4 ms·

I think the linux dev community and foss developers in general could be much more aggressive about going after government grant money. Open source software is u

I think the linux dev community and foss developers in general could be much more aggressive about going after government grant money. Open source software is used in everything from biomedical research to fundamental science, to industry, to defense. Somehow, these key shared resources are still run on a budget that's barely a rounding error by comparison. I know writing grant proposals sucks and everyone wants to be having fun developing software, but if you pull in enough money initially you can pay people to write more grants and make things self sustaining in terms of funding. For how essential linux is to modern society there should be more paid people working on it full time.

h2odragon 4y ago
Once it becomes "about money" that controls the enterprise, even when it was originally about software. Sure there's some projects that avoided that but its a tar pit and I can't fault anyone for avoiding it.
- comfypotato 4y ago
  Is it, though? I find a lot of security in the knowledge that Ubuntu has a self-sustaining financial model. It’s still close enough to the original love of software that Linus strongly approves. I really enjoyed your parent comment’s take on grant-writing. I do, however, expect that this is already taking place in the appropriate areas of Linux development more than is commonly realized.
  - ipaddr 4y ago
    Ubuntu doesn't run linux. Maybe RedHat is a better example.
  - autoexec 4y ago
    https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2012/11/01/ubuntu-search-amazon-privacy/ https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2012/11/01/ubuntu-search-am... https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/base-files/+bug/1701068 https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/base-files/+bug/17... considering Ubuntu pulls shit like this I'd say their lust for money has already repeatedly been a problem for users.
mithusingh32 4y ago
You're not wrong about defense however there is a huge caveat. From what I'm told, when a company in defense (in the US) uses FOSS they must sign a waiver saying that they will be responsible for all updates and vulnerabilities discovered with said library. This also means that if the library stops being maintained, the company is responsible for maintaining the library. I know that the reason why RHEL is preferred over Ubuntu or other distros is the fact RHEL has a paid license and provides regular updates to even "dead" or EoL libraries and packages. Having said that, I wish more companies would take that dive. I've been in situations where the company would not sign a waiver so we had to essentially re-create a functionality that a FOSS library already provides.
- jacooper 4y ago
  Ubuntu also has paid support, which will provide 10 year support which naturally include EOL packages.
dave_taht 4y ago
NSF finally has a program that makes sense to support better open source orgs: https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2022/nsf22062/nsf22062.jsp https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2022/nsf22062/nsf22062.jsp Don't everyone apply at once!
- yummypaint 4y ago
  Thanks for the link, was not aware of that opportunity. It looks like this might also be a possible source of funding for theorists who write software tools.

h2odragon 4y ago

Once it becomes "about money" that controls the enterprise, even when it was originally about software. Sure there's some projects that avoided that but its a tar pit and I can't fault anyone for avoiding it.

comfypotato 4y ago
Is it, though? I find a lot of security in the knowledge that Ubuntu has a self-sustaining financial model. It’s still close enough to the original love of software that Linus strongly approves. I really enjoyed your parent comment’s take on grant-writing. I do, however, expect that this is already taking place in the appropriate areas of Linux development more than is commonly realized.
- ipaddr 4y ago
  Ubuntu doesn't run linux. Maybe RedHat is a better example.
- autoexec 4y ago
  https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2012/11/01/ubuntu-search-amazon-privacy/ https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2012/11/01/ubuntu-search-am... https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/base-files/+bug/1701068 https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/base-files/+bug/17... considering Ubuntu pulls shit like this I'd say their lust for money has already repeatedly been a problem for users.

mithusingh32 4y ago

You're not wrong about defense however there is a huge caveat. From what I'm told, when a company in defense (in the US) uses FOSS they must sign a waiver saying that they will be responsible for all updates and vulnerabilities discovered with said library. This also means that if the library stops being maintained, the company is responsible for maintaining the library. I know that the reason why RHEL is preferred over Ubuntu or other distros is the fact RHEL has a paid license and provides regular updates to even "dead" or EoL libraries and packages. Having said that, I wish more companies would take that dive. I've been in situations where the company would not sign a waiver so we had to essentially re-create a functionality that a FOSS library already provides.

jacooper 4y ago
Ubuntu also has paid support, which will provide 10 year support which naturally include EOL packages.

dave_taht 4y ago

NSF finally has a program that makes sense to support better open source orgs: https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2022/nsf22062/nsf22062.jsp https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2022/nsf22062/nsf22062.jsp Don't everyone apply at once!

yummypaint 4y ago
Thanks for the link, was not aware of that opportunity. It looks like this might also be a possible source of funding for theorists who write software tools.