Sovereignty (was Re: [clug] MtM - companies using foss?)

[Alex Satrapa]

On 23/02/2007, at 10:05 , Mike Carden wrote:

> The idea that a company shouldn't be beholden to a single vendor in
> order to access and use their own data is a very important one for
> Bill and for DeBortoli.

This is becoming more and more important as we have software vendors  
looking to give themselves the right to turn off your software at whim.

It's going to be cold comfort to find the vendor liable for damages  
when they accidentally disable the operating systems running your  
production line, resulting in hundreds of tonnes of produce spoiling  
and stalling your business for a month.

I can imagine the advertisements in the paper now: "Dear Customers of  
ACME Ltd, if you owe us money, please let us know - we've lost access  
to all our financial records."

Does *your* disaster management/recovery plan include suppliers and  
support providers going belly-up?

Alex