----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Hornshaw" <paul.hornshaw@blueyonder.co.uk> To: "Chris Puttick" <Chris.Puttick@euroele.com> Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2003 2:26 PM Subject: Re: [suse-linux-uk-schools] BECTa's spec on laptops for teachers

----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris Puttick" <Chris.Puttick@euroele.com> To: <suse-linux-uk-schools@suse.com> Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2003 2:12 PM Subject: RE: [suse-linux-uk-schools] BECTa's spec on laptops for teachers

Strictly speaking of course, products such as OpenOffice.org and

Mozilla

Thunderbird (the latter being infinitely superior to Outlook Express) are not shareware or freeware as they are open source. Freeware is software that is free as in beer, but is a precompiled executable; eliminating these is sensible. On the other hand, if Becta are referring to open source by the use of this term, that would be criminal (more or less literally), and the person who put it in the spec needs to look to their position, given the keynote speaker at FLOSSIE...

Umm, wouldn't it be illegal, too?

And what would an auditor say if s/he knew about an OSS equivalent?

Paul

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