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Maybe if VCs do not see a way to make a decent return on their investments on common infrastructure (as seems to be the case also with physical infrastructure),

by Anchor 11y ago

Maybe if VCs do not see a way to make a decent return on their investments on common infrastructure (as seems to be the case also with physical infrastructure), we should consider funding that work through taxes. The article refers to Mark Suster's comment that "[OSS projects] directly caused tech’s rapid rise". This work benefits many, and we rely on it to exist - and function (Heartbleed), so there are similarities to physical infrastructure. How about a new civil servant job: OSS maintainer.

cpr 11y ago
Sure, let the efficiency experts at the government find and supply the workers. ;-)
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
forgottenpass 11y ago
Why should my taxes subsidize the open source toolkits of closed source projects? Unless you're talking about taxing only software startups, I don't want them getting a handout.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- aidenn0 11y ago
  Your taxes subsidize the highways used by commercial shipping companies too.
toomuchtodo 11y ago
> How about a new civil servant job: OSS maintainer. https://18f.gsa.gov/ https://18f.gsa.gov/ EDIT: > We are transforming government from the inside out, creating cultural change by working with teams inside agencies who want to create great services for the public.
- scrollaway 11y ago
  How wonderful is that site... https://18f.gsa.gov/2016/01/12/hacking-inclusion-by-customizing-a-slack-bot/ https://18f.gsa.gov/2016/01/12/hacking-inclusion-by-customiz... I can't tell what's more wrong here. The passive-aggressiveness of writing a bot to correct people, or the fact it's going on on a .gov. (And before you scream at me for being a heartless sexist bastard or some such, this would be just as messed up if it were a bot that corrects your->you're. Passive aggressiveness certainly does not improve workplace health.)
  - toomuchtodo 11y ago
    18F is doing phenomenal work fixing government. I'll let the excessive PC-ness slide. It's a bot. Ignore it.
    - scrollaway 11y ago
      For the record, I don't know who they are - I've seen them linked once before but I have no ties nor love for San Francisco and their work is very localized. So I don't particularly doubt their work but I literally just picked the top post on their front page. If they are doing phenomenal work, I'm not impressed :) And seeing as my previous post is predictably getting instant downvoted, I should also state that I really don't care about PCness one way or another. What I do see is that "fixing government" apparently includes policing how people talk to each other in an extremely passive-aggressive way that would not be tolerated in any community I moderate or, really, have ever been a part of. All that in the name of improving workplace communications, which this simply does not achieve.
      - toomuchtodo 11y ago
        "For the record, I don't know who they are - I've seen them linked once before but I have no ties nor love for San Francisco and their work is very localized." "And seeing as my previous post is predictably getting instant downvoted, I should also state that I really don't care about PCness one way or another. What I do see is that "fixing government" apparently includes policing how people talk to each other in an extremely passive-aggressive way that would not be tolerated in any community I moderate or, really, have ever been a part of. All that in the name of improving workplace communications, which this simply does not achieve." So you have no idea who they are (they're a technology skunkworks within the GSA [1], which manages and supports the basic functioning of federal agencies of the US Federal Government) and you're commenting on their internal communications policy because you take issue with it? Why would you even waste the time making an uneducated comment then? You even make the comment that their work is localized to SF, when they have offices across the country in support of their work! [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Services_Administration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Services_Administratio...

by Anchor 11y ago

cpr 11y ago

Sure, let the efficiency experts at the government find and supply the workers. ;-)

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

forgottenpass 11y ago

Why should my taxes subsidize the open source toolkits of closed source projects? Unless you're talking about taxing only software startups, I don't want them getting a handout.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
aidenn0 11y ago
Your taxes subsidize the highways used by commercial shipping companies too.

toomuchtodo 11y ago

> How about a new civil servant job: OSS maintainer. https://18f.gsa.gov/ https://18f.gsa.gov/ EDIT: > We are transforming government from the inside out, creating cultural change by working with teams inside agencies who want to create great services for the public.

scrollaway 11y ago
How wonderful is that site... https://18f.gsa.gov/2016/01/12/hacking-inclusion-by-customizing-a-slack-bot/ https://18f.gsa.gov/2016/01/12/hacking-inclusion-by-customiz... I can't tell what's more wrong here. The passive-aggressiveness of writing a bot to correct people, or the fact it's going on on a .gov. (And before you scream at me for being a heartless sexist bastard or some such, this would be just as messed up if it were a bot that corrects your->you're. Passive aggressiveness certainly does not improve workplace health.)
- toomuchtodo 11y ago
  18F is doing phenomenal work fixing government. I'll let the excessive PC-ness slide. It's a bot. Ignore it.
  - scrollaway 11y ago
    For the record, I don't know who they are - I've seen them linked once before but I have no ties nor love for San Francisco and their work is very localized. So I don't particularly doubt their work but I literally just picked the top post on their front page. If they are doing phenomenal work, I'm not impressed :) And seeing as my previous post is predictably getting instant downvoted, I should also state that I really don't care about PCness one way or another. What I do see is that "fixing government" apparently includes policing how people talk to each other in an extremely passive-aggressive way that would not be tolerated in any community I moderate or, really, have ever been a part of. All that in the name of improving workplace communications, which this simply does not achieve.
    - toomuchtodo 11y ago
      "For the record, I don't know who they are - I've seen them linked once before but I have no ties nor love for San Francisco and their work is very localized." "And seeing as my previous post is predictably getting instant downvoted, I should also state that I really don't care about PCness one way or another. What I do see is that "fixing government" apparently includes policing how people talk to each other in an extremely passive-aggressive way that would not be tolerated in any community I moderate or, really, have ever been a part of. All that in the name of improving workplace communications, which this simply does not achieve." So you have no idea who they are (they're a technology skunkworks within the GSA [1], which manages and supports the basic functioning of federal agencies of the US Federal Government) and you're commenting on their internal communications policy because you take issue with it? Why would you even waste the time making an uneducated comment then? You even make the comment that their work is localized to SF, when they have offices across the country in support of their work! [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Services_Administration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Services_Administratio...