IMHO this is taking it too far: free software first, means that it is not exclusive. Also it does not mean that you need to do it yourself. IMHO government cont

IMHO this is taking it too far: free software first, means that it is not exclusive. Also it does not mean that you need to do it yourself. IMHO government contracts can help selling FOSS and thus sustaining FOSS. IMHO there is clearly a reason to drive quasi standards in areas that move quickly (aka implementations) and not rely only on clear standards. In cases where there is no fitting standard FOSS makes sense. One other thing is that should be weighted in procurement is that if one government body pays for development others should be able to profit. Vendors actually exploit the fragmentation of administration in Europe, reselling customized solutions and exploiting dependencies commercially. I do not that this has lead to much innovation in gov tech over the last year's...