UPDATED: MP slams government's Microsoft "bias"

 

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Posted on 11 Oct 2007 at 13:09

Liberal Democrat MP, John Pugh, has slammed the UK government for an IT policy which he claims consistently eschews open source in favour of Microsoft products.

Pugh, the MP for Southport, raised the issue in the House of Commons this week, arguing that "the institutional bias of the government for this particular firm seems to be an open and shut case of illegal state aid."

"The Driving Standards Agency driving theory CD-ROM can be used only on Windows computers. The Revenue website has limited functionality for the Firefox web browser, the most popular alternative to Internet Explorer and one that some would argue is more secure. The Department for Work and Pensions online benefits system can be accessed only by those who have a Windows computer. Those who have Unix or Linux computers or who use Mac computers should simply not bother," he accused.

Answering for the government, Angela Eagle, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, said that "the government must also provide software that is relevant to the computers that most people in the UK have and Microsoft Windows is one of the dominant operating systems."

"However, as I have said, we offer a level playing field, and I want to make that a reality. We will procure the solution that can offer the best value for money and that can best meet our requirements. If that solution is open source, we will use open source."

Hansard has a complete transcript of the debate.

UPDATE: A Microsoft spokesperson told this website that Governments should select software based on its merits, and not based simply on its development and licensing model.

"Public entities should procure the software that best meets their needs based on functionality, performance, security, value and cost-of-ownership and should avoid any categorical preferences for open-source software, commercial software, free software or any other software development model," the spokesperson said. "Governments that attempt to identify one software development model as superior in terms of a particular variable risk making incorrect choices among the full range of software products available in the marketplace."

Author: Simon Aughton