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Soft launch of open-source code platform for government

nldigitalgovernment.nl

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Re: Soft launch of open-source code platform for government

#121

Post by youwangd »

ramon156 wrote: post #67

Proud dutchie here! I was wondering this morning whether they were going to migrate away from GH. Really glad that they did. I remember applying for a job (at some weird company) to be put up as an open-source contributor for the dutch government last year. The idea was that I was going to build on top of MuleSoft stuff. They ghosted me a day later, despite me having already done these things for the client they need…

Show HN timing matters more than people think. Monday-Thursday, 9-11am Pacific, is when the front page has the most engaged readers. Weekend posts get less competition but also less engagement.

Re: Soft launch of open-source code platform for government

#122

Post by sylware »

Hopefully, they won't fall into the "Whatng cartel" web engine trap, and be clean classic web (noscript/basic (x)html) with lean web/network APIs. And that includes the SDK, namely the computer languages (excluding de facto ultra complex syntax languages like c++, microsoft rust, java, etc).

Re: Soft launch of open-source code platform for government

#123

Post by jillesvangurp »

sschueller wrote: post #69
debarshri wrote: post #28

Funny enough, GitLab, has a dutch founder.

Gitlab has become quite hostile and I would not be surprise if they stop supporting their open source version. Even if you want to pay, the starting price is quite high and there is only one price now and for everything else you need to make a "deal" with them.

Enshittification is well on its way to being completed there.

Re: Soft launch of open-source code platform for government

#125

Post by jibbirish »

ramon156 wrote: post #74
jibbirish wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the Netherlands municipalities have been collaborating for years already to build an open source ecosystem: https://commonground.nl/ We have 342 municipalities, all buying the same apps (from 3 or 4 vendors) to deliver basic services to their citizens. Common Ground aims to replace all of those with open source solutions.

Hey, I would love to contribute to this project. Is there a list of repo's I can take a look at and contribute? I see some communities, seems like each community has their own setup, some of them have github links.

The way they go about this is still a bit weird / government like. Individual municipalities write tenders for software companies to contribute to these projects. The Vereniging Nederlandse Gemeente is hosting the specific committees that are in charge of product vision / architecture. But I am not sure if there is a way for individuals to contribute to these projects right now. So the source is Open Source, the process very much not yet.

If you are Dutch and looking to work on awesome gov-tech send me a DM.

Re: Soft launch of open-source code platform for government

#126

Post by rcbdev »

alexfromapex wrote: post #120
Tepix wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They're going to have to work on the i18n. You know, they could just use their own language. The link to forgejo even states: "code.overheid.nl (Dutch)"

Most government sites, especially open-source ones that want international contributors, do a decent job at internationalization. It doesn't seem like much of a reach to have that working.

> Most government sites [...] do a decent job at internationalization

This, I fear, is just a materially wrong statement.

Re: Soft launch of open-source code platform for government

#127

Post by miki123211 »

brnt wrote: post #86
ramon156 wrote: post #67

Proud dutchie here! I was wondering this morning whether they were going to migrate away from GH. Really glad that they did. I remember applying for a job (at some weird company) to be put up as an open-source contributor for the dutch government last year. The idea was that I was going to build on top of MuleSoft stuff. They ghosted me a day later, despite me having already done these things for the client they need…

> partijgedrag So happy to see they're ingesting voting data again! They stopped a few years ago (which is also a few elections), which I thought was such a shame. Knowing what representatives actually do, and not just promise, is really the only thing that matters.

Public voting data isn't always a good thing.

On one hand, it makes representatives accountable to the public, which is good. On the other, it heavily encourages voting among party lines, and makes lobbying a lot easier (as the lobbyists know whether the representatives voted the way the lobbyists wanted). This effectively moves the heart of government from the representatives themselves to lobbyists and high-level party officials.

It's a bad idea in the same way letting you photograph your ballot and upload it to social media is a bad idea; there's a reason most democracies disallow that.

Re: Soft launch of open-source code platform for government

#128

Post by HardlyCognizant »

miki123211 wrote: post #127
brnt wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> partijgedrag So happy to see they're ingesting voting data again! They stopped a few years ago (which is also a few elections), which I thought was such a shame. Knowing what representatives actually do, and not just promise, is really the only thing that matters.

Public voting data isn't always a good thing. On one hand, it makes representatives accountable to the public, which is good. On the other, it heavily encourages voting among party lines, and makes lobbying a lot easier (as the lobbyists know whether the representatives voted the way the lobbyists wanted). This effectively moves the heart of government from the representatives themselves to lobbyists and high-level p…

That just means the forms of lobbying being permitted are antithetical to democracy, and is just bribery in a different form. The problem is with the lobbying, not the accountability.

Re: Soft launch of open-source code platform for government

#129

Post by andai »

Maybe the government should be in charge of critical infrastructure. That seems like a very sensible idea to me.

I think that also includes the operating system and the app distribution channels, though. Right now it's just a fiefdom. Not sure how that's solvable. There's no world government — for better or worse!

Re: Soft launch of open-source code platform for government

#130

Post by ra »

andai wrote: post #129

Maybe the government should be in charge of critical infrastructure. That seems like a very sensible idea to me. I think that also includes the operating system and the app distribution channels, though. Right now it's just a fiefdom. Not sure how that's solvable. There's no world government — for better or worse!

Maybe governments should be in charge of their own critical infra; I'm happy with as much non-government controlled software as possible.
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