Re: Government Requirements - Proprietary Software

["Peter Rock" <gnuosphere at gmail dot com>]

On 5/16/06, Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org> wrote:
>     Statistics Canada is making the claim that the online national census
>     is now "accessible to the Linux (sic) operating system". However, to
>     do the census online requires installation of Java Virutal Machine.
>
> Does it work with GNU Java?
> It would be very useful for you to try it.

I do believe I've tried it - unless I'm doing something wrong. GNU
Java is installed and Java enabled in my browser (Firefox 1.0.8). But
when I click "start" from this page -
http://www50.statcan.ca/census2006/ - I get the following message
---------------

Your browser does not meet the minimum requirements to access this site

This site requires that Java is enabled in your browser. To modify
your browser, follow the steps outlined below.

  1. To enable Java in your browser, please refer to the instructions
on our Java page.
  2. If Java is already enabled, you will need to download a recent
version of a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) which includes the Java
Virtual Machine. You can download a recent version of the Java Runtime
Environment (JRE), which includes the Java virtual machine, from the
Sun Microsystems Inc. Web site.

If you do not wish to modify your browser, you can complete your paper
questionnaire and return it by mail in the envelope provided.

-------------------

Again, at this page - http://www22.statcan.ca/ccr02/ccr02_003_e.htm -
is a notice explaining their "justification". They say,

"This broadened access to open-source users is available to those who
have a valid browser and JVM. These minimum requirements are necessary
in order to maintain the same level of data encryption with Public Key
Infrastructure (PKI)."

I located the mailing list for GNU Java and am CC:ing this to that
list. Can anyone confirm that Statistics Canada is requiring
proprietary Java in order to complete the national census online?

Open source advocates now have more access, but those who value
freedom are shut out. This is particularly disturbing considering this
is a public service.