Much more than a diatribe against Microsoft, this is a great example of a responsible and thoughtful public official. As I read this, I thought, "Here is a representative who has the best interests of his constituency at heart."

The points he makes are to safeguard the public interest, and he has the knowledge to back it up. Not just technical knowledge, but the basics: that relying on a private-sector company to safeguard public information is not wise. This is such a refreshing change from the PHB attitude of "There's no private company standing behind this software, only the public; therefore, it's not reliable".

This article should be read by anyone with any interest in free software: software libere, not just gratis.

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