Solutions¶
There is a growing list of organizations devoted to Free Software [1]. Many developers feel that free software is fundamentally better than proprietary software [2]. Public administrations are increasingly aware of the important strategic advantages that only Free Software can give. See Free Software in public administrations below.
Free Software in public administrations¶
The Public money public code campaign explains why Free Software is important for public administrations: “Software created using taxpayers’ money should be released as Free Software. We want legislation requiring that publicly financed software developed for the public sector be made publicly available under a Free and Open Source Software licence. If it is public money, it should be public code as well. Code paid by the people should be available to the people!”
The European Union is more diplomatic regarding proprietary software by using the neutral term Open-source software (OSS). The term Free Software can indeed cause allergic reactions if you don’t fully agree with the Free Software Foundation and their chairman Richard Stallman. But their Guidelines for creating sustainable open source communities show the importance of Free Software after removing the polemic parts. Some excerpts:
Public administrations should not merely reuse OSS (i.e. be consumers) but rather be active members and contributors to the communities that exist around this software.
The sustainability of OSS communities is not a one-off investment. Once you either successfully join or launch an OSS community, it is important for your public administration and your steering committee to keep nurturing and growing the community behind your software.
In the long run, your community’s sustainability will rely on the following key factors: a clear governance structure, the vibrancy and health of the community, continuous commitment of the public administration’s political hierarchy to the project, sustainable funding, and the maturity of your software.
Transparency is at the heart of successful open source communities. For this reason, as your community evolves and grows over time, its governance should remain clear and transparent. This will help you to attract new members, make it easier to promote your software, and ensure the commitment of key community contributors.
Footnotes
An International Data Agency¶
Jens Berger suggests an International Data Agency, an organization with universal authority who distributes the profit gained by the companies who turn data into money.