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It does beg the question why the public sector doesn't aim to create a public source software division for all of these administrative needs. Jobs program and a

It does beg the question why the public sector doesn't aim to create a public source software division for all of these administrative needs. Jobs program and all that.

johndhi 3y ago
That seems silly to me. Private solutions are almost always going to be better, more secure, cheaper.
- Solvency 3y ago
  For the explicit purpose of my personal data not being siphoned off, owned, and monetized by 3rd party private companies via proxy interactions with the government (like, you know, public school) that are almost virtually unavoidable for most citizens.
  - scarface_74 3y ago
    You trust the competence of the government to keep your information private? And I can guarantee you they are going to bring in high priced consultants to do the work because no government or board of education is going to ever pay software developers their market value and have them on their payroll.
  - johndhi 3y ago
    Private companies (Salesforce, snowflake, etc) offer "government cloud" services where they are restricted by law (fedramp and others) from using your data for their own purposes. Do you not believe that is actually happening? I've worked on them myself.
- hgsgm 3y ago
  Cheaper as long as costs are externalized, sure.
  - scarface_74 3y ago
    It’s cheaper because an edTech company can create a piece of software once and sell it to many different school systems at a low marginal cost. That’s kind of how software works.
- tourmalinetaco 3y ago
  I find the “more secure” claim hard to believe. More eyes on projects is always a good thing, and “security through obscurity” is a fallacy.
  - scarface_74 3y ago
    There have been a number of security vulnerabilities that have lingered in open source for years. Open source is more secure is just as much of a fallacy.
- xigoi 3y ago
  Would you say with a straight face that Microsoft Teams is better than Zulip/Jitsi?
  - scarface_74 3y ago
    Yes for large corporations and governments that aren’t just working with Teams, they are working with Microsoft Office and SharePoint and want something that works well and is understood by their contractors. Teams is already bundled and integrated with their massive enterprise Microsoft contracts. In a given month, as a consultant I’m working with clients that use Slack, Teams, Google Meet, Zoom, and if I’m initiating a meeting, Amazon Chime.
salad-tycoon 3y ago
Because it would be full of unique unpatched exploits, 20 years behind schedule and 10x over budget. I wish, the US government, was like that full of decisive, well intentioned, intelligent boot strapped innovators but the motiff of government projects are things like: One bathroom stall at build costing millions and years behind schedule City trash bins costing hundreds of thousands Airplane trash bins costing tens of thousands And the list certainly Curtis go on those are just the recent ones I’ve read about. I’m watching a government software replacement worth tens of billions and seeing the attempt to integrate is painful. They sure aren’t agile. I don’t work in tech.
- Solvency 3y ago
  That's just it. Create a publicly visible repo of code for all of these administrative government softwares. Let the public weigh in. Create a contribution process. We're not talking state secrets. Just an quasi-open sourced government platform.
  - scarface_74 3y ago
    Your average mid level developer (or in my case cloud consultant) at BigTech makes more than the school superintendent in most major cities in the US. How are they ever going to be able to compete for talent?

It does beg the question why the public sector doesn't aim to create a public source software division for all of these administrative needs. Jobs program and all that.

johndhi 3y ago

That seems silly to me. Private solutions are almost always going to be better, more secure, cheaper.

Solvency 3y ago
For the explicit purpose of my personal data not being siphoned off, owned, and monetized by 3rd party private companies via proxy interactions with the government (like, you know, public school) that are almost virtually unavoidable for most citizens.
- scarface_74 3y ago
  You trust the competence of the government to keep your information private? And I can guarantee you they are going to bring in high priced consultants to do the work because no government or board of education is going to ever pay software developers their market value and have them on their payroll.
- johndhi 3y ago
  Private companies (Salesforce, snowflake, etc) offer "government cloud" services where they are restricted by law (fedramp and others) from using your data for their own purposes. Do you not believe that is actually happening? I've worked on them myself.
hgsgm 3y ago
Cheaper as long as costs are externalized, sure.
- scarface_74 3y ago
  It’s cheaper because an edTech company can create a piece of software once and sell it to many different school systems at a low marginal cost. That’s kind of how software works.
tourmalinetaco 3y ago
I find the “more secure” claim hard to believe. More eyes on projects is always a good thing, and “security through obscurity” is a fallacy.
- scarface_74 3y ago
  There have been a number of security vulnerabilities that have lingered in open source for years. Open source is more secure is just as much of a fallacy.
xigoi 3y ago
Would you say with a straight face that Microsoft Teams is better than Zulip/Jitsi?
- scarface_74 3y ago
  Yes for large corporations and governments that aren’t just working with Teams, they are working with Microsoft Office and SharePoint and want something that works well and is understood by their contractors. Teams is already bundled and integrated with their massive enterprise Microsoft contracts. In a given month, as a consultant I’m working with clients that use Slack, Teams, Google Meet, Zoom, and if I’m initiating a meeting, Amazon Chime.

salad-tycoon 3y ago

Because it would be full of unique unpatched exploits, 20 years behind schedule and 10x over budget. I wish, the US government, was like that full of decisive, well intentioned, intelligent boot strapped innovators but the motiff of government projects are things like: One bathroom stall at build costing millions and years behind schedule City trash bins costing hundreds of thousands Airplane trash bins costing tens of thousands And the list certainly Curtis go on those are just the recent ones I’ve read about. I’m watching a government software replacement worth tens of billions and seeing the attempt to integrate is painful. They sure aren’t agile. I don’t work in tech.

Solvency 3y ago
That's just it. Create a publicly visible repo of code for all of these administrative government softwares. Let the public weigh in. Create a contribution process. We're not talking state secrets. Just an quasi-open sourced government platform.
- scarface_74 3y ago
  Your average mid level developer (or in my case cloud consultant) at BigTech makes more than the school superintendent in most major cities in the US. How are they ever going to be able to compete for talent?