On the first item, if the Quezon City government starts hiring the programmers to develop software, what will he do with them after development has been finished? You cant expect him to hire all of them to support the software, that would cost too much. Government is overemployed as it is. Secondly, what are the chances that the programmers they hire will actually be competent to do the job? You hire a frim based on their expertise and reputation because you know you will be getting a cetain level of service from them. Secondly, hoew many giovernment initiatives have you seem local or national that have been succesful? All are inefficient, NPC, Transco,SSS, GSIS etc.
The only thing I can expect the government to provide are the fiber optic lines which we should all be using to have broadband as this is similar to providing roads and bridges etc. But they cannot even install telephone lines, They have to get PLDT to do it for them. If biddings are spec driven, then the solution is not for the government to develop the software, its to change the specs, there is no reason why OSS cannot be used in this way. Even if we let government develop the software and they use the same specs that would change nothing. The Singapore government is doing something like what you are proposing but MS has been specified with Cisco, the other software is still open for bidding, I don't know who won though. It's a good idea and would probably make things more efficient, OSS can be pushed here in the same manner. I think the resaon MS was specified was because it was wahat they were already using. A similar project could be pushed here by the OSS community. Charles -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Rogelio Serrano Sent: Monday, July 17, 2006 3:39 PM To: Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Technical Discussion List Subject: Re: [plug] open source bill On 7/17/06, Charles Yao <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > What should be done is have the government hire programmers so they > put together software that meets government needs and provide it for > free to others who will need it. And in so doing get automatic peer > review from the thousands of programmers around the world. and also > provide "vital infrastructure" to our economy. > [snipped] > This is a good idea, however, we must remember that it is not the > governments job to provide this softwae. It is not their competencey. > Their job is to run the country department by department. Thats where we differ. I believe that its their job to provide the software. Imagine the quezon city mayor hiring a group of programmers to develop ways of displaying all relevant information about the city in a single display in his office. If they outsource the software how much is it going to cost? And who else are going to afford it? Everbody needs that kind of software right? For the government > technology is a tool to do whatever they have to do. They are not an > IT firm. That is why most of IT projects are done by outsourced companies. This is the status quo. It is hostile to open source. Im working for a communications company and yet i build system management software. I am even studying the linux kernel. I am stuying plan9 and 9p and im building and rebuilding a distribution. im writing a new gui. whats that got to do with sending and receiving sms from ocean going cargo vessels? A lot. An improvement in the platform benefits me directly. I dont need a NOC. My network is redundant and i dont have to edit config files anymore. Desktop design applied to servers. Another point is that the present development strategies recognized by government and the industry is spec driven. Somebody writes a spec, then somebody bids then somebody delivers the software then maintainance follows. Thats a broken system. Specs are always unrealistic and delivered software is always overengineered with 80% of the features actually unneeded. I have been burned by that too many times already and i believe that development strategy is only for big companies who can absorb the losses incurred. on the second thought even IBM is beginning to feel the pain. I guess M$ is the only company who is not. > Secondly, considering the budget deficit, I doubt the government can > offer competitive packages to programmers. One question I have is what > do you mean by "vital infrastructure" to our economy? > A standard api. Maybe a way to search their databases or documents. Analogous to bridges and roads. I would love to have access to expense reports for example. And i would like to be able to use a digital certificate as an ID. IT can be used to gain power. In the end thats how open source will become indispensable. -- things i hate about my linux pc: 1. it takes more than a second to boot up 2. keeps asking about filenames and directories 3. does not remember what i was working on yesterday 4. does not remember all the changes i have ever made 5.cannot figure out necessary settings by itself _________________________________________________ Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List [email protected] (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph) Read the Guidelines: http://linux.org.ph/lists Searchable Archives: http://archives.free.net.ph _________________________________________________ Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List [email protected] (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph) Read the Guidelines: http://linux.org.ph/lists Searchable Archives: http://archives.free.net.ph
