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posted by
cmn32480
on Thursday September 14 2017, @04:01PM
from the you-can't-use-logic-to-justify-things dept.
from the you-can't-use-logic-to-justify-things dept.
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is now running a campaign to require that publicly financed software developed for the public sector be made publicly available under a Free and Open Source Software licence. The reason being that if it is public money, the code should be public as well. General benefits include overall tax savings, increased collaboration, public service, and fostering innovation. Money is currently being wasted on code that cannot be modified or even studied, let alone redistributed. Code paid for by the people should be available to the people!
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FSF Campaign : Public Money Should Mean Public Code
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Remember Darwin; building a better mousetrap merely results in smarter mice.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by lentilla on Thursday September 14 2017, @06:53PM (2 children)
Can't argue with your statement that "public" means nation-level; at least without resorting to sophistry which would invite a pointless and circular debate. So instead, let me suggest a different way of looking at the situation:
Why don't we strive to do things for the betterment of all humanity, and leave the "enemies" part for the unrepentantly bellicose?
Frankly, this artificial balkanisation along the lines of nation-states is immature - particularly when we are dealing with a good that is essentially free to reproduce. (Although I won't argue either with your insight that humanity often falls short of a gold standard.)
Let's leave the squabbling over resources to the stuff that can't be infinitely divided - food, land, water, etc - and share the stuff that can be given away, and given away, and given away - all without diminishing what we ourselves hold. Hopefully tomorrow I will (yet again) be the beneficiary of something someone else has invented.
Software freedom is a really good place to fight, and right now is the right time in history. Knowledge has always been shared to a large degree - but what makes software so particularly unique is the ease with which it can be disseminated - it doesn't even need face-to-face instruction or books. All that is required is the legal facility to copy - or rather making sure sharing doesn't get made illegal through the poisonous combination of outmoded thinking, lack of imagination, small-mindedness and just plain greed.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Thursday September 14 2017, @10:50PM (1 child)
If you exclude military software (which the premise in TFA does) you are left with very little software that is really usable outside of the targeted sector it was designed for. Most public funded software is not designed for the "public sector" (however vaguely you want to define that.
So what are we discussing here? Software for reporting taxes? Software for registering for Obama Care?
Where do I go to get some? What would I find when I got there?
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by lentilla on Thursday September 14 2017, @11:43PM
That's not particularly difficult to answer. For starters, public servants should be using an entirely free software stack. So to get the ball rolling: goodbye Microsoft, goodbye Adobe.
You're not wrong insofar there is no trove of free software waiting at the bottom of the proverbial rainbow to solve all your government-interaction needs - but that may have more to do with the fact that we have been conned into paying licence fees rather than sponsoring software development. (Honourable mention in passing: open standards, too.)
The real effort for business (including government) is in the integration - not usually the software itself. The individual pieces may as well be free to facilitate reuse where possible. There is still a great deal of work to ensuring all the pieces fit together and integrate with existing systems which will keep programmers and administrators busy for years to come. Just the profits won't be floating ever-larger yachts belonging to software-company CEO-types. Those profits instead will pay dividends in perpetuity in the form of better software and reduced expenditure on now-unneeded licence fees.
Simply getting rid of Windows, Office and subscription-based services for everyday office work would be a great start.