Khmer Software Initiative

In January 2003, the government’s report “Using Open Source Software in the South African Government” recognizes the educational and commercial benefits of Open Source development and recommends that partnerships between academic, industry and government institutions be implemented. The report proposes that
1) “discrimination and prejudice will be avoided in software procurement procedures, making choices based on merit, thus giving OSS and proprietary software (PS) equal opportunities to be selected” and
2) “as OSS offers significant indirect advantages, opting for OSS will be preferable where the direct advantages and disadvantages of OSS and PS are equally strong, and where circumstances in the specific situation do not render such preference inappropriate.”

In July 2003, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, South African Minister of Public Service and Administration provided the following comments on OSS: “Support - As long as there is a market for support, the open source code allows anybody to provide it, whereas proprietary software (PS) support is dependent on the development company. If that company goes out of business, the support can disappear with it.

Security — Some critics maintain that using OSS is a security risk. Real experts can allay that fear. In fact, the availability of source code has the added advantage of enabling the user organization to study it, determine whether its functioning poses any security risks and amend the software if so desired. Furthermore, when new problems are found, solutions are available far sooner than with PS, as anyone can examine the problem and find its solution.”