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Tim O'Reilly Bashes Open Source Efforts in Govt
from the time-to-get-out-the-lart dept.
There's a tremendous difference between what government should be allowed to do and what individuals should be allowed to do. O'Reilly is attempting to blur the distinction, a common rhetorical tactic but one which does not advance his argument. As far as I can tell, his only argument besides this is that if the citizenry pushes for the government to use Free software, companies will push back to use proprietary crud. This argument doesn't hold water - every company selling proprietary software is lobbying the government all the time, have been for years, and they aren't going to stop just because we do. CNet carries news today that Microsoft has pressured the NSA to drop development of Security-Enhanced Linux. I can only imagine what sort of pressures might have been brought to bear behind the scenes, perhaps Microsoft threatened to cancel the NSA's site licenses of Windows and Microsoft Office. But in any case, there's no such thing as "mutual disarmament" - if we back down we'll just get smashed by the continuing efforts of companies pushing proprietary software.
But back to the government/individual distinction. Individuals, for instance, shouldn't be required to disclose their private papers to anyone who asks. But government should: that's the foundation of our freedom of information laws, and they exist for a good reason - keeping an eye on government is a necessary thing. Saying "People should be free to keep their papers private" as an argument against government FOI laws is just a stupid strawman, unworthy of further debate. And that's what O'Reilly's argument against California's proposed law is as well.
Governments play by different rules. They need to be fiscally responsible, transparent to the public, and promote the public commonwealth whenever possible. Using Open Source or Free Software in government promotes all three of these goals, and if Microsoft or any other corporation doesn't make quite as much money when the government alters its standards for software procurement... so what? Companies who make shoddy products do lose business when the government ups its standards, and they have the same choice as any business does: either produce better products, or lose the government's business. In this case the shoddiness comes in some of the most important areas as far as software goes: open access to the code, to ensure the software that we the citizenry pay for is doing what it is supposed to be doing, but the rationale would be the same if the government mandated a certain level of bug-free-ness or a certain level of performance for software - you can shape up and continue selling to the government or you can ship out. Your choice.
O'Reilly seems to be promoting the agenda of Microsoft's Software Choice campaign. He's a business man; perhaps there's a reason we don't know about. But whatever his motives, his lame arguments are no reason to stop pushing for governments to use Free or Open Source software wherever possible.
What bunk (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:What bunk (Score:4, Insightful)
While I agree that the government needs a certain level of transparency, I don't think that this transparency should filter down to every level of their orgainization. Does the public have a RIGHT to know the government's network infrastructure? Does the public have a RIGHT to know what data is on every civil servant's hard drive? I think not.
Requiring complete transparency is not only highly impractical (think of the cost to the taxpayer)), but it is also unnecessary. Within the bounds of law the government should be able to do what they need to do to get their job done. If that means using Windows or Office or some other proprietary software so be it.
Transparency *is* needed (Score:5, Insightful)
I realize this is a rhetorical question, but, using the justification of those monitoring *my* communications at work, I would say the answer is a most definite yes, particularly to the first question.
The arguments of "state secrecy" are only defensible if a) we don't care what our government does or b) we don't want to know what our government does. As I spend the first five months of every year supporting an organization that allegedly functions in my interest, I feel I have every right to know--at every depth, well beyond FOIA--what that organization is doing.
Now, you talk about the cost to the taxpayer, but when you're spending billions on things that blow up (where's the ROI in *that*?), that argument is shaky at best. I think the infrastructure could be refitted at the expense of a few less missles, while eliminating the secondary (Microsoft/Oracle/IBM) tax of proprietary software.
O'reilly called Peru "great theatre", which makes you wonder just how commited to openness he is--they expect accountability out of their government down there. By taking this stand, he seems to imply that doin' bidness should take precedence over the REAL openness of a people demanding that their government not take corporate payoffs in software contracts, etc.
Re:Transparency *is* needed (Score:4, Informative)
Now, you talk about the cost to the taxpayer, but when you're spending billions on things that blow up (where's the ROI in *that*?), that argument is shaky at best. I think the infrastructure could be refitted at the expense of a few less missles, while eliminating the secondary (Microsoft/Oracle/IBM) tax of proprietary software.
Since we are talking about the proposed law in California I think we can discard the idea that building a few less missiles will fund the refitting you're talking about. Even IF we were talking about the Federal government "a few less missiles" would not fund what you are talking about.
In any case, there are significant issues on the table with mandating open source software for the State of California. Before I go any further I should lay my cards on the table. I work for an IT services company. However, I'm expressing my own views, not the position of my employer. I currently work in one of the government divisions of that company, and for the last four years have supported multiple contracts with the state of California. I have a serious stake in this law, both because of my job and because I'm a citizen of California. Some of what I have to say deals with my political views as a citizen and some with my views as an IT professional.
I'm a huge supporter of open source. I think it's clear that the Internet, as we know it, was created by open source platforms, including Berkley UNIX (and subsequently BSD and Linux), BIND, and Apache. The open source community has been, and still is, a leader in many of the innovations in computing today. This same community responds much faster to customer needs, bugs and security holes than commercial vendors do. I wish I could get my commercial vendors to be as responsive.
That said, there are two major flaws with the idea of mandating open source only software in government IT. The first is that there are some things that open source simply cannot do. Perhaps in the future that will no longer be true, but it is not the case today. Some systems run by the state of California today could not run on Linux and MySQL due to their sheer size and complexity. In fact, at least one is still running on IBM mainframes because the risk involved in migrating to midrange platforms like IBM pSeries or Sun's SunFire is simply too high. While Linux can run on the mainframe, it cannot support the scope of this particular system, it is still Linux, running other open source platforms. There is some promising work being done in grid computing and super computing based on Linux that leads me to believe that this problem will be overcome in the next few years.
Politically, the correct approach to the issue of "transparency" for our government is three-fold:
- Open standards rather than proprietary standards. For example, TCP/IP for network connectivity instead of SNA.
- Open records for procurement, contracting and IT standards.
- No proprietary data formats
In combination with the already existing freedom of information laws, this would ensure that, whether the IT platform is proprietary or open source it can interoperate with any other system using open standards. It would ensure that citizens have a full and informative view of the government's procurement process, allowing oversight to hopefully prevent something like the Oracle Master Licensing Agreement that California entered into last year. And finally it would ensure that government information is available to anyone with a web browser.Mandating open source only is doomed to failure, at least at the stage of development of open source platforms that currently exist. There are many instances in state government where open source software could benefit the government and the taxpayer. On the desktop of office workers, as web servers, as office automation file and print servers, even replacing many of the proprietary systems in place today. And a mandate to include open source in procurement processes would help to make those changes. But a mandate to use only open source software will break California's IT systems.
Specifications, people. (Score:4, Insightful)
"Getting the job done" can mean more than processing a document. If you also require that you have open standards, the ability to check code for backdoors and security issue, and that your choice of software now doesn't lock you in to a particular vendor in the future -- are these not merely requirements which, like all other requirements you might have, result in some software not being eligible due to failing to meet these requirements? Restricting yourself to only those things which fullfill your needs is not insane, it is superlatively rational.
What you think using open source software has to do with making available the contents of a civil servant's hard drive I can't fathom, which is why I didn't really address that part.
Re:What bunk (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, first of all you're red baiting. How does communism even come into this? The Federal government is not a free enterprise operation, it is a *government*.
Secondly, there are definite benefits to the tax payers if the government restricts it's self to open source software. Should governments spend tax dollars to buy closed, proprietary applications that lock the people's data into tightly protected formats? They might as well just hand the keys for their offices over to Microsoft.
Lastly, where is this competition you were talking about? Microsoft owns the software industry. If they want a market they take it. There isn't any competition, just business Microsoft hasn't undermined and destroyed yet.
Re:What bunk (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:What bunk (Score:5, Insightful)
In other words, stay away from the
Re:What bunk (Score:4, Informative)
Re:What bunk (Score:4, Insightful)
Imagine if the military was buying a few thousand jeeps. They had two choices. Company A had the superior technology, but Company B's jeep was satisfactory. Company A required them to sign a license that said they were not allowed to open the hood of the jeep because everything under the hood was a trade secret. Meanwhile, Company B provided them with a full manual and even CAD data for every part of the jeep. Which jeep should the military buy?
Clearly, the best tool for the job would be the one built by Company B -- precisely because of the license and openness.
Should Congress pass a law requiring all federal government to use GPL software? No. Should the federal government be required to take into account hidden expenses down the road due to license issues? Yes. Should the federal government take into account security and access to public information that is held in trust for the American people? Yes.
I imagine this sort of thing is already going on in agencies where security is a big concern -- I doubt the CIA uses much closed-source software bought off-the-shelf, without getting some sort of special source license.
Re:What bunk (Score:4, Insightful)
Btw, it isn't necessary for governemnt to use open-source software to have a good license. The government just needs to outline what they want in a license, and then shop around for the best software that meets their needs. If Microsoft shrinkwrap software doesn't meet their licensing needs, then there is nothing preventing Microsoft from making a special license for selling software to government agencies. If the post office is needs to buy 10,000 white trucks, a truck manufacturer that specializes in blue trucks could easily make a special run of white trucks to satisfy a such a large customer.
The question isn't whether government agencies should take the license into account when acquiring software. The question is what should they be looking for in a license, and specifically, what are the minimum requirements in a license? And further, for a single government entity, what are the core minimum requirements that should be mandated to all subordinate bodies?
Some might say that there is no core minimum, but if you think about it, that's clearly not true. There are countless things that could be in a license that would be unacceptable to any government agency, but would be legal and acceptable to some consumers. For example, imagine a deal where you get a computer for free but the license says that the company providing the computer is free to scan any files on your computer and can sell or otherwise use any information they find.
If someone were to suggest a law mandating that all government agencies buy software without reading the license, that would be ridiculous. That would be opening us up to all sorts of problems with hidden costs and violations of the public trust.
Michael's finally gone over the cliff (Score:5, Insightful)
Seriously, Michael, this is really childish. Tim O'Reilly has done fantastic work for the community, including even publishing some of his company's books for free on the internet, and all you can think to do is make sly accusations about his "motives."
Grow up, Michael. People can disagree with each other without having to resort to implicit "He's bought off!" accusations. It happens all the time in the real world.
Re:Michael's finally gone over the cliff (Score:5, Insightful)
Methinks someone did not read his other writings before speculating about motives.
Government != individuals (Score:4, Insightful)
The question is whether it is good public policy to make free software licenses mandatory in public procurement. This is a debatable matter, but one principle is clear to me, at least: a private individual may freely dismiss the effect of his actions on the public good, but a public servant has a higher obligation to work for the good of the public.
Re:Michael's finally gone over the cliff (Score:5, Insightful)
If michael's "every action implies an ulterior motive" theory were correct, we'd have to wonder what his ulterior motive is. Does michael perhaps have some vested interest in promoting open source, like for example drawing a paycheck from a company that is associated with open source? Yes, of course he does. Sellout! Astroturf! The sky is falling!
Get real. O'Reilly is taking a principled stand, knowing that it will alienate many of his friends. I respect him for that. By contrast, I have no respect for michael's ad hominem attacks.
Re:Michael's finally gone over the cliff (Score:5, Insightful)
Mikey is just a kid, his actions and writing bear testiment to this.
In my mind, Tim O'Reilly is rapidly becoming the voice of reason in open source. His writing displays a thoughtful touch for both the content and the presentation.
Yes, governments play by different rules. (Score:4, Insightful)
However, there is no excuse for a government doing so. Governments are supposed to be more responsible than that -- and to require a drastic litmus test that completely ignores more important issues, such as "is this the best tool for the job given our budget", is arrogance and foolishness.
Gawd Mike! (Score:5, Insightful)
There are lots of programs that people are familiar and comfortable with and there should be no law mandating that they can't use them. You shouldn't criticize these guys [slashdot.org] until you stop doing the same thing.
Burnt Karma keeps me so warm...
Re:Gawd Mike! (Score:5, Insightful)
Not really. The biggest issue to me is permanence of electronic formats. I can't read things I wrote 10 years ago - papers, documents, etc, b/c I just cannot find a machine that can read their format (Word 2.0).
I think the government should use open source software wherever there is choice, and contribute heavily to open source development for applications where no good open source app exists. I think this because it ensures that the gov't software's security and interoperability can be verified by any interested parties. The data formats can be operating system agnostic. The software can work in all ways for the good of the people.
This is NOT a move against any companies - any company should be free to provide an open source solution to the government's problems. And, the government can either do its own security audit, or check the security with another independent company, or the same company. There is more than one way to do it.
Because, when it comes right down to it, do you trust current properietary software to secure our nation's secrets ?
Re:Gawd Mike! (Score:4, Interesting)
*Sigh* (Score:5, Insightful)
Leave it to Michael to miss the point right under his nose.
Companies who make shoddy products do lose business when the government ups its standards, and they have the same choice as any business does: either produce better products, or lose the government's business.
Sheesh, Michael, READ YOUR OWN FREAKING WORDS. Yes, that's the way it should be done. But that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about "affirmative action" for software. Screw using the best solution, we're going to require open source whether it's the best solution or not.
If you want to advocate that all government DOCUMENTS must be in an open format, then that's a reasonable stand most people can get behind.
But to argue on the one hand that Government should be required to use open source no matter what, while on the other hand arguing that the government should always use the best products is nuttiness as best, and idiocy at worst.
What are you talking about? (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually, he's advocating using the best tool for the job, and that zealous fanatics that insist on using Open Source everything will get us nowhere. Your implications that O'Reilly is being paid off by Microsoft are childish, to say the least. What article have you been reading?
Software vs. Storage Format (Score:5, Insightful)
However, I *do* think it's important to focus on the format of the public data. Anything that is public property should not require proprietary software to access. I shouldn't have to buy MicroSoft products to read public documents.
Looking at it from that angle, Open Source is just one aspect of the solution. Documents could be produced in text, postscript, pdf, html -- there are plenty of formats with free readers (accessors) - which I think is the important part. That way, those creating the docs can use whatever tools they feel are best for the job, but those reading the documents aren't locked into those same tools.
Let's put our OSS money where our mouth is.... (Score:5, Insightful)
It was the services that I was able to provide to the Corps that mandated inclusion of Linux into our infrastructure. I was able to more with my open source tools than the NT guys could with theirs.
I would not have wanted this box here by any method.
If you believe that Open Source can trounce proprietary methods based on its merits then you need to be against mandating Open Source.
All we need is a Microsoft disciple being FORCED to use OSS and being turned off forever. That converts no one.
O'Reilly MIsses the boat...again (Score:4, Insightful)
his is not about OSS / FSS software on anyone. Its about transparency in the government -- about the people's right to know.
The people have the right to know exactly what source code the government is using to protect them. We have the right to know what code protects our privacy in, for example, records which are ruled sealed.
Lets say that your daughter's molested and a trial occurs, in which she testifies. For her protection, her testimony is sealed; if an electronic copy is made, it is cryptographically sealed. If this is done using proprietary software, we the citizens have no way of being assured that it is really secure. If the software used to do that is OSS / FS, then we can check and make sure.
This is a somewhat important example, but the same principal applies to even trivial things. We, the citizens, have the right to know exactly how the software our government is using works; at least where it pertains to us.
Obviously, military top secret stuff is different; though it certainly need not be based on proprietary technology -- nothing prevents the military from modifying OSS / FS software and then keeping those modifications secret within the division. As that doesn't really count as distribution; i.e., in house modifications are not considered "distributed". Its only "distribution" when you make it available to the general public.
That is why the government mustI use OSS / FS, because of our right to know.
An additional benefit is cost-effectiveness. Our tax dollars pay for this stuff, and in almost all cases, OSS / FS is a cheaper solution, both in terms of initial price and total cost of ownership.
I don' t want my data locked up (Score:3, Insightful)
He seems to skate over this and just characterize any policy for open source as arbitrary prejudice.
Openness in requirements is important, just don't forget what the key requirements should be.
michael... poor, sad, little michael... (Score:3, Funny)
michael, it's crap propoganda like this that makes it even harder for open source advocates to maintain credibility.
You deserve the Katz'ing that you're getting.
Mantra (Score:3, Interesting)
I think a better solution would be a competition, ala defense procurements. The government lists what it needs, and everyone shows up and demonstrates what they can do. If open source can do everything the government needs, at a fraction of the price, then you have you solution. You could even put in place a performance to cost ratio to determine value. (ie- This product can 90% of what this other product does, but costs $250,000 less. Is 10% worth $250,000?)
I'm not saying that the procurement process isn't flawed, just that legislative mandates have historically spawned unintended consequences at a prodigious rate.
FUD, much? (Score:5, Insightful)
O'Reilly makes a *very* important point about forcing governments to use Open Source software: it's morally reprehensible. Quoting from a letter sent to Tim, "If you feel you have to coerce people, it would be better to force them to increase their disclosure. Require officials to document their acquisition critieria, require companies to publish their licensing policies, insist on use of open file formats for publicly accessible documents. That is, increase the flow of information and the range of choices, rather than trying to decrease them. That's what Open Source is supposed to be about - increasing choices, right?"
Moreoever, your criticisms against Tim are as sophomoric as they are transparent:
1."O'Reilly seems to be promoting the agenda of Microsoft's Software Choice campaign. He's a business man; perhaps there's a reason we don't know about." His manner employment is irrelevant - attacking an argument that calls into question the "slippery slope" of using legislation to force a particular subset of software upon a goverment on the grounds that the author of the argument is a businessman is an ad homimen fallacy, not a substantial critique.
2. "Saying "People should be free to keep their papers private" as an argument against government FOI laws is just a stupid strawman, unworthy of further debate." Ok, agreed. Where does Tim say this? Where does this quote come from? The argument O'Reilly has against forcing the government of CA to use Open Source software is that "any victory for open source achieved through deprivation of the user's right to choose would indeed be a betrayal of the principles that free software and open source have stood for" - a point that is very different from some claim to a person's right to privacy.
3. "Governments play by different rules. They need to be fiscally responsible, transparent to the public, and promote the public commonwealth whenever possible." I argue that the public commonwealth is best promoted by protecting what O'Reilly calls "Freedom Zero": "the freedom to offer your work to the world on the terms that you choose, and for the recipients to accept or reject those terms." When you start to force *any* entity to use software, you're violating what I perceive to be one of the fundamental principles of the Free software movement.
4."Whatever his motives, his lame arguments are no reason to stop pushing for governments to use Free or Open Source software wherever possible." Pushing for governments to use Free/Open Source software is fine, but O'Reilly's "lame arguments" boil down to the simple notion that "This last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right deed for the wrong reason."
Although I've come to expect the mentality of least resistance here at
As Fight Club said, "sticking feathers up your butt doesn't make you a chicken." Thanks for the proof, Michael.
About Government Purchasing (Score:4, Informative)
The nature of Open Source makes it difficult or impossible to participate in these lists. The regulation simply doesn't mesh well with the OSS paradigm. Look at California Educational List [c-smart.org] or the Federal Gov't GSA [gsa.gov] and try to imagine an Open Source project trying to qualify for a slot on those lists. Even if an Open Source business does qualify itself to the list, none of the other businesses offering service or support qualify - removing a key advantage of Open Source -- multi-vendor competition over support of the same product.
I do think some sort of "Consider Open Source First" software procurement policy is in order. Either that, or a gov't office to specifically qualify Open Source projects to these procurement lists.
Open source isn't whats needed (Score:5, Insightful)
1. Software must store data in an open patent/royalty free standard format and be useable by any other software.
2. Software that must interoperate, should be able to do so without preference to a specific vendor. i.e. follow open and patent/royalty free communication standards.
3. Software, depending on its application, must be demonstratedly secure by:
- making it the law that a security flaw for software running on government systems must be fixed (no: "but you can buy our new later version full of features you don't need")-- for a reasonable fee if appropriate.
- a vendor shall be liable for refusing to disclose vulnerabilities their software has that have not been addressed in a timely fasion.
- having been the subject of independent review and analysis.
4. Portable software that is available on more than one platform must be given precedence over software that can only operate on one platform.
5. Companies who fail to support software, or refuse to or have gone bankrupt, should in their contract have clauses that force the code to their software made open-source so that the goverment may have somebody else support their system.
lame considered harmful (Score:4, Insightful)
Anyone who has spent any time listening to the Technetcast archives will know that Tim O'Reilly is not someone you discard just because they are saying something you don't want to hear. He has better open source credentials than 99% of the people who will weigh into this discussion, even if we darkly suspect he is feeding his family on the side. I've done nothing in my life as a computer programmer to compare with what Tim has contributed.
And Tim is making a point here which is 100% correct. The label "open source" is not an acceptable substitute for what we are really trying to achieve. If it did happen that governments such as Peru enacted these policies, it would certainly be a victory for accountable government and the democratic process (at least between the state and its citizens, which is NOT the sum total of what democracy requires).
The lame argument here is the last paragraph of the slashdot submission. I know exactly what lame means in that paragraph: "I don't want to think that hard about difficult issues, so chalk it all up to hidden agendas, name the villians, and move along". If Tim O'Reilly's open source credentials are subject to this kind of aspersion, whose only sin so far is to give serious consideration to the political reality of taking an immoderate stance on the traditions of goverment since America was founded, there isn't a business person alive whose integrity means anything at all to the open source community.
Sure it's annoying to see Tim throw out these unpleasant thoughts half digested. But that's what he does: he creates forums for really smart people to think and speak about difficult issues.
I don't know the right answer to this question. The problem is too difficult to think through in one day, or even one year.
We need a notion along the lines of "government product" which encompasses everything they do on behalf of the public (memos, e-mail, publications, databases, registries, etc.) and mandates that all of this goverment product is fully exposed in representations supported and validated by freely available, open source code. Once you have this in place, the open source community can implement every system of government, and then we need to win the arguments over cost justification of taxpayer dollars. And maybe at the end of the day we find we are actually doing the right things for the right reasons after all.
I know that many people in this forum won't get past the fact that Tim has said something ugly. For those of you who sometimes stop to think about the unpleasant, this is one of those times to step back, take a hard look, and admit that the world doesn't always offer the easy paths we'd prefer to follow. Tim had the courage to do this, so should we.
O'Reilly is right. (Score:5, Insightful)
What the government needs to do is a detailed cost-benefit analysis for each major software purchase. Linux is cheaper to run in some cases, but the fact is, you need to retrain people to use new software, and they can often get bogged down if said software isn't of as high quality as the commercial software they were originally using. Microsoft Office has its annoyances, but is still (in my experience) generally a better office suite than Open/StarOffice.
Anyway, those are my thoughts. They decision shouldn't be made for government organizations. It should just be an educated decision made by engineers and regular users, as opposed to managers who have just been impressed by salesmen.
my thoughts exactly (Score:3)
If we truly want freedom, we should be fighting for the freedom to choose - the freedom to pick the best tool for the job. The freedom to use open source if it is better, or to pick proprietary software if it's the best tool for the job. Passing bills mandating the use of open source [com.com] in the government takes away the freedom of the government to do its job as efficiently as possible. We're taking away from their freedom. Using the exact same method that the MPAA, RIAA, and other corporate entities make use of things like the DMCA to impact our own freedom. And what's the point of inflicting one "freedom" on the government just to take away another?
open standards (Score:4, Informative)
I couldn't actually give a shit about open source vs closed sorce *software* - in a given week I switch back & forth between MacOS, NT, and Linux, and use both proprietary and open source tools on all three depending entirely on what best suits the task is at hand. But having the data I work with in an open format which can be used by multiple tools from multiple vendors across all three of the platforms I use is essential. And in the longer term, making absolutely sure the data I work with is and will remain available to other researchers is critical.
We, the taxpayers, pay for an incredible amount of extremely expensive research, and to deliberately lock the products of this research up in proprietary formats which may not be accessible to later researchers (eg the 1960's census data debacle) is criminal stupidity.
Wrong reasons indeed... (Score:4, Insightful)
when unsound reason yields the best conclusion.
The consequences of legislation to require government agencies to purchase (Open Source|Free) software may be good or bad; I don't wish to make a case for either at the moment. I do think, however, that both Mr. O'Reilly's reasoning, and that of his correspondent, are flawed, and that both characterize the issue badly.
Government agencies are not individuals, with freedoms we regard as inherently worth protecting. Nor do they spend their own money; they spend the money of the people they serve, which in most cases is provided for them by the legislature representing those people.
When the mystery correspondent characterizes these laws as "criminalizing an official' s decision to buy commercial software", and when Mr. O'Reilly characterizes them as the "deprivation of the user's right to choose", they suggest that the people entrusted with the administration of these agencies have some right to spend tax money in the way that they see fit. They do not. Nor is having the legislature hand down policies on what goods agencies acquire anything like having the legislature forbid individuals to write or use P2P software (a comparison made by O'Reilly in the discussion forum). This is not about whether, how, and to what extent the government should regulate the software industry. This is about one way in which the Legislative branch checks the Executive branch.
O'Reilly's pragmatic points, though underdeveloped, are more interesting. Perhaps this is a matter of legislative micro-(mis)management. Perhaps these constraints would seriously impede the ability of many agencies to fulfil their responsibilities. Perhaps this would open up a fight with software corporations that we don't want, or can't win.
I'd much rather Mr. O'Reilly had developed these, as I think his argument from principle falls down flat. If we took it seriously, we'd have Congress able to give money to agencies, without any say in how the money was spent. Unelected officials without constraints on their spending isn't what most people mean by 'political freedom'.
Will someone help Tim pull foot out of mouth? (Score:3, Insightful)
Get any software you please from any vendor you please for your desktop workstations. If your computer isn't up to running it, we'll get you an upgrade, and don't worry about downtime, if you can't work while you're waiting, take some time off on us. If it won't talk to the other applications on our network, don't worry about it, it's our problem. Take some more time off on us while we fix it.
When a public policy position is this easily reduced to transparent (but not "Trustworthy") absurdity, it doesn't deserve to be taken seriously.
Any organization has the right to mandate the use of software matching certain specifications to ensure interoperability and a common environment so that any employee will be able to function on any workstation she is assigned to for at least basic applications like mail, office apps, etc. It just happens that in a government, such regulations and laws have the force of law because it is the government. Further, it also has the responsibility to both itself and to its customers to keep information it collects secure. It can best meet this responsibility by mandating the use of securable software. Microsoft doesn't make any.
Moreover, a government is in a special position with respect to legacy software and formats. Unlike most businesses, documents created 25 or 50 years ago must be accessible not only to government employees, but to the general public as well. When looking up a legal precedent and why it was made, one frequently has to go back 25 or 50 or even sometimes, 100+ years to look up what the courts and the legislators had to say about it. Does anyone think MS will be around in 100 years?
Government also has special requirements regarding security, it has many databases full of software it must maintain in order to function which are an attractive target for h4xx0rs. The CA state employee database which got hacked a few months ago. Allowing state agencies to pick insecure MS products in the name of "freedom of choice" is just not acceptable.
Finally, one other point that should have been obvious to Tim. The Open Source Movement has gotten big enough that it either must get political or get crushed. MS lobbying killed the NSA Secure Linux project despite the fact that MS makes no secure products of its own. What's going on with respect to laws being made by politicians 0wn3d by Hollywood that will destructively impact the Open Source Community is known to all of us with the remotest clue. Until I read what Tim said, I would have put him in that category.
We can no longer afford to follow our previous traditions of ignoring politics or pretending to be a political player via geektivism, which as Declan has said, must ultimately fail. Politicians listen to our presentations politely and with blank incomprehension, our people get the feeling of having made a difference, then they go back to their offices and talk to the lobbyists who speak to them in a language they do under$tand.
We either have to learn to play with the big boys... to compete in the political arena with Microsoft and Hollywood as equals or find ourselves locked out of the software market and ultimately, locked out of the ability to use our own computers in any manner not preapproved by MS and Hollywood.
While I support the Digital Software Security Act and will tell my CA state legislators to vote YES, the Open Source Community is going to get our collective asses kicked over this one unless it is willing to organize a PAC for the purpose of collecting our money to redistribute to politicians...
If you want access to politicians, you've got to pay for it just like everyone else who gets it does. That's a lesson we must learn NOW for our own survival.
O'Reilly is a ture balancing force (Score:3)
Michael overdoes it, but O'Reilly isn't perfect (Score:4, Insightful)
Many posts here keep mentioning that the government should choose its software based on whether it's "the best tool for the job". I agree. The problem is in the definition of "best tool for the job". Most of the anti-michael posts seem to think that "best tool" only includes one, or maybe two factors: the technical superiority of the software, and possibly its monetary cost.
There is a third factor, equally (possibly more) important in my view: The government's responsibility to make its work transparent to its citizens.
The government does not have any "right to choose" what software it uses on its own initiative. The government's entire existence is contingent upon the will of the people -- essentially, the government is a company whose board of directors is the American public. Its employees (individual government workers) are beholden to the company's policies -- they must use what tools it specifies, just like any employee at any company.
If the public decides that it wants more transparency in government work, then that is the public's will and the government's duty. If the public decides that one good way to get this transparency is to require open source software, then so be it. As a member of that Board of Directors, I get a vote in whether that happens -- although due to the rather byzantine legal processes of the land, it's only an indirect vote with a massive lag-time. Nonetheless, the government exists to serve its public, and must act according to its public's will.
I think O'Reilly has confused the rights of an individual and the rights of government. Namely, that the government has no inherent rights, except those granted to it by the people. His final comments begin to sound as if the government is being oppressed by such decisions, instead of enjoying the liberty that all humankind deserves.
The problem being, of course, that the government is not a person, and does not "deserve" anything. Saying that "no one should be forced to choose open source" in defense of a nonexistant government right is errant -- in other words, he is saying that we should not force the government to use particular tools.
Now, the idea that EVERY government software solution should ALWAYS be open source is not necessarily a good idea (it may be, it may not be, I don't know) -- but claiming that it is morally wrong because the government has a right to choose what it wants, is ludicrous. The government exists to serve the people -- it has no rights except those we grant it.
What's wrong with being political? (Score:4, Insightful)
"radicalization" of the open source community.
It seems to be a libertarian axiom that freedom
and politics don't mix. I don't agree.
When a person refuses to engage in politics, all
he does is ensure that his voice is not heard in
the halls of power. The government is our
government as much as it is anyone else's, and
there is no reason why we should not strive to
have our values recognized and our concerns
addressed.
Some people have questioned the technical wisdom
of the California bill. They may have a point,
but it is orthogonal to my point.
Re:OpenSource will hurt developers in the long run (Score:5, Insightful)