Should Obama Give Stimulus To Open Source?

snydeq writes "InfoWorld's Bill Snyder posits a deeper relationship between government and open source than was proposed in last week's open letter to Obama calling for broader open source adoption: economic stimulus. Since software vendors urged the president to go open source last week, security companies 'have raised scary points about vulnerabilities in open source,' suggesting they could step in to help secure an open source switch. Rather than opt for this kind of security through obscurity, Snyder argues in favor of earmarking funds for open source development to instead ensure security through transparency. 'Once the government expands its use and support of open source, venture money — which is drying up in the current recession — would again start flowing to those small companies, allowing them to hire or rehire some of the tens of thousands of unemployed IT workers,' he argues."

Comments

Re:Stimulus?

[Attila Dimedici]

All economists agree that government spending is important during times of contraction, as it helps to make up the shortfall in the economy from the side of the consumer, and helps "stimulate" the economy. Another advantage of government spending is that it's usually an investment in infrastructure that will last many decades and provide a platform for future growth in the economy.

This is patently false. Not all economists agree that government spending is a "good thing" in times of contraction. Here is an economist who argues that it is a bad thing: http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=5408 He is by the way a staunch conservative/libertarian who tends to support Republican politics (although I have seen him write columns condemning "spend, spend" Republican policies).

Re:oh god no

[Quothz]

Could you please show me the job offers to work on open source? I'll give you a day to find something and then check back on my post.

Here, now, let me Google that for you.

Re:oh god no

[blhack]

Is not honor reward enough? Doing the right thing is its own reward.

I can't take honor to the store and convert it into food. The power company also doesn't take honor as a form of payment.

Re:No.

[TheRaven64]

For someone who doesn't understand that democracy and republic are not mutually exclusive terms, you are incredibly patronising. A republic is any state which is not ruled by a hereditary monarch. A democracy is a state which is ruled by the people. They are orthogonal. Some democracies have a constitutional monarchy, where the head of state is hereditary but their power is limited and can be overruled by the will of the people. Some republics are run by oligarchies.

The United States of America is a representative democracy, where the people select representatives that will run the country on their behalf. This is in contrast with a direct democracy, like the Swiss cantons or Greek city states, where the people meet regularly and conduct the business of government through direct voting. It is also a republic, as the President is elected rather than inheriting the title.

This is stuff most people learn in a high-school class room, so I suggest the phrase 'people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones' applies to your comment about keeping quiet while the adults talk.