3 ms·

I wouldn't ban the company (there's no way to make that sound right). Just ban the practices they follow, which makes them unqualified to participate unless th

I wouldn't ban the company (there's no way to make that sound right). Just ban the practices they follow, which makes them unqualified to participate unless they really change that. For example, public procurement should always require software be open source as a hard dealbraker. This is actually the case in [too few] countries.

estaseuropano 5y ago
I'd be curious about an example of a country where this is at all a requirement. Sadly I think not even Estonia asks for that, they just work with great central services and APIs.
- realityking 5y ago
  It‘s starting to happen in Germany, at least in healthcare. The Corona Warn App was open sourced (developed by SAP und Deutsche Telekom) and the server software (developed by IBM) will also be open sourced (https://www.kma-online.de/aktuelles/it-digital-health/detail/ibm-zur-entwicklung-des-fachdienstes-e-rezept-beauftragt-a-44365 https://www.kma-online.de/aktuelles/it-digital-health/detail...)
  - usr1106 5y ago
    > It‘s starting to happen in Germany, at least in healthcare. The Corona Warn App was open sourced And now there is a closed source competitor with a lot of backing from some politicians. So it's not that they would have learned the lesson.
jandrewrogers 5y ago
As a practical matter, there would need to be exemptions (and usually are). There is closed source software used by government that has no open source equivalent, is unlikely to have an open source equivalent in the foreseeable future for various reasons, and the government has no leverage to force the companies to make their software open source. Some things can be open source, the government already uses a lot of open source in many countries, but the government has little recourse if providers of critical software capabilities refuse to do business under those terms.

3 ms·

I wouldn't ban the company (there's no way to make that sound right). Just ban the practices they follow, which makes them unqualified to participate unless th

by WhyNotHugo 5y ago

estaseuropano 5y ago
I'd be curious about an example of a country where this is at all a requirement. Sadly I think not even Estonia asks for that, they just work with great central services and APIs.
- realityking 5y ago
  It‘s starting to happen in Germany, at least in healthcare. The Corona Warn App was open sourced (developed by SAP und Deutsche Telekom) and the server software (developed by IBM) will also be open sourced (https://www.kma-online.de/aktuelles/it-digital-health/detail/ibm-zur-entwicklung-des-fachdienstes-e-rezept-beauftragt-a-44365 https://www.kma-online.de/aktuelles/it-digital-health/detail...)
  - usr1106 5y ago
    > It‘s starting to happen in Germany, at least in healthcare. The Corona Warn App was open sourced And now there is a closed source competitor with a lot of backing from some politicians. So it's not that they would have learned the lesson.
jandrewrogers 5y ago
As a practical matter, there would need to be exemptions (and usually are). There is closed source software used by government that has no open source equivalent, is unlikely to have an open source equivalent in the foreseeable future for various reasons, and the government has no leverage to force the companies to make their software open source. Some things can be open source, the government already uses a lot of open source in many countries, but the government has little recourse if providers of critical software capabilities refuse to do business under those terms.