4 ms·

What do you mean? If you are a software developer working for a state or city you expect to sell the software you develop for them and collect the money yoursel

What do you mean? If you are a software developer working for a state or city you expect to sell the software you develop for them and collect the money yourself?

Maxburn 5y ago
Good point, I was only thinking about outside contractors.
- postalrat 5y ago
  Contractors are no different. Typically you don't get to sell the software someone else paid for. If you want to sell it then develop it on your own.
  - WaitWaitWha 5y ago
    Right, and I am all for that to remain. This reads way broader, as you describe it "develop it on your own", but can sell it only once to public sector.
WaitWaitWha 5y ago
If I develop software specific to the public sector and sell it to the government, it is "publicly financed software developed for the public sector". What is my incentive to develop any software at all for public sector, since potential client no. 2 will just take the code that I released? The ask does not state employed by... it just says: “Implement legislation requiring that publicly financed software developed for the public sector be made publicly available under a Free and Open Source Software licence.” I would be fine with “Implement legislation requiring that publicly financed software developed by employees of public sector, for the public sector be made publicly available under a Free and Open Source Software licence.”
- postalrat 5y ago
  Your incentive is that you are being paid.
  - WaitWaitWha 5y ago
    Imagine "Microsoft Office"-complexity software developed specifically for public sector. Then, sold to public sector once, then everyone else is free to use it. Would Microsoft still develops Office? Unlikely.
    - yxhuvud 5y ago
      What would happen then is that the next public sector organization would want to pay someone to either fix bugs or to specialize the program to fit their needs better. And the more installations, the more this would happen. Maintenance is not free and the public sector would still have to pay the bill for it.
    - Rygian 5y ago
      Why would that be unlikely? If Microsoft's business model was to get paid to develop Office, then of course they would. (Obviously, Microsoft's actual business model is to capture and lock in, that's what makes your example look odd.)
    - tapland 5y ago
      The money is in the maintenance agreements.
    - Beltalowda 5y ago
      I mostly want the code to public as a matter of transparency. I'd be fine if it was released under a fairly restrictive license which would prevent this kind of re-use.
    - prepend 5y ago
      They would develop Office because they were paid to develop office. Also, government custom developed software is really wonky and the odds that the IP is sold is very low. The greater odds are that maintenance and follow on contracts will only be possible for the company that first wrote the software.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- rapind 5y ago
  This is already very common in the private sector. Most businesses that require custom software will insist (via contract terms) that they “own” the software. There’s also licensed deals and subscription services etc. sure, but there’s a ton of custom proprietary software that consultants build (which often contain proprietary business logic). Custom always costs more of course, but this isn’t a new model by any stretch of the imagination.

What do you mean? If you are a software developer working for a state or city you expect to sell the software you develop for them and collect the money yourself?

Maxburn 5y ago

Good point, I was only thinking about outside contractors.

postalrat 5y ago
Contractors are no different. Typically you don't get to sell the software someone else paid for. If you want to sell it then develop it on your own.
- WaitWaitWha 5y ago
  Right, and I am all for that to remain. This reads way broader, as you describe it "develop it on your own", but can sell it only once to public sector.

WaitWaitWha 5y ago

If I develop software specific to the public sector and sell it to the government, it is "publicly financed software developed for the public sector". What is my incentive to develop any software at all for public sector, since potential client no. 2 will just take the code that I released? The ask does not state employed by... it just says: “Implement legislation requiring that publicly financed software developed for the public sector be made publicly available under a Free and Open Source Software licence.” I would be fine with “Implement legislation requiring that publicly financed software developed by employees of public sector, for the public sector be made publicly available under a Free and Open Source Software licence.”

postalrat 5y ago
Your incentive is that you are being paid.
- WaitWaitWha 5y ago
  Imagine "Microsoft Office"-complexity software developed specifically for public sector. Then, sold to public sector once, then everyone else is free to use it. Would Microsoft still develops Office? Unlikely.
  - yxhuvud 5y ago
    What would happen then is that the next public sector organization would want to pay someone to either fix bugs or to specialize the program to fit their needs better. And the more installations, the more this would happen. Maintenance is not free and the public sector would still have to pay the bill for it.
  - Rygian 5y ago
    Why would that be unlikely? If Microsoft's business model was to get paid to develop Office, then of course they would. (Obviously, Microsoft's actual business model is to capture and lock in, that's what makes your example look odd.)
  - tapland 5y ago
    The money is in the maintenance agreements.
  - Beltalowda 5y ago
    I mostly want the code to public as a matter of transparency. I'd be fine if it was released under a fairly restrictive license which would prevent this kind of re-use.
  - prepend 5y ago
    They would develop Office because they were paid to develop office. Also, government custom developed software is really wonky and the odds that the IP is sold is very low. The greater odds are that maintenance and follow on contracts will only be possible for the company that first wrote the software.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
rapind 5y ago
This is already very common in the private sector. Most businesses that require custom software will insist (via contract terms) that they “own” the software. There’s also licensed deals and subscription services etc. sure, but there’s a ton of custom proprietary software that consultants build (which often contain proprietary business logic). Custom always costs more of course, but this isn’t a new model by any stretch of the imagination.