Of course they are. But when it comes down to it, the bill is about making sure the government considers all options instead of being boxed in to the Microsoft marketting game. Now the government has to at least show they considered open source over Microsoft. This gives companies like Wizard leeway too.

One quote I really liked from the article is this:

Microsoft has taken the position that government purchasing should be based purely on cost and quality, rather than being aimed at ideological goals.

Since when wereen't quality and cost ideological goals? Take a read of the whole thing yourself if you're interested in seeing Microsoft repeating its usual tricks in Australia instead of the USofA

[Microsoft steams over open source bill>http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,8173918%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html]