Public Money, Public Code • Hacker News Board

Re: Public Money, Public Code

#81

Post by [deleted] » Fri, May 05, 2023, 8:18 AM UTC

knallfrosch wrote: post #79

nicbou wrote: post #77

I’ve heard those exact words from a government developer in Berlin and it felt really good to hear. Imagine making pull requests to improve government services! Some people would gladly do it.

Imagine getting 10,000 pull requests and 7 originate from KGB hackers that solve a real problem but contain a vulnerability.

[deleted]

Re: Public Money, Public Code

#82

Post by amadeuspagel » Fri, May 05, 2023, 8:19 AM UTC

This website should start with an explanation of what free software is. Yes there's a link, most people won't click on it and assume that it means "free as in beer".

Re: Public Money, Public Code

#83

Post by RobotToaster » Fri, May 05, 2023, 8:19 AM UTC

nicbou wrote: post #77

I’ve heard those exact words from a government developer in Berlin and it felt really good to hear. Imagine making pull requests to improve government services! Some people would gladly do it.

I don't think it's everything, but the UK gov has a github account where you can do just that https://github.com/alphagov

Re: Public Money, Public Code

#84

Post by NoPain » Fri, May 05, 2023, 8:21 AM UTC

starefossen wrote: post #62

The largest branch of the Norwegian government, Labor and Welfare Administration (NAV), have adopted this this policy since 2018 and now we have over 2000 public repositories on https://github.com/navikt and https://github.com/nais (last one is our platform organization)

I think we also celebrate with cake if someone have a pull request from someone else that get approved?

Re: Public Money, Public Code

#85

Post by pjc50 » Fri, May 05, 2023, 8:24 AM UTC

burnished wrote: post #15

laserbeam wrote: post #5

There are a lot of good reasons to do this, even if it's just better interop between different branches of the government, all cool. However, you then realize that the military is funded by public money. I'd wager you don't want fighter jet or missile guidance software to be open source. The idea is way too simplistic and lacks nuance.

Why do you assume that sane and common sense exceptions and nuance are off the table?

Because this is hacker news.

Re: Public Money, Public Code

#86

Post by RobotToaster » Fri, May 05, 2023, 8:24 AM UTC

laserbeam wrote: post #5

There are a lot of good reasons to do this, even if it's just better interop between different branches of the government, all cool. However, you then realize that the military is funded by public money. I'd wager you don't want fighter jet or missile guidance software to be open source. The idea is way too simplistic and lacks nuance.

>I'd wager you don't want fighter jet or missile guidance software to be open source.

If I can't exercise my 2nd amendment right to open source cruise missiles, am I really free? (fnord)

Re: Public Money, Public Code

#87

Post by nivenkos » Fri, May 05, 2023, 8:30 AM UTC

knallfrosch wrote: post #79

nicbou wrote: post #77

I’ve heard those exact words from a government developer in Berlin and it felt really good to hear. Imagine making pull requests to improve government services! Some people would gladly do it.

Imagine getting 10,000 pull requests and 7 originate from KGB hackers that solve a real problem but contain a vulnerability.

Wow, even using "Russians under the bed" to attack FOSS now.

Re: Public Money, Public Code

#88

Post by nivenkos » Fri, May 05, 2023, 8:33 AM UTC

anon-3988 wrote: post #2

I am fully in support of such initiative. So I am interested to hear what the possible downsides are? Please share your opinions on the matter as I can only see upsides to this.

It takes more effort to make internal code FOSS (i.e. upstreaming changes, protecting internal parts, etc.) - and often very few other people use it or contribute back anyway.

I think it'd make more sense as part of a unified effort - like all EU countries agreeing to provide one digital ID service. But that itself is a much bigger issue due to differing levels of digital services, bureaucracy, etc.

I still support it though, and donate to FSF Europe every year with my company donation.

Re: Public Money, Public Code

#89

Post by atoav » Fri, May 05, 2023, 8:36 AM UTC

knallfrosch wrote: post #79

nicbou wrote: post #77

I’ve heard those exact words from a government developer in Berlin and it felt really good to hear. Imagine making pull requests to improve government services! Some people would gladly do it.

Imagine getting 10,000 pull requests and 7 originate from KGB hackers that solve a real problem but contain a vulnerability.

Imagine contracting a company and their programmer is a KGB hacker and nobody is ever allowed to see the source code.

Re: Public Money, Public Code

#90

Post by starefossen » Fri, May 05, 2023, 9:06 AM UTC

nicbou wrote: post #77

I’ve heard those exact words from a government developer in Berlin and it felt really good to hear. Imagine making pull requests to improve government services! Some people would gladly do it.

The Labor and Welfare Administration (NAV) of the Norwegian government is doing exactly that, we have been opening up our code since 2018 and are accepting pull requests across our 2000 public repositories from those who want to improve government services https://github.com/navikt this has also enabled a much more close collaboration between new and existing partners that was previously unheard of!