open source for the government
TRANSCRIPT
Open Source for the Government?Why and how
● http://techblog.bozho.net
● @bozhobg
● Senior Software Engineer @ TomTom
● Board member of Obshtestvo.bg (Society dot bg) foundation
● realistic idealist
Vanity slide
“You can’t make the ladies behind the desks use OpenOffice and Linux!!
Open Source for the Government??
● “...but in Munich”
● Microsoft Office is a de-facto standard, for good or for bad
● That’s a different story...
It’s not about Linux...
● The government is constantly placing orders for both specific and generic software
● The government ignores the “rule”o if the problem is widespread - use open source softwareo if the problem is rare - use an existing commercial solutiono if the problem is unique - order a new piece of software
● The government doesn’t have the personnel to adapt and implement even ready-to-use open source projects.
Custom software
● Vendor lock-in● Abandonware● Low-quality software● Bugs and security holes
o egov.bgo (forest) logging registry (?the_wife_of_my_cousin=1)o ...who knows what else?
● Most of that software is owned by the governmento ...and sits on CDs in basements
● Even projects using WordPress, Drupal, Joomla are de-facto closed source
Status quo
● Websites of ministries/agencies/municipalities/programmes● Registries● General clerk software● Specific information systems● Accountancy software● egov - middleware, registries, portal, e-services
Types of government software
● oh…● what’s the relation between “government software” and “electronic
governance” ● The problems of electronic governance
o 90% law and administrative и 10% technicalo “political will” (cliche alarm)
Electronic governance
(almost) all new projects must be open-sourced
A solution?
● Reusability● Easier extension and support
o from a government “system integrator”o from other companieso from NGOs and even citizens
● Transparencyo “but...nobody will be watching those projects!” - there are people that
will be watching them, don’t worry :)
Why?
● UK- http://github.com/alphagov (330 projects)● US - http://www.govcode.org/ (2000 projects)● Estonia - e-voting, egov, X-Road
o “All our key projects become open source, including the systems for health care, police, business portals and document exchange” Siim Sikkut, ICT Policy Adviser
● Switzerland
Experience around the world
● Every company, implementing software, ordered by the government, supplies a URL to a public SCM repoo git or mercurial; preferably GitHub or Bitbucketo must use it actively (and not just synchronize an internal repo with it)
● Public documentation● Stable master● The government published the URL of the repo● The licence used must be approved by FSF or OSI
Procedure
● no difference for the company writing the software - even now the product is owned by the government in most cases
● no difference for the government - 10 lines more in the requirements● total cost of ownership is the same in the worst case [citation needed]
● new business models
Why would that work?
“Are you listening to yourself, the government can’t open their systems?!”
● Only the source is publicly available; not the server passwords● A small portion of the government software is highly critical; a small
portion even have a publically-facing interface.● WordPress is more secure than any website that any company will build.● Open-source software is more secure
o ...except for openssl, bash and small, unpopular projects … :)
Security
● not applicable to existing closed-sourced software● hardly applicable to software that is already developed (even if owned by
the government)● good code != good software● not every project can be monitored carefully by society● won’t solve the problems of e-governance, corruption, energy prices or
ebola● can see opposition in the face of malicious companies
No silver bullet...
...but if we do something, only in case it solves all problems, then we will never do
anything
● (L)GPL, EUPL, MIT, BSD, Apache?● permissive vs copyleft● Using closed-sourced components● Licence can be selected by the implementing company?
Licences
“That’s bullshit, it can’t happen!!”
“You aren’t helping...”
● Wide support for our NGO’s campaign - by citizens, companies, NGOs● http://opendata.government.bg - the open data portal of Bulgaria. It’s a
project by obshtestvo.bg, based on CKAN, open-sources, and developed together with two government institutions.
● we are constantly communicating with multiple agencies and ministries● we are successfully pushing for standard government software
requirements that explicitly require open-source
So far...
If you are competent and adequate, even in the administration there are people that can accept your opinion.
How?
(изображение от http://exequiel09.github.io/symposium-presentation/)
Questions?