Open source's double standard on government bias

The open-source community has a long tradition of looking for and hounding away at the very thought of Microsoft influence from government IT policies.

For example, Open Source Initiative President Michael Tiemann rightly decries an alleged tie between the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's charitable donations and Microsoft's "cabinet-level access to inform policy."

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (red fedora) and Michael Tiemann

(Credit: Ricardo Stuckert)

Apparently, however, Tiemann has no problem proudly displaying a picture of Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, wearing a Red Hat fedora, declaring...

Would that all Presidents and all ministers of all countries were so concerned about the sovereignty of their nation and the fiduciary care of their people!

...that they'd openly stand behind one vendor? That doesn't sound much like a sovereign act to me.

In fact, it sounds exactly like the sort of bias that the open-source community routinely inveighs against. Imagine the outcry if President Lula would have been seen posing with Bill Gates, wearing a Microsoft t-shirt?

Mark Taylor, president of the U.K.'s Open Source Consortium, lashed out against the U.K. government "pay(ing) lip service" to open source while "actually pursuing policies that are exclusive." Presumably it would be better if those "exclusive" policies actually favored a particular open-source vendor or technology?

That seems to be the message coming out of Europe, too, in its proposed policy changes around the purchase of standards-based technologies, which some suggest amounts to a built-in bias for open source. Policies that promote openness, generally, are good, because they help to protect a country's sovereign interests.

But when a country's leaders are seen to be supporting a particular vendor, even a vendor of open source and open standards, that strikes me as just the sort of favoritism that we disparage when the beneficiary is Microsoft. Just because it's bias in our favor doesn't make it right.

Back to Brazil. Sun Microsystems' Simon Phipps also posted pictures of President Lula wearing the Red Hat fedora, but also a Sun Java ring. (The president apparently said it made him feel like "James Bond.") At least Java is a technology, not a vendor, which makes this act of Lula less...loony.

Simon Phipps and Lula show their open-source colors

(Credit: Simon Phipps)

That said, the ironic thing is that while Phipps points to the benefits Brazil derives from its commitment to open-source Java, he neglects to note that Brazil had this same commitment to Java long before it was actually open source.

Regardless, in describing Lula's affection for open source Phipps unwittingly makes him sound like an open-source groupie, which is hardly how I'd want my president to act, either for proprietary or open-source interests.

A sovereign nation should be just that: sovereign. Its leaders shouldn't bow to particular vendors or even particular development practices, nor should they be perceived to do such. For Brazil, it's immaterial whether the company is Sun, Red Hat, Microsoft, or SAP: it is a sovereign nation and should act as such.

A government tasked with the protection of its people should never look like a cheap infomercial for any vendor--either open source or proprietary.

Follow me on Twitter @mjasay.

[MichaelTiemann]

Matt, are you still sore that Barack Obama picked UNC Chapel Hill to go all the way in the NCAA basketball championships?

There were some voices who wanted to disqualify UNC Chapel Hill from even playing in the NCAA finals because they held an "unauthorized practice" with candidate Obama when he visited the state. Are those the rules you want to play by?

There's a big difference between wearing a hat for 15 minutes and signing a nine-figure contract to grant a monopoly explicit influence over government policy and choice.

Now who is promoting "purity" arguments too far?

[monkeyfun14]

Wheres your proof. Unless you can show me solid evidence of these documents your claim holds no water.

[Matt Asay]

I read his comments, too. I'm all for Microsoft-bashing (I think I do it a fair amount here, though I also respect Microsoft's technology and think I'm pretty upfront about that), and you know that I'm a big fan of Red Hat, but I think it's absolutely inappropriate for any government official to privilege in word or in deed any particular vendor <i>even when I may happen to like that vendor and think it's a superior choice</i>.

I think my argument is actually principled and consistent. Just as I've always been against mandates that favor or disfavor open source, I'm also against real or perceived bias for or against open source. Ultimately, I think technology should be decided on technological merits, not how cozy someone gets with a prime minister or president. In this case, I believe President Lula has clearly crossed the lines of good sense.

[Luxor2]

There are several things that leave a bad taste in my mouth after reading this article Michael:

1. The picture of the president using your company's logo on OSI's web site. As the president of OSI you seem to be a little bit too happy to use the OSI as a way of promoting your company's business.

2. After reading your article on OSI, I checked out a few more of your blog entries. I did not know you were the president, nor that you had a blog there. But you seem very happy in your position of OSI to give regular kudos to "Red Hat Enterprise" and talk about "Fedora" and "Red Hat Summits" and you even take a cheap shot at "Novell + Microsoft".

Had you been covering Ubuntu, Debian, Novell's SUSE Linux, IBM's WebShere and other competing products in your blog in your role as president I would think this was part of the things you cared about as president of OSI. But you do not.

You use OSI's president blog to promote your company.

3. Sure, "15 minutes" with Lula might not mean much, but I am sure these 15 minutes did wonders for your sales force in Brazil.

Lobbying firms in the United States charge millions of dollars to get the most corrupt companies a handful of minutes with politicians, to start the introductions, to get the pictures taken, to get stories written.

The proper step was to apologize and take out the post, not to hide behind your "15 minutes" excuse which could turn out to be incredibly profitable for your employer.

4. When Red Hat is able to deliver an entire desktop from top to bottom with working printer drivers, working video drivers, working WiFi, working audio, working OpenGL, working suspend, binary compatibility that goes beyond "The version of RHEL we certified against", working video and actual applications you might be entitled to "nine-figure contracts".

But so far, Red Hat is unable to deliver a desktop with the above features (and Ubuntu, the best Linux desktop distribution is merely marginally better).

So those "nine-figure contracts" actually pay for something: working software. People are paying because they want more than your C++ compiler. When you get those features, you also will be able to ask for your favorite number of figure contracts.

5. As president of OSI you level a pretty serious accusation against the Gates Foundation. This is not your home blog, you are dragging OSI's reputation with you when you make claims that you have no proof for.

Instead of facts, you provided innuendo, and anecdotes.

If you are going to carry a gun, be ready to use it. You accuse the Gates Foundation practices of shoddy businesses on behalf of Microsoft with absolutely no proof.

I followed the links to Roy Schestowitz "findings" from your blog.

Did you?

You probably did not. Because it was a collection of conspiracy theories, self referential posts and tortured logic. As I was reading that nonsense you linked to, it reminded me of Brad Pitt's character at the mental hospital in 12 Monkeys.

Is that really the source that the president of OSI uses as a backup to his own stories?

Perhaps you felt that your fiduciary responsibility to Red Hat, your employer, trumped the shady reporting on Roy's links. And it was ok as long as it posted to a site dedicated to boycotting one of your main competitors.

All in all Michael, this really reflects poorly on you. You should apologize and cut down the partisanship as president of OSI.

Maybe get your personal blog where you can advertise all the good work that Red Hat does while keeping OSI's reputation pristine.

[odubtaig]

Luxor's comment might carry a little more weight if point 4 wasn't so obviously a load of garbage.

After that I can't even be bothered to check the veracity of the rest.

[deemery]

Governments, like any enterprise, should select appropriate (a) technologies and (b) vendors. These are separable. An enterprise can choose to pick open standards and then select vendors. Or it can choose to go with a vendor specific/vendor integrated solution. There are life-cycle costs associated with these decisions.

Once the enterprise has made the decision (hopefully through some engineering process), we can't blame either the enterprise or the chosen vendor(s) for leveraging that decision.

[monkeyfun14]

I just love the open source mindset of if someone uses a paid solution the company must of paid them to do it.

Why would you pay someone to use your product I mean really?

[fazalmajid]

It's called kickbacks, and it is very common practice in fields like arms sales, construction or water utilities. It would not be surprising if it occurred on software procurement bids as well.

[pentest]

Why is Gate's "charity" almost always tied to strings that benefit MS(remember his trip to India a few years back)? and always is followed by a press release?

[odubtaig]

I think 14 has got to be your age, right? I mean, seriously? I suppose you've never heard of Payola either?

I swear, some people are so dumb you've got to wonder how they remember to breathe.

[fmobus]

Matt,

This article is a flamebait, built upon selected pictures, taken out of their original context. President Lula has NEVER vowed or declared that he stays behind some specific vendor. Pictures of him wearing a red Fedora hat do not warrant the claim of "the government is locked to Red Hat!" - in fact, you just proved yourself wrong by showing him wearing a Sun's ring.

If you knew the least bit about Brazil, or had diligently researched before writing, you would know that Lula often receives gifts (hats, caps, t-shirts, etc), and promptly uses them for pictures. That has happened countless times, since 2003, when he took office. That included social moviments, vendors, companies, soccer teams and etc. That does not mean he is pledging his allegiance to someone's cause or products. It is just Lula's protocol.

You fail further by neglecting the context of these pictures: both of them were snapped during 10º Fórum Internacional Software Livre, a 8000+ attendants Free Software conference that took place in Porto Alegre two weeks ago. For the first time in history, a Head-of-State visited a conference like that. Following his own tradition, Lula went thru the crowd in the exposition area, receiving plenty of gifts from various vendors, distros and user groups, wearing most of them; he also took countless photos - which you promptly ignore. None of those actions prove him to be locked to anyone.

disclaimer: I did not vote for him. But I can't reprimand his attitudes regarding free software support.

[Matt Asay]

I would be very happy to have you link to all of the pictures of President Lula wearing Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, etc. gear. You can do so here in the comments and I'll then assemble them into a blog post.

Not that this would change my opinion. I still think it would be in poor taste for him to wear these things. He's the president of a sovereign nation, but comes across as a free software groupie in his comments (yes, I read them) and in his pictures.

[cowatson]

I think the only real problem with open source is the communication with the knowledgeable tech consumer. I am not really sure why Microsoft defending intellectual property is bad. I am also not sure how Linux makes money if it is free and open source, if that means inventors have no claim on their patents (if they do, then is it open source?) Would love an article on the finer points of this argument, though not written by Matt, he seems to make alot of illogical leaps in his writing, would be tought to take anything he says at real value. Any links to well thought out columns on these questions would be much appreciated.

[hp-sg]

Matt -

Picking a photo out of context is plain wrong. Red Hat is a representative of a commercially accountable Linux and related technologies company. Even if Brasil decides to go with a Red Hat supported solution, that does not mean that the rest of the open source community is left out. More to the point, the greater open source community gains tremendously from such a move. Compare that with a Microsoft-specific engagement. The open source community will be locked out.

You seem to have a very strange way to look at the rest of the open source community - commercial or otherwise. It used to be that your comments had credibility, but lately, all of those have been significantly decreased.

Let me ask you if you would have blogged the way you did if instead of the Fedora, the president was holding up an Ubuntu CD and shaking hands with Mark Shuttleworth?

We are in the open source community together, and yes, like any extended family, there will be jealousy and dare I say, in-fighting. That makes, at least in the FOSS case, for a stronger family. Unfortunately, what you have blogged just indicates to me that you are whining. Please stop that.

hp-sg

[Matt Asay]

You've got to be kidding me. I absolutely WOULD have said EXACTLY the same thing had he been wearing an Ubuntu shirt. Did you read my post?

Have you read the other posts that heap praise on Red Hat? I am quite obviously a big Red Hat fan. Yes, I'm also a personal friend of Mark Shuttleworth, but the same is true of Jim Whitehurst (Red Hat's CEO) and others within Red Hat. I have a strong interest in seeing Red Hat succeed. My comments were in no way sour grapes that Lula was wearing a Red Hat fedora instead of an Ubuntu shirt or even an Alfresco shirt. In either case it would be highly inappropriate.

That is the point. It's not *whose* stuff he's wearing, it's that he's wearing it at all.

It's one thing if he's wearing a Corinthians shirt. That shows he's a fan. It's another to wear a vendor's stuff. That shows he may be compromised in his decisions.

[jwildeboer]

Matt, since you asked:

Lula wearing the ODF cap:

http://blog.worldlabel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/free.jpg

So will you now claim how biased it is to lock-in to ODF as opposed to using Microsofts binary formats?

And as it was a Free Software Conference, it will be hard to find pix ofd Lula wearing a Microsoft cap.

We at Red Hat are proud to wear the fedora not only because we are proud of our little company - we wear it because it represents more. It represents the values of Open Source and serving the community that is our upstream provider. It represents our stance on being an honest and accountable catalyst.

Jan Wildeboer

[Luxor2]

ODF is an ISO standard, not a company.

Michael did not pick the picture with the ODF hat, or an Ubuntu shirt to put on the Open Source Initiative blog. He picked the picture with a Fedora.

It is fine to be proud about your company (your 4 billion dollar worth "little company"). But that is hardly the point. The people at Microsoft are also proud of their "little company" and the Gates foundation might be just as proud.

Being proud of your company does not all of a sudden give you a license to cross the line.

But tell me Jan, why is Red Hat patenting software if they do not believe in software patents? The actions of Red Hat do not seem to match the public message, the following caused a stir and we have yet to hear a good explanation for this:

http://kirkwylie.blogspot.com/2009/03/red-hats-amsp-patent-application-stupid.html

The patent has angered those in the AMQP community -with good reason- since this is a patent that Red Hat took on the space *before* it even wrote a line of code.

Not sure how this is "being honest and accountable catalyst", it confuses me. When should I believe Red Hat, when they rant against patents:

http://www.opensource.org/node/441

Or when they apply for them?

http://www.freshpatents.com/-dt20090305ptan20090063418.php

And "for defense purposes" will not cut it. Anyone knows that in times of tribulation companies will be pushed to the extreme, just like SCO was pushed to the extreme. Think Red Hat in 10 years, perhaps cornered by Ubuntu, Google Chrome OS, China competitors, and desperate and fighting for its survival. They would sell the patents to raise capital and you guys on your "defensive" move, just damaged us all.

Think it can not happen? Ex-Linux supporter SGI sold all of their OpenGL patents for 60 million dollars in cash in 2002 to none other than Microsoft.

[jwildeboer]

@luxor2 quite a stretch from Lula wearing a Fedora to Red Hat and patents ;-) You know our response. We don't like software patents but we cannot ignore reality which uses patents against Open Source. See TomTom's VFAT problems.

And our patent promise covers *all* of our patents, not a selected group.

Jan

[Luxor2]

Weasel words.

I am merely replying to the topics that you raised. You hide behind "we are good" and yet, facts speak louder than words.

The list of grants that Red Hat offers for the patents are limited, they are not available to everyone, not to BSD code, not to commercial/proprietary developers nor hardware vendors (the fact that you glossed over and avoided answering from the link I pasted). Here is the grants that you guys give, incredibly inadequate for someone "fighting against patents":

http://www.redhat.com/legal/patent_policy.html

You conveniently failed to address that point, and failed to address the complains from the AMPQ community.

The patent registration from Red Hat is a land grab, and if neither you, or Michael or the Red Hat legal council correct this situation you are merely hypocrites.

[MichaelTiemann]

Luxor2,

This is Matt's blog, not mine. If you want to write a lot of stuff about how much you don't like my blog, I suggest you do it on my blog, not Matt's. But that's just a suggestion.

[Luxor2]

In both your posts on this forum you have managed to not answer any direct charges. First Matt's, then mine.

The double-standard on criticizing Microsoft remains unanswered; The double-standard on patents remains unanswered; The use of OSI's image for your company's benefit -unanswered as well-.

You are a pretty smart man, the criticism was never about not "liking" your blog. It is about the substance of your blog.

I appreciate you might want to steer the discussion to a more secluded space without public scrutiny.

Since you did not bother answering any of the hard questions, I suppose you will continue using the OSI president position as a launching pad to product your employers product.

It seems to me like a gross conflict of interest.

[murilex]

I am a Brazilian.

I like presidente Lula.

BUT, his involvement with opensource mouvement is RIDICULOUS.

and more then that I think it is stupid microsoft bashing to see like I see here in Brazil, lots of FLOSS, open-sourcy guys doing FREE advertise for Google for instance.

I think it is plain STUPIDITY! You can google the word FLOSS and you will be puting money in their pockets for free.

I am sick and tired of microsoft bashing. Microsoft for better of for worse made personal computer what it is today! and this is a SHUT UP argument!

If it was not for microsoft computer would be still being used only in research centers, universities and the army!

It is ridiculous!

There is NO JOURNALIST in the tech field, and bloggsphere only stupid funboys!
Stupid enought to cry The king is dead, all hail the king!

[Matt Asay]

How dare you be a Brazilian and not in favor of free software! :-)

(Just kidding. Thanks for your note.)

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