[nzlug] [Fwd: RE: Computerworld Article]

[Vik Olliver]

I have received the following from Tim at SAFI, and consequently have
appended the message I received from him earlier.

Vik :v)

"I would be delighted if you would circulate my report to your
distribution groups, I would appreciate that indeed.

   This whole thing is such a shame, there is a real risk now that the
project is overshadowed by this, which will of course just result in
further barriers for development of this IT project in Niue, for Niue.
Nonetheless, I certainly appreciate your consideration and trust in what
I have said and do hope that your readers/community will also be able to
appreciate what I have said.

   If we can make this issue have a more positive spin-off for Niue,
then I am all ears!

   Thanks again and feel free to distribute my email address
(tim at safitech.com) with the email so that your community can feedback."

-------- Forwarded Message --------
[Headers redacted]
Subject: RE: Computerworld Article
Date: Wed, 2 May 2007 23:38:45 +1200

Dear Vik,

 

I have had an email forwarded to me from a gentleman named Richard
StClair who runs the local (only) ISP on the island of Niue. He has
brought to my attention an article that has recently appeared in the
Computerworld publication. You must forgive me, I am currently out of
the country (in Niue) and a little disconnected from things. 

 

I have now read the Computerworld article and must say that I am
awefully suprised, the article that was published was certainly not a
reflection of the conversation that I had with Rob Oneill. Our media
release had  some very clear objectives:

      * This is a very exciting project for Niue and for the further
        development of capacity for IT in Niue.
      * SAFI Tech is excited at being selected for the project, and
        believes it was selected for being able to work wiht and
        understand the needs of Niue.
      * Microsoft software solutions were selected because the primary
        internal IT capacity within the government is Microsoft, and
        there are no other readily available IT expertise on the island
        outside the personnel involved in this project.

At this point I would like to refer you to our only press release
regarding this project:
http://safitech.com/press_releases/24_apr_2007_safitech_undp_niue_egovernment_project.html

 

It has been brought to my attention that the article published has
caused offence to the Open Source community in New Zealand and possibly
further, for a number of different reasons. In reading the article
myself, I can clearly see why. 

 

I would like to set a few things straight.

 

·         It is difficult, but one should never take what the media has
to say as truth.

      * SAFI Technologies has never stated that it is replacing ANY open
        source systems as part of this project. The irony is (and this
        displays the assumptions made by Computerworld), that there is
        no current, existing Intranet system in place in the Niue
        Goverment. This cannot be stressed enough. Clearly, if no system
        exists, we are quite unable to replace it - open source or not.
      * SAFI Technologies has never stated that this project is here to
        'cleanse', 'purge', 'wipe out', 'relieve' or 'replace' open
        source systems. SAFI Technologies is here to do a very specific
        task and that is to implement a very exciting project for Niue,
        which is a brand new Intranet system (an official intranet has
        never been seen before on the island) and a brand new public
        facing website. 
      * SAFI Technologies will be designing and implementing a new
        public facing website that will be driven by a Microsoft based
        CMS. This decision was made carefully, as our first preference
        for CMS is Mambo/Joomla since we have a number of Linux hosting
        servers as our primary hosting backbone. Since we will be using
        a similar CMS product to manage content on the Intranet we
        decided it best to have a common system across the Intranet and
        public website – to reduce the learning curve.
      * SAFI Technologies is unable to speak on behalf of other agencies
        that seek to implement open source systems on Niue. That is
        beyond the scope of our project, however, consideration was
        given to the fact that the on island expertise are very
        Microsoft based and the capacity on the island is such that it
        is often virtually impossible to make any headway supporting any
        particular technology. So if there is a brand new technology to
        learn (such as an open source system) the party implementing the
        technology is already at an extreme disadvantage given that the
        on island skills are so Microsoft focused. 
      * My comment about Microsoft being 'more supported' in the Pacific
        is taken out of context in the fact that I was specifically
        referring to the Islands and our experience in the islands
        (which is considerable might I add). The Pacific (in general) is
        of course another matter.  However, I stress yet again that this
        is not a matter of open source vs Microsoft, it comes down to on
        island skills, sustainability and capacity and the fact that
        staff are trained already in MS and the learning curve for any
        other significant system would take years of dedicated training
        and onsite support to overcome. 
      * I can't comment on others who have been quoted in the article,
        because that is not my place. However, I would say that their
        comments again have been taken and conveyed in a way that would
        not be a true reflection of their intent and the way the quotes
        have been written demonstrate a complete misunderstanding of
        reality here on the island – something Rob Oneill will probably
        never understand.

Vik, it is glaringly obvious that this article was written with one
motive, and that was to cause reaction, readership and controversy.
These are all good things from a publishers point of view. From an
objective point of view, SAFI has nothing to gain by saying such things,
as a Microsoft Partner we would not even get any bonus points even if we
did actively pursue for this sort of article to be written – we have
nothing to gain, but we have a great deal to lose.

 
The real victims in an article such as this is Niue and Open Source
community. I don't need to tell you what damage it can do to the open
source community, it makes the community out to be so many things that
obviously would be a total mis-representation of reality. For this
mis-representation SAFI Technologies would certainly like to offer its
apologies for even being associated with this most unfortunate article,
I really can't convey my sincerity via email and wish I could do so via
phone.
 
Niue of course has not been represented truthfully here at all either.
SAFI Technologies has invested 3 years of time, resources (mostly free,
or charitable rates) into assisting Niue and its IT development program,
we did this even before we were aware of any other projects in the
pipeline (like the intranet project). SAFI has a passion for Niue and a
passion to see it's IT infrastructure built and built in a way that is
sustainable. An article such as this conveys Niue as something
completely different from that. Niue would never want to get involved in
a open source vs Microsoft war – there is no need or incentive to –
their mission is to build infrastructure and capacity on the island with
regard to ICT. Further to that, the article has not painted an accurate
picture of IUSN's involvement in Niue, I would not be so arrogant to
even start to say what they have done here in Niue, but what I can say
is that their on and off island systems are absolutely mission critical
to the Govt here, and they are incredibly reliable on all accounts.
 
So I'm not entirely sure where that leaves us Vic, I do hope that what I
have said helps paint a clearer picture about the real situation and
hopefully it will provide the other side of the story, the side that
actually has no special agenda other than that of my 3 main points
mentioned at the start of this email. 
 

I would just ask that you do take into consideration what I have read
and please feel free to clarify any points with me and ask any
questions. 
 
Thanks for your time Vic, I trust this email has been helpful and
informative and I again offer my personal apologies for what has
resulted with this article written by Computerworld.
 
 
Kindest Regards,
Tim Johnson
Managing Director
SAFI Technologies Ltd
 
 

-------8<---------8<---------8<---------8<---------8<---------8<-----
Spiders, working together, can tie down a lion.
-- Ethiopian proverb.