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'Open sourced' government?

Posted by PaulHurst on Saturday, 10 March 2007 19:14:58

Just how much could be saved by the politicians if they switched to open source software?

The idea is great, in theory, each computer could save around £400 per machine if it wasn't to run Microsoft's 'windows' or 'office' and if you kiss goodbye to Vista or XP then you also dramatically reduce the threat from trojan horses. Apparently they can't run amok in Linux or Unix which is why my Mac has never frozen, rebooted or even crashed.

Now just before we wipe our hard drives and fill our computers with free operating systems and productivity software, we must consider that some of us struggle to get our heads round all of current programs so how would we cope with completely new ones, ones which essentially are being written, for free, by hobbyists?

Could we cope without MS Word and how could we ever go back to presentations without powerpoint (although few of us actually know how to do anything other than read whats on the slides!). The way in which we get our work done largely depends on our software and as someone who changed from 'windows' to a mac, I can tell you its not all plain sailing.

Millions of pounds would be saved in software costs, theres no doubt. Millions of hours or productivity would also disappear I fear, and the already murky world of computing would become even more troublesome.

But thats not quite the whole story...

Lets look at software that the government pay for to be developed for internal departments or public services. Lets imagine it this way...

1. I go to BMW and say I want a Mini. They show me the Cooper-S... Great I'll take it at 21k

2. Oh hang on... can you just make the bonnet slightly wider and longer? I guess the chassis will need to alter too... OK that 35k and it will take six months to make.

3. Six months later my car is ready but can I change the engine please? OK 40k and it will be ready in two weeks.

4. On the day of delivery... Hang on, I now need a GPS and re-jigged interior.. . ok 50k and an extra 2 weeks...

The result? a car thats massively over budget and gues what... it keeps breaking down because it was designed a certain way before I kept insisting on changes... Now does this sound familiar? It sounds like many of the scenarios that surround government commissioned software systems.

So maybe using open source software could be a good starting point of making programs for the government. Open sourced software may not be the most optimised code on the market but as its re-written continuously on a day by day basis, it overs an excellent platform on which to build. Its an excellent starting point but lets face it, it couldn't be much worse!

Post edited by PaulHurst on Saturday, 10 March 2007 19:25:41

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Posted by ReverendJasonGraves on Saturday, 10 March 2007 19:42:12

LINUX?...

Posted by kozmicstu on Saturday, 10 March 2007 20:02:41

As much as I hate to admit it, my Macs do crash on occasion. It's normally because of MS Word, though. :-) Either that or it's me doing silly things to them. I've started using Pages instead of Word (it's SO much better in most ways, particularly the way it handles images and text wrapping), but I still couldn't cope without Excel. I also prefer Keynote to Powerpoint - it just looks more impressive. OpenOffice is gradually becoming a reasonable alternative for most applications, but it is still lacking in some of the power features of the Microsoft equivalents. I actually just use TextEdit to write nowadays. Saves a lot of the hassle

Have you heard about Open Source Beer, PaulHurst? :-D
http://www.freebeer.org/blog/

Anyway, the problem with using open source systems for government and military applications is that they have highly specialised security needs. They cannot afford to roll out updates on as regular a basis as the open source community achieves, because all their systems need to run on verified safe platforms. They'd constantly be behind the drag curve. There's also a problem with forks in the development - where one platform is built on by two groups in separate directions and you have to chose one of them. It's much more appropriate to deal with a single large vendor.

 

Comment edited by kozmicstu on Saturday, 10 March 2007 20:07:25

Posted by canvas on Sunday, 11 March 2007 09:32:44

Is the idea that it is like a 'Wikigovernment'? I don't get it! :(

Posted by IAmNoOne on Sunday, 11 March 2007 12:39:25

Well, we know how reliable Wikipedia is. Although having said that, a "Wikigovernment" might actually be an improvement!! ;-)

Posted by toryvoter on Tuesday, 13 March 2007 16:52:27

I saw the Global Warming Swindle TV programme last week - but try finding any column inches in the press or comment in other media on this side of the argument. The science of man-made CO2 emissions causing global warming is not proven, but, as said, too many vested interests lie in global warming being caused by man as against natural or cosmic causes. Our lives are being steadily caged by this present government in particular and petty bureaucrats and politicians in general. The Tories are no better in this regard. Dire times ahead for the UK at this rate.

Objective common sense has left the building.

CB

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