The Hungarian Government considering open source software for educational institutions

Linux is sexy

The Hungarian government will issue a tender within days for software acquisition for educational institutions and some state agencies, said Ferenc Baja the Secretary responsible for Information and Communications. According to state officials, educational institutions will receive 12 billion forints, which is the same amount they can spend on Microsoft products, to acquire open source software.

The idea is to provide a fair competition and to entice companies into the open source mindset. Mr. Baja said that all open source software developers can bid to supply products; he said, he was confident that the open source community could satisfy the needs of Hungarian companies.

The government is about to re-open the "Software Competency Center" an open source initiative started in 2004, but was shut down a year later. The Center will help institutions transitioning from proprietary to open source software use. It also advises companies in feasibility issues, since the money won't cover re-training expenses of the employees only license fees.

In 2009, we would like to test the waters to see how the institutions cope with the challenges of implementing open source products. We hope that they take advantage of the new opportunities offered by the government said Gábor Bódi, the Secretary of the Prime Minister's office.

János Keresztesi, the president of the Software Developers Association said that the government initiative had a strategic importance. It could be the beginning of a process that might trigger further actions, providing more possibilities for companies using open source software.

In January, three Hungarian companies filed a complaint with the European Commission for unfair government practices in software acquisition. According to the company's statements, the government is positively biased towards Microsoft products.

(MTI)