CBC news reporter Emily Chung interviewed a number of people in the community on the Canadian Government RFI on what they called "No Charge Licensed Software (NCLS)".

I hope that many of the responses will clarify that this term doesn't convey much meaning. While it is obvious that Free/Libre and Open Source Software qualifies, it is simply a marketing change for pretty much all software to qualify. Vendors such as Microsoft already have per-seat support contracts which simply bundle the software at no additional charge, meaning that Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office easily qualify as "No Charge Licensed Software (NCLS)".

There are major differences between FLOSS and no-charge proprietary software (Freeware and software bundled with other products or services), and it is these differences that the government should be harnessing in their acquisition processes and not the distraction of the royalty-fee paid.

OpenConcept is hosting a survey, and retired Professor of Management at U of Ottawa John C Nash is hosting a WIKI to collect information from the community as part of their submissions.

See also: LinuxToday, Open ....