European Commission issues call for evidence on open source

Post by pembrook » Fri, Jan 09, 2026, 2:48 PM UTC

PurpleRamen wrote: post #187

pembrook wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> unite them without raising a new (local) software-dictator If you're afraid that one country might create a better software product/company and win the market and this would become 'unfair,' you've already lost the plot. Instead of harnessing the best talent the EU has to offer, you're making sure they never get off the ground in the name of 'fairness.' Tall poppy syndrome in the extreme. I'm sorry but the free mar…

That's an interesstingly delusional take, considering Open Source would support the free market in this specific case. > If you're afraid that one country might create a better software product/company and win the market and this would become 'unfair,' you've already lost the plot. That's not how this market works. With government, many projects do not make the deal because they have the better offer or superiour pro…

Post by torginus » Fri, Jan 09, 2026, 2:51 PM UTC

amunozo wrote: post #211

torginus wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. Let's say there's an app that stores healthcare data in an EU compliant format, there's 3 possibilities: - Every country develops its own solution, which is good for employee demand, but can be inefficient - Every country standardizes on a proprietary solution. The problem will be that said solution will most likely come from one of the major EU countries (say Germany) and others will feel left out and fo…

There is another option, to develop pan-european software as it has been done in other areas such as aerospace.

Post by b40d-48b2-979e » Fri, Jan 09, 2026, 2:53 PM UTC

dizlexic wrote: post #199

lossyalgo wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The current socio-political climate is actually making this analogy less US-centric by the day :( edit: I'm specifically referring to people losing their jobs and similar retaliations due to being on the left, or making public statements that the current administration and supporters don't like.

It didn't start when it was people losing their jobs on the right? Brandon Eich's political donation comes to mind.

Post by xboxnolifes » Fri, Jan 09, 2026, 2:55 PM UTC

kwanbix wrote: post #186

As a South American, it’s striking to see how the current U.S. administration has forced other countries to confront the risks of not having their own digital infrastructure. And this isn’t just about software or the cloud. What happens if tomorrow the U.S. forbids Apple from selling iPhones outside its borders? Or starts requiring built-in backdoors or kill switchs? Scenarios like these raise a deeper question: coul…

Post by PartiallyTyped » Fri, Jan 09, 2026, 2:57 PM UTC

kwanbix wrote: post #207

PartiallyTyped wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China is on the path to doing just that, and I expect the heads of the government (or at least the people behind the scenes) in both EU and India consider this. The US has, unfortunately, proven to be a very unreliable partner.

The problem isn’t only the U.S. China is also unreliable, and Russia as well. Just look at what happened to the EU with its dependence on Russian gas: once the war in Ukraine started, that dependency immediately turned into a major vulnerability.