The discussion in the working group that is supposed to detail when Italy's public administrations should prefer open source over proprietary solutions, is stalling, says lawyer Ernesto Belisario, professor at University of Basilicata in the city of Potenza. "Some of the members think the law stipulates a technical and economical assessment, instead of reading it as a statement supporting open source."
The comments by professor Belisario were published last Saturday by Agenda Digitale, a news website. "Frankly, their interpretation is surprising because it does not take into account the reasons for the change to the law. Sure, you can argue whether it is the ideal solution, but it is not up for interpretation." He fears that the discussion will lead to an impasse.
Last summer, the Italian government changed the country's Digital Administration Code, instructing public administrations to prefer to use free and open source, or re-use existing software developed in-house. "Only when a technical and economic analysis demonstrates that it is not possible to obtain at a lower price an open source solution or to re-use a solution developed internally, then it is allowed to purchase a proprietary software licence." Early this year, the government convened the working group, to provide the requirements for this benchmarking. Results were expected in April.
Outcome
Carlo Piana, member of the working group on behalf of the Free Software Foundation Europe and the KDE foundation, confirms that the members do not agree on the reading of the law. "It is important that we agree on the interpretation as soon as possible, otherwise the working group will fall short on its tasks. "I don't believe this will be the outcome, but if the current position persists, the communities I and the other members represent will strongly protest and we will have little choice but to take all the consequences on our contribution."
"I am sure that the organisation will realise that this is a crucial point. The law clearly supports our position, for many good reasons. While we are aware that some level of compromise is necessary, this cannot be on the substance of the law and on the very mission of our activity. As Mr. Belisario correctly says, some may disagree with the law, in which case they can try to change it; but as long as it remains unchanged, the law must be abided with."
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