You know about “Open-Source Software” (OSS), right? Even if you’re not an OSS fanatic, you’ve at the very least heard the term and wondered, “What in the world is that stuff all about?” Thankfully, the guys at opensource.com have a pretty straightforward definition for us:
“Open source software is software whose source code is available for modification or enhancement by anyone.”
In case you’re still a bit confused, the definition goes on to break down what “source code” actually is:
“’Source code’…it’s the code computer programmers can manipulate to change how a piece of software…works.”
So, in essence, open-source software can be modified by anyone, unlike proprietary software, which can only be changed by those that created it. Now, how does this apply to the government? Their software is locked up tighter than Scrooge’s pocketbook, right? Or maybe not, as it seems that era might be coming to an end.
A new draft open source policy that the government is rolling out for public comment as part of its “Second Open Government National Action Plan”, is calling for several new components, including the sharing of source code behind software created by the government and software created for use in government projects. Amazing, right? It would not only allow for government agencies to share code with one another (reducing software development costs when different agencies are working on similar goals), but it would also make it much easier for the average person to find and use this government software for their own purposes. About 20% of custom code written by the federal government each year would be shared with the public. All this on top of possibly prioritizing open source software ahead of proprietary software for use in government applications.
So what’s the upside? In addition to that reduction in costs for the government (and by extension the tax-payers) we mentioned, this also reduces the amount of money private entities will need to expend to produce similar kinds of software since they can now use and modify what has already been created by the government. With more and more users sharing the code, there’s an increased likelihood of discovering and correcting and defects in the code as well, making continual improvement of the software even easier for all.
There are still some things to be worked out in the proposed policy, however. At present, there’s no straightforward way to locate and use the source code for most government projects. The policy includes a bit about creating a publicly accessible cache of government source code, but it remains to see how it would work in practice. There are naysayers to contend with as well. Those who argue points such as using open-source software is too time consuming, or that it could be laced with malicious code since its usable by anyone, not taking into consideration, the code can be reviewed before being implemented, and can be procured from reputable communities of OSS developers. There’s also a need to spread the message about open-source. Currently, it’s not well known among all sectors of the government, and it won’t be mainstream until all IT professionals, and government software developers know about the push for OSS.
What’s the response to this news? You know we have a thing for projects that make use of open-source software around here, and groups like the Free Software Foundation (FSF) are all in, even if they believe there’s more to be done. What else would they like to see? For one, they are calling for the government to release 100% of its custom code for open-source use. They’re also calling for the government to end its dependency on proprietary software for some of its current projects. That last bit is very interesting. FSF, and other groups argue that the use of proprietary software for government purposes puts too much power in the hands of private companies, who may be working at cross-purposes to the government, or even have interests that are deliberately opposed to government goals.
What could this mean for companies that currently provide software solutions to the government, including government payment processing? Will this share of their businesses dry up if open-source is adopted in a more thorough manner? It will be interesting to see if open-source becomes the wave of the future for government software, and what branching effects such a shift might have on related industries in years to come.