[luau] Example Testimony for SCR109

[Ho'ala Greevy]

Aloha,


although i couldn't make it for a meeting this weekend, below is a copy of
my written testimony.  Feel free to use it as a template.  btw, I used
this url as a guide -->
http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/site1/info/guide/process04.asp?press1=info&press2=guide

PS - you can email your testimony to dige3 at capitol.hawaii.gov


a hui hou,
Ho'ala
---
To: Senator David Y. Ige, Chair
      Senator Melodie Williams Aduja, Vice Chair
From: Ho’ala Greevy, Manager, hoalagreevy, LLC
Date: Tuesday, 1 April 2003
Subject: Support of SCR 109, Open Source Software

Based in Honolulu, hoalagreevy, LLC is an IT consulting firm specializing
in open source systems integration and software development.  Since 1996,
our experiences with networking and software development have consistently
shown time and time again that open source software provides an excellent
alternative to proprietary, closed-source software.  We strongly support
SCR 109, relating to open source software, as its adoption would give the
State greater control over its systems and provide an excellent return on
investment.

Open source software is attractive for professional use in business
environments for several key reasons: Cost, freedom, support, and
performance.  Open source software costs a fraction of closed source,
proprietary software.  For example, the popular OpenOffice suite of
desktop applications, which is comparable to Microsoft’s Office XP suite,
costs $0 to use.  Microsoft Office XP on the other hand, costs as much as
$579 per computer.  Also, since its software code is publicly available,
open source software affords greater control over software.  Modifications
and enhancements are much easier to make, which ultimately provides
greater freedom to organizations and their end users.  Support for open
source software is abundant.  Here in Hawaii alone, a mailing list called
LUAU exists that, with over 250 subscribers, provides rapid support to a
variety of open source applications.  In addition, there are a growing
number of local companies who specialize in open source systems
integration and software development.  Open source software is also renown
for its stability and performance.  In fact, a vast majority of the
Internet is powered by open source software.  It can be argued that if it
weren’t for open source software, the Internet would not have been able to
grow as rapidly as it did over the past 10 years.

In closing, we support open source software because it costs less, runs
better, and does more than a majority of closed-source software on the
market.  We urge you to pass SCR 109.  Mahalo nui loa for this opportunity
to testify.---