has no other choice than to use software with publicly available source code, and to exchange information only in standard formats.
If the State does not use software with these characteristics, it will be weakening basic republican principles.
Luckily, free software also implies lower total costs; however, even given the hypothesis (easily disproved) that it was more expensive than proprietary software, the simple existence of an effective free software tool for a particular IT function would oblige the State to use it; not by command of this Bill, but because of the basic principles we enumerated at the start, and which arise from the very essence of the lawful democratic State.

You continue: "6. It is wrong to think that Open Source Software is free of charge. Research by the Garner Group (an important investigator of the technological market recognized at world level) has shown that the cost of purchase of software (operating system and applications) is only 8% of the total cost which firms and institutions take on for a rational and truly beneficial use of the technology. The other 92% consists of: installation costs, enabling, support, maintenance, administration, and down-time."
This argument repeats that already given in paragraph 5 and partly contradicts paragraph 3.
For the sake of brevity we refer to the comments on those paragraphs.
However, allow me to point out that your conclusion is logically false: even if according to Gartner Group the cost of software is on average only 8% of the total cost of use, this does not in any way deny the existence of software which is free of charge, that is, with a licensing cost of zero.
In addition, in this paragraph you correctly point out that the service components and losses due to down-time make up the largest part of the total cost of software use, which, as you will note, contradicts your statement regarding the small value of services suggested in paragraph 3.
Now the use of free software contributes significantly to reduce the remaining life-cycle costs.
This reduction in the costs of installation, support etc. can be noted in several areas: in the first place, the competitive service model of free software, support and maintenance for which can be freely contracted out to a range of suppliers competing on the grounds of quality and low cost.
This is true for installation, enabling, and support, and in large part for maintenance.
In the second place, due to the reproductive characteristics of the model, maintenance carried out for an application is easily replicable, without incurring large costs (that is, without paying more than once for the same thing) since modifications, if one wishes, can be incorporated in the common fund of knowledge.
Thirdly, the huge costs caused by non-functioning software ("blue screens of death", malicious code such as virus, worms, and trojans, exceptions, general protection faults and other well-known problems) are reduced considerably by using more stable software; and it is well-known that one of the most notable virtues of free software is its stability.

You further state that: "7. One of the arguments behind the bill is the supposed freedom from costs of open-source software, compared with the costs of commercial software, without taking into account the fact that there exist types of volume licensing which can be highly advantageous for the State, as has happened in other countries."
I have already pointed out that what is in question is not the cost of the software but the principles of freedom of information, accessibility, and security.
These arguments have been covered extensively in the preceding paragraphs to which I would refer you.
On the other hand, there certainly exist types of volume licensing (although unfortunately proprietary software does not satisfy the basic principles).
But as you correctly pointed out in the immediately preceding paragraph of your letter, they only manage to reduce the impact of a component which makes up no more than 8% of the total.

You continue:
"8. In addition, the alternative adopted by the bill (i) is clearly more expensive, due to the high costs of software migration, and (ii) puts at risk compatibility and interoperability of the IT platforms within the State, and between the State and the private sector, given the hundreds of versions of open source software on the market."
Let us analyze your statement in two parts.
Your first argument, that migration implies high costs, is in reality an argument in favor of the Bill.
Because the more time goes by, the more difficult migration to another technology will become; and at the same time, the security risks associated with proprietary software will continue to increase.
In this way, the use of proprietary systems and formats will make the State ever more dependent on specific suppliers.
Once a policy of using free software has been established (which certainly, does imply some cost) then on the contrary migration from one system to another becomes very simple, since all data is stored in open formats.
On the other hand, migration to an open software context implies no more costs than migration between two different proprietary software contexts, which invalidates your argument completely.
The second argument refers to "problems in interoperability of the IT platforms within the State, and between the State and the private sector"
This statement implies a certain lack of knowledge of the way in which free software is built, which does not maximize the dependence of the user on a particular platform, as normally happens in the realm of proprietary software.
Even when there are multiple free software distributions, and numerous programs which can be used for the same function, interoperability is guaranteed as much by the use of standard formats, as required by the bill, as by the possibility of creating interoperable software given the availability of the source code.
You then say that: "9. The majority of open source code does not offer adequate levels of service nor the guarantee from recognized manufacturers of high productivity on the part of the users, which has led various public organizations to retract their decision to go with an open source software solution and to use commercial software in its place."
This observation is without foundation.
In respect of the guarantee, your argument was rebutted in the response to paragraph 4.
In respect of support services, it is possible to use free software without them (just as also happens with proprietary software), but anyone who does need them can obtain support separately, whether from local firms or from international corporations, again just as in the case of proprietary software.
On the other hand, it would contribute greatly to our analysis if you could inform us about free software projects *established* in public bodies which have already been abandoned in favor of proprietary software.
We know of a good number of cases where the opposite has taken place, but not know of any where what you describe has taken place.

You continue by observing that: "10. The bill demotivates the creativity of the Peruvian software industry, which invoices 40 million US$/year, exports 4 million US$ (10th in ranking among non-traditional exports, more than handicrafts) and is a source of highly qualified employment. With a law that incentivates the use of open source, software programmers lose their intellectual property rights and their main source of payment."
It is clear enough that nobody is forced to commercialize their code as free software.
The only thing to take into account is that if it is not free software, it cannot be sold to the public sector.
This is not in any case the main market for the national software industry.
We covered some questions referring to the influence of the Bill on the generation of employment which would be both highly technically qualified and in better conditions for competition above, so it seems unnecessary to insist on this point.
What follows in your statement is incorrect.
On the one hand, no author of free software loses his intellectual property rights, unless he expressly wishes to place his work in the public domain.
The free software movement has always been very respectful of intellectual property, and has generated widespread public recognition of authors.
Names like those of Richard Stallman, Linus Torvalds, Guido van Rossum, Larry Wall, Miguel de Icaza, Andrew Tridgell, Theo de Raadt, Andrea Arcangeli, Bruce Perens, Darren Reed, Alan Cox, Eric Raymond, and many others, are recognized world-wide for their contributions to the development of software that is used today by millions of people throughout the world.
On the other hand, to say that the rewards for authors rights make up the main source of payment of Peruvian programmers is in any case a guess, in particular since there is no proof to this effect, nor a demonstration of how the use of free software by the State would influence these payments.

You go on to say that: "11. Open source software, since it can be distributed without charge, does not allow the generation of income for its developers through exports. In this way, the multiplier effect of the sale of software to other countries is weakened, and so in turn is the growth of the industry, while Government rules ought on the contrary to stimulate local industry."
This statement shows once again complete ignorance of the mechanisms of and market for free software.
It tries to claim that the market of sale of non- exclusive rights for use (sale of licenses) is the only possible one for the software industry, when you yourself pointed out several paragraphs above that it is not even the most important one.
The incentives that the bill offers for the growth of a supply of better qualified professionals, together with the increase in experience that working on a large scale with free software within the State will bring for Peruvian technicians, will place them in a highly competitive position to offer their services abroad.

You then state that: "12. In the Forum, the use of open source software in education was discussed, without mentioning the complete collapse of this initiative in a country like Mexico, where precisely the State employees who founded the project now state that open source software did not make it possible to offer a learning experience to pupils in the schools, did not take into account the capability at a national level to give adequate support to the platform, and that the software did not and does not allow for the levels of platform integration that now exist in schools."
In fact Mexico has gone into reverse with the Red Escolar (Schools Network) project.
This is due precisely to the fact that the driving forces behind the Mexican project used license costs as their main argument, instead of the other reasons specified in our project, which are far more essential.
Because of this conceptual mistake, and as a result of the lack of effective support from the SEP (Secretary of State for Public Education), the assumption was made that to implant free software in schools it would be enough to drop their software budget and send them a CD ROM with Gnu/Linux instead.
Of course this failed, and it couldn't have been otherwise, just as school laboratories fail when they use proprietary software and have no budget for implementation and maintenance.
That's exactly why our bill is not limited to making the use of free software mandatory, but recognizes the need to create a viable migration plan, in which the State undertakes the technical transition in an orderly way in order to then enjoy the advantages of free software.

You end with a rhetorical question: "13. If open source software satisfies all the requirements of State bodies, why do you need a law to adopt it? Shouldn't it be the market which decides freely which products give most benefits or value?"
We agree that in the private sector of the economy, it must be the market that decides which products to use, and no state interference is permissible there.
However, in the case of the public sector, the reasoning is not the same: as we have already established, the state archives, handles, and transmits information which does not belong to it, but which is entrusted to it by citizens, who have no alternative under the rule of law.
As a counterpart to this legal requirement, the State must take extreme measures to safeguard the integrity, confidentiality, and accessibility of this information. The use of proprietary software raises serious doubts as to whether these requirements can be fulfilled, lacks conclusive evidence in this respect, and so is not suitable for use in the public sector.
The need for a law is based, firstly, on the realization of the fundamental principles listed above in the specific area of software; secondly, on the fact that the State is not an ideal homogeneous entity, but made up of multiple bodies with varying degrees of autonomy in decision making.
Given that it is inappropriate to use proprietary software, the fact of establishing these rules in law will prevent the personal discretion of any state employee from putting at risk the information which belongs to citizens.
And above all, because it constitutes an up-to-date reaffirmation in relation to the means of management and communication of information used today, it is based on the republican principle of openness to the public.
In conformance with this universally accepted principle, the citizen has the right to know all information held by the State and not covered by well- founded declarations of secrecy based on law. Now, software deals with information and is itself information.
Information in a special form, capable of being interpreted by a machine in order to execute actions, but crucial information all the same because the citizen has a legitimate right to know, for example, how his vote is computed or his taxes calculated.
And for that he must have free access to the source code and be able to prove to his satisfaction the programs used for electoral computations or calculation of his taxes.
I wish you the greatest respect, and would like to repeat that my office will always be open for you to expound your point of view to whatever level of detail you consider suitable.

Cordially,
DR. DR. EDGAR DAVID VILLANUEVA NUÑEZ
Congressman of the Republica of Perú

Bisnis Anti Virus Palsu makin marak

2009-01-08T11:51:00.000-08:00

Bagi para pengguna MS Windows, perangkat Anti Virus merupakan sebuah keharusan untuk dipasang agar supaya Operating System MS Windows ini maupun Software-software yang berjalan diatas MS Windows tidak terserang Virus yang makin hari makin ganas dan banyak variasinya. Itulah sebabnya Microsoft selalu memberikan peringatan kepada para pengguna Komputer/PC/Laptop yang belum memasag software Anti Vurus untuk segera memasangnya.

Segi posiftif dari serangan Virus-virus ini di Komputer yang berbasis MS Windows adalah makin berkembang dan makin banyak untungnya para Vendor-vendor penyedia Software Anti Virus itu, yang harus diperbaharui setiap hari. Sedangkan segi negatifnya sangat banyak, antara lain: makin lambatnya operasi Komputer/PC/Laptop yang berbasis MS Windows karena diperlukan tidak hanya satu software dan perangkat Anti Virus untuk mengamankan komputer/PC/Laptop tersebut, melainkan satu set Anti Virus, Anti Spam, Server Proxy dan Filter-filter khusus. Pernah kami lihat sebuah PC di sebuah Perusahaaan besar yang untuk menghidupkannya saja memakan waktu 5-10 menit karena banyaknya proteksi yang dipasang di jaringan LAN Korporasi. Selain itu operasionalnya juga lambat, sebab besarnya sumber daya memory yang dipakai setiap saat ada aktivitas komputing. Adalah keharusan untuk memperbaharui Daftar Virus-virus baru yang meuncul tiap hari, bila ingin PC kita aman, dimana proses updatingnya juga memakan waktu dan bandwith transmisi.

Hasil akhirnya, Komputer/PC/Laptop tersebut menurun kinerjanya dan kinerja para karyawan yang menggunakannya. Ini merupakan kehilangan produktivitas dan efektivitas kerja perusahaan/korporasi secara menyeluruh. Inilah kisah kehidupan para eksekutif dan karyawan yang harus dilalui tiap hari karena banyaknya para pengguna aplikasi software berbasis MS Windows.

Kerepotan takutnya kemasukan Virus yang gentayangan didunia maya ini sekarang ditambah lagi dengan maraknya Bisnis Anti Virus Palsu yang umumnya berasal dari Rusia, Negara-negara Eropa Timur dan Cina. Kita akan sangat sulit untuk mendetekasi apakah sebuah tawaran untuk men-download sebuah Software Ant Virus itu adalah sebuah tawaran yang jujur dan bersih, bukan sebuah tipu-tipuan yang malah membuat Komputer/PC/Laptop kita kemasukan Virus, serta Malware lainnya, antara lain sebuah software untuk mencuri Password dan Nomor-nomor Kartu Kredit kita dan para karyawan di suatu Perusahaan (melalui sebuah Local Area Network).

Sumber penelitian dari perusahaan Anti Virus Sophos (www.sophos.com) menyebutkan bahwa ketakutan yang berlebih akan masuknya Virus menyebabkan makin banyaknya para pengguna PC/Laptop yang men-download berbagai tawaran software Anti Virus yang kebanyakan ternyata adalah palsu atau tipu-tipuan belaka.

Bisnis Software Anti Virus Palsu ternyata saat ini menghasilkan keuntungan yang sangat besar bagi para pembuatnya, bisa ribuan, ratusan sampai jutaan Dollar. Dampaknya, makin banyak saja pebisnis illegal ini yang muncul, namun sangat sulit untuk diberantas, sebab mereka sangat cerdik, teliti dan sangat berhati-hati dalam menyebarkan agen-agennya. Umumnya mereka berlokasi di ketiga wilayah yang tersebut diatas, sebab diwilayah-wilayah itu sangat sulit untuk menegakkan Hukum Dunia Maya (Cyber Law), dan pemerintahan di negara-negara itu sepertinya melindungi para penjahat dunia maya ini, sebab mereka tidak bersedia melakukan pelacakan dan pemblokiran situs-situs penebar Anti Virus Palsu itu.

Hal yang sangat menggembirakan bagi masyarakat negara-negara berkembang adalah kenyataan bahwa sangat sedikit atau tidak ada Virus-virus yang gentayangan di Dunia Maya yang mampu menembus proteksi Komputer/PC/Laptop yang berbasis Linux/Open Source. Ini merupakan daya tarik Operating System LINUX untuk masyarakat negara-negara berkembang, sebab selain kekebalannya dalam menghadapi Virus, juga rendahnya CAPEX atau Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) dari software-software berbasis Linux Operating System.

Silahkan ditanggapi.

Belanda luncurkan Proyek Smart Card Open Source

2008-06-28T04:26:00.000-07:00

Sebuah Organisasi Non-Profit Belanda, NLnet Foundation, baru-baru ini telah meluncurkan Proyek Open Source untuk merancang Software Smart Card yang dapat memberikan jaminan keamanan yang lebih baik dari pada Smart Card berbasiskan Software Proprieatry yang saat ini dipakai di Amerika Serikat, Inggris, Belanda dan Indonesia.

NLnet Foundation telah memberikan kontrak pembuatah Software Open Source tersebut kepada Radboud University di Nijmegen sebesar US$234.000 untuk pelaksanaannya sampai tahun 2010, menggunakan model pengembangan software Open Source, yaitu kolaborasi dengan berbagai pengembang untuk membangun source code open source yang lebih tangguh terhadap serangan keamanan Smart Card.

Masyarakat Open Source nantinya akan dapat memanfaatkan hasil pengembangan Software Open Source untuk Smart Card ini, sebab lisensinya memakai General Public Lisence, GPL.

Kita harapkan software-software Open Source akan makin berkembang menjadi software professional yang tangguh.

------ kutipan beritanya terlampir -------

A Dutch charity is funding an open-source project to design smart card
software that offers stronger protection of personal data in light of
security vulnerabilities found with cards used today in the U.S., U.K.
and Netherlands.

NLnet Foundation will give ¬150,000 (US$234,000) to Radboud University
in Nijmegen, Netherlands, for the project, which will run through 2010,
said Valer Mischenko, the foundation's general director.

The research and the code will be published for peer review, an
open-source development model that can offer a stronger security model
than undocumented, proprietary systems that dominate the smart-card
market, Mischenko said. Companies will be able to use the software in
future products, as it will be licensed under the GNU General Public
License.

http://www.cio. com/article/ print/404513

Akta Pendirian AOSI akan ditandatangani Senin 30 Juni 2008

2008-06-27T17:35:00.000-07:00

Bila tidak ada aral melintang, Insya Allah Akta Pendirian Asosiasi Open Source Indonesia (AOSI) akan ditandatangani pada:

Hari/Tanggal : Senin, 30 Juni 2008
Waktu : 15.00 WIB - 17.00 WIB
Tempat : Gedung Departemen Komunikasi dan Informatika R.I. lantai-2, Jl. Merdeka Barat 9, Jakarta 10110.

Agenda Acara adalah sbb:

1. Sambutan Selamat Datang dari Depkominfo
2. Laporan Tim Formatur/Duta Open Source Indonesia
3. Penandatanganan Akte Pendirian Oleh Para Anggota Pendiri AOSI
4. Sambutan dari Ristek/IGOS
5. Penutup

Sesuai kesepakatan bersama, Pendiri organisasi AOSI adalah:

1. SUN Indonesia
2. Rimba Sindikasi Media
3. Yayasan Penggerak Linux Indonesia
4. IBM Indonesia
5. Oracle Indonesia
6. Nurul Fikri Cipta Inovasi
7. Jatis
8. Yayasan Air Putih
9. Gudang Linux
10. INFOLINUX
11. PT Multicom Persada International
12. PT Quantum Business International
13. One Destination Center
14. Duta Astakona Girinda

Keanggotaan AOSI terbuka bagi Badan Hukum/Perusahaan/Yayasan/Koperasi/Asosiasi lainnya yang diatur dalam AD/ART AOSI.

Anggaran Dasar dan Anggaran Rumah Tangga AOSI (AD/ART) AOSI telah selesai pula disusun. Sesuai dengan ART AOSI, maka tahap awal akan ditunjuk Pengurus untuk tahap awal memantapkan organisasi AOSI. Selanjutnya Pengurus AOSI akan disusun melalui sebuah Rapat Anggota/Musyawarah Anggota.

Kita semua mendoakan agar AOSI dapat berkiprah yang sangat menentukan dalam pengembangan dan pemanfaatan Teknologi Informasi bagi kemajuan bangsa dan negara.

Semoga, dan Insya Allah berhasil.

Pembentukan Asosiasi Open Source Indonesia

2008-06-15T20:25:00.000-07:00

IGOS Summit-II telah berlangsung dengan meriah dan lancar dari tanggal 27 Mei 2008 - 28 Mei 2008, dihadiri oleh wakil2 dari 18 Departmen/Instansi Pemerintahan, para pelajar, mahasiswa, para vendor TI, majalah, publikasi online, pengembang software dan aplikasi, dan masyarakat umum.

IGOS Summit-II juga telah berhasil menyegarkan kembali Semangat IGOS-I tahun 2004 yang lalu, untuk menata dan menggalakkan promosi pemanfaatan OSS/FOSS bagi kalangan Instansi Pemerintahan dan masyarakat Indonesia pada umumnya. Guna merealisasikan hal ini maka disepakati untuk membentuk Aliansi Open Source Indonesia.

Asosiasi Open Source Indonesia (AOSI) dibentuk sebagai hasil dari IGOS Summit-II pada tanggal 29 Mei 2008 di Jakarta Convention Center (JaCC), Tanah Abang, Jakarta saat Penutupan IGOS Summit-II tersebut. Ditetapkan 4 orang Formatur untuk menyusun Organisasi AOSI, yaitu:

1. Rusmanto
2. Teddy Sukardi
3. Sumitro Roestam
4. Harry Sufehmi

Pada saat yang sama juga ditetapkan Duta Besar AOSI, yaitu Ibu Betti Alisjahbana, mantan CEO IBM Indonesia.

Asosiasi Open Source Indonesia didukung oleh perusahaan-perusahan besar bidang Teknologi Informasi, antara lain Sun Microsystems, Intel Corp., IBM Indonesia, ASUS, Zyrex, Apple Computers, Hewlett Packard, Dell Computer, Acer, Oracle Indonesia, dan lainnya.

Tujuan utama pembentukan AOSI adalah untuk membuat Software Open Source OSS dan Free Open Source Software FOSS menjadi sebuah solusi yang dapat diandalkan dalam bidang Komputing/Teknologi Informasi di Indonesia, sebagaimana software-software Proprietary yang telah banyak dipakai masyarakat Indonesia selama ini.

Selain itu, diharapkan dengan terbentuknya AOSI, maka makin banyak masyarakat Indonesia yang akan mengunalan softweare-software OSS/FOSS sebagai alternatif yang cost-efficient dan cost-effective dalam menyediakan solusi Komputing/Teknologi Informasi di Indonesia, serta dalam rangka mengurangi tingkat pembajakan software-software Proprietary, menghindari pelanggaran UU HaKI, dan meningkatkan citra bangsa Indonesia di Forum Internasional dan Perdagangan Dunia, sebagai negara dengan tingkat penggunaan software illegal terendah di Dunia. Ini karena software OSS/FOSS adalah berlisensi Genearl Public License (GPL) yang legal, sama seperti lisensi yang dimiliki oleh software-software Proprietary.

Organisasi AOSI juga diharapkan dapat menyediakan technical dan operational support bagi para pengguna software-software OSS/FOSS di Indonesia secara cepat, mudah, murah, dan komprehensif, sehingga terbentuk citra yang baik tentang software OSS/FOSS sebagai software yang professional dan mampu bersaing dengan berbagai jenis software aplikasi proprietary yang telah banyak digunakan masyarakat.

Model Bisnis software OSS/FOSS bukanlah model bisnis jualan lisensi software, namun lebih berfokus kepada dukungan dalam layanan teknis instalasi, customization, development, pendidikan, pelatihan dan sertifikasi keahlian dalam Software Aplikasi OSS/FOSS yang professional.

Marilah kita semua menyambut kehadiran organisasi AOSI dengan semangat dan entusiasme yang tinggi, kita berikan dukungan penuh melalui makin banyaknya penggunaan software-software OSS/FOSS yang saat ini sudah banyak tersedia di berbagai kota di Indonesia.

Semoga kehadiran Organisasi AOSI ini dapat mempercepat pembangunan Indonesia melalui dukungan Teknologi Informasi berbasis OSS/FOSS di Indonesia, serta membawa kesejahteraan bagi segenap bangsa Indonesia.

Tak Kenal Open Source Software, maka Tak Sayang

2008-06-15T20:09:00.000-07:00

Kawan2 Yth,

Open Source Software (OSS) pada intinya terdiri dari Software Operating System Linux dan Software Aplikasi yang sangat beragam, yang jumlahnya sudah mencapai ribuan jenis, tergantung aplikasi yang diinginkan. Untuk memudahkan instalasi, saat ini software OSS dibuat dalam paket yang disebut Distro. Jadi ada paket Distro Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, Blankon, PC Linux, Mandriva, Mephis, Fedora, Red Hat, DreamLinux, dan lain-lain lagi.

Untuk pengenalan OSS tahap awal bagi para pengguna Microsoft Windows yang banyak di Indonesia, maka kami sarankan agar mencoba dulu salah satu Distro Linux yang diinginkan, tanpa harus mem-partisi Harddisk anda, sebab dewasa ini sudah tersedia banyak "LIVE CD LINUX" yang bisa untuk menjalankan Linux tanpa harus menginstall-nya di Harddisk anda.

Berikut ini adalah informasinya:

1. Install dengan menggunakan pilihan "LIVE CD"
Kelemahan metode ini, waktu booting lumayan lama dan mengharuskan anda untuk selalu membawa CD.

2. Install dengan menggunakan aplikasi virtualisasi seperti Microsoft Virtual PC, VirtualBox dll.
Aplikasi MS Virtual PC (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/virtualpc/default.mspx)
dan Virtual Box ( http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads ) adalah freeware.

Keunggulan:
- anda dapat mencoba macam-macam sistem operasi microsoft ataupun opensource secara aman

Kelemahan:
Membutuhkan spesifikasi PC/Laptop yang lumayan cepat dan memory yang lumayan besar (sebaiknya 1Gb)

3. Install dengan menggunakan WUBI (Windows based Ubuntu Installer)
Ini hanya berlaku untuk distro keluaran Ubuntu 8.04 terbaru (Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu dll)
Ini merupakan cara terbaru yang aman dan tidak mengganggu partisi harddisk yang telah terinstall MS Windows.

(sumber: Bapak Agung N. BPPK Dept. Keuangan).

Bilamana Anda cukup mantap untuk memasang Linux di Harddisk Anda, maka Installer Linux akan secara otomatis melakukan partisi Harddisk anda dalam proses Instalasi tersebut. Berikut ini adalah informasinya:

Ada beberapa cara untuk mendapatkan CD instalasi ubuntu:

*

Silakan daftar secara online di sini: https://shipit.ubuntu.com/
*

Pesan melalui komunitas linux: http://juragan.kambing.ui.edu/ Kalau koneksi internet lambat, sebaiknya pesan DVD full repository supaya tidak perlu download aplikasi tambahan melalui internet.
*

Berlangganan majalah bulanan InfoLinux (http://www.infolinux.web.id/site/); setiap edisi menyertakan dua buah DVD yang berisi distro Linux terbaru dan softwares open source lainnya. Harga langganan Rp280ribuan pertahun. Edisi terbaru (Juni 2008) menyertakan distro Ubuntu versi 8.04 (terbaru). Harga eceran Rp40ribu. Majalah info Linux ini tersedia di Toko buku: Gramedia, dll.
* Beli CD instalasi di gudanglinux.com (Gedung ITC Kuningan, Jakarta)

Ada distro Linux yg didukung oleh Kementerian Riset dan Teknologi yaitu: IGOS Nusantara (Indonesia, Go Open Source!).
Bagi yang ber-domisili di Jakarta, bisa mampir ke kantor IGOS untuk mendapatkan CD instalasi gratis.
Alamat IGOS:
BPPT Gedung 2, Lantai 6
Jl. MH Thamrin No. 8
Jakarta 10340

Teman-2 di BPPT telah meluncurkan beberapa produk open source: Winbi (Windows Bahasa Indonesia), Kantaya (Kantor Maya), Warintek (Warung Internet berbasis Linux)), dll.

Semoga bermanfaat.

(Sumber: Bapak Moeljono Widjaja, PhD. Ajun Peneliti Madya - BPPT)