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New Hampshire Passes 'Open Source Bill'
Plugh writes "In a victory for transparency and openness in government, and saving tax dollars, New Hampshire has passed HB418. State agencies are now required by law to consider open source software when acquiring software, and to promote the use of open data formats."
And just how much consideration is required? "Yeah, we looked at it but didn't trust it, so it was immediately discarded" is technically a consideration.
"Didn't meet our requirements."
With that statement, any choice can be made. It is impossible to legislate what people "should" do, particularly when dealing with large bureaucracies.
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It's interesting to see how a government defines what "open source" means. Some of the wording might actually restrict certain packages, for example:
As a professional open source developer myself, I have to admit that documentation isn't often a strong point of open source, and internal file formats are no exception.
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
The entity is forcing itself to do something. The government wants the government to do something. It's hardly what you're implying.
How about we just get rid of government and let everyone decide what to do with their own goddamn money.
Because most of us like having things like sewage systems, streets, and someone to get the drunk drivers off the roads. Of course, with no roads, I guess the drunk drivers wouldn't be a problem.
And if you think people would band together to pay for basic infrastructure without any government-style coordination, you're out of your mind.
Open source is great. I use it for all kinds of things, but I don't have much faith that government can make it work to anyone's benefit.
Why not? They make proprietary software work for people's benefit. What's so different about open source software?
Let people keep their earnings and decide what solutions are best for themselves.
Most people would be more concerned about basic security than software solutions if you were to remove the government.
Otherwise, you might as well just have them at least support real business that actually employs someone.
Government is real business. Seriously. They provide services for their customers in exchange for money. Sure, the people who receive services and the people who pay aren't necessarily the same people (i.e. I pay road tax, but my street hasn't been repaved since it was built in the 1930s, since apparently no one knows how to rebrick a #*$%ing street anymore), but the concept is the same. You even get to vote for the officers, which is more than an shareholder does.
The government employs people, just like a business. It pays those people in real, actual money - which is more than many business do, what with stock options and whatnot. Government can't run without government employees. Those employees are regular people, just like you and me. I've met quite a few very competent sysadmins who were GS rated government employees.
Get rid of the government, and you'll find yourself needing to solve a lot of problems. Every solution to those problems will evolve into government. It's the way of the world. Don't like it? Build a shack in the middle of Idaho and live off the land.
Those who can't do, teach. Those who can't teach either, do tech support.
I'll answer any questions people have about the bill... post comments below.
This will be the FIRST Open Source and Open Data bill in any of the 50 states.
I'm very happy... And yes, I'm a geek. I've got a slashdot UID of 5 digits, have contributed to the Linux kernel and other project, tech edited a book on Drupal, and been doing techy things for over 25 years now...
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So, if you're NH IT, pre-law, you do due diligence when selecting software
Talk about wild ass assumptions. In the real world, due diligence is only done when there is no way to avoid its costs. If Microsoft Office has been in use by all the Department of Motor Vehicle clerks since 1997, then prior to this law there has been no need to consider doing anything but buying into its next upgrade. Even if that means replacing all the desktop computers with new models that can handle the new software.
This law requires some people to actually start thinking instead of coasting on other persons' decisions-- that were often made before they even graduated and got their first jobs.
New Hampshire: a state that you should not take for granite.
Will
Considering that I'm a libertarian (and member of the Free State Project, so not just a iffy libertarian, but one who packed up and moved his life to New Hampshire, and eventually ran for office, won, and got this legislation passed...), this is FAR from Nanny-State.
Government needs to be accountable on how taxpayer money is spent. Individuals can buy whatever they like, but I want the system to buy only the best choice for the least money, and if open source is considered, it'll often win. Not always, but more than it does now. (NH does use some open source now... FYI, including Apache webservers, for example, for some things)
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While I believe in a smaller government and "letting everyone decide what to do with their own goddamn money," the 'big red button to end government' doesn't exist. So what to do NOW?
I moved to NH, and work for smaller and more transparent government. I'm an elected State Representative, and bring my principles to the State House, and get stuff like this bill done. And I get paid $100 a year for doing so. Yes, $100 a year. Not $100k, $100 dollars in total.
So I'm not doing it for power, or for money, I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do.
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I've got a slashdot UID of 5 digits, have contributed to the Linux kernel and other project, tech edited a book on Drupal, and been doing techy things for over 25 years now...
But have you ever (and I'm quite serious about this) worked on a government project where acquisitions are made, to understand the kind of "We'll get what we want, it's just a matter of the right amount of paperwork" shenanigans that go on? And as such, do you honestly think the CIO of any agency will actually care?
I'm also curious -- the legislation that others quoted doesn't make any mention of the size of the acquisition. Does this mean that every credit card purchase of software will require such justification to be sent to the CIO? And if so, do you honestly expect anything other than copy and paste boilerplate explanations that will be so numerous and repetitive as to be essentially meaningless?
Perhaps those issues are addressed, but to be honest, it seems like one of those "sounds like a great idea" measures that will increase the amount of paperwork that people have to get their jobs done, and at best will only provide some technical person a little bit of fodder to demonstrate to management that his suggestion to use some sort of free software to accomplish the task isn't completely off the mark.
You seem to be under the impression that if the government stops providing some services then those services won't be provided by other institutions. This is certainly _not_ true for all government activity.
Some services, yes. Not all. I'm well aware there are portions of the government that could be privatized successfully.
You seem to be under the impression that other institutions would provide all useful services provided by the government. That's certainly not true as well.
The idea that streets would not be built if it were not by the government is ridiculous.
Your street maybe. I'm probably the second wealthiest person on my street, only after a guy who inherited his mother's slumlord properties. I bring in around $2k/month. My street would be a loss.
Street maintenance could certainly be privatized, but someone has to hire and pay the company to do it, and someone has to make sure the poorer areas are maintained. Only a government is capable of this.
I'm not a hardcore socialist. I don't believe the government should own and control industry, outside of necessary regulatory duties (i.e. keep lead paint out of our food, make sure 1lb is really 1lb, etc.). I do believe the government is required to act in places where capitalism fails. Basic public infrastructure is one of those places.
The key difference between a government and a regular business is that a government extracts payment under the threat of violence, or in some cases, by using actual violence.
Companies would do the same if they were not prevented from doing so (by - you guessed it - the government). The government is a company who has a monopoly on violence against the populace.
I once lived somewhere where the electric and gas services were provided by a private company. If I didn't pay, I was under the threat of freezing to death in the winter. I don't see much difference.
Also, a share holder in a public company can trade his shares if he does not like how the company is run.
And you can squat in a shack in Idaho. Or you can move to somewhere where there is no government, like Somalia. Have fun with that.
Those who can't do, teach. Those who can't teach either, do tech support.
Some of both... and every shade between, and some new flavors you have heard of... like female libertarians... yes, they exist, really.
Come visit NH, meet all kinds of folks, and see for yourself.
Feb 23-26th: http://freestateproject.org/libertyforum
In June: http://freestateproject.org/content/porcfest
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I Just wish they could do all that without the multi-trillion dollar price tag. I don't hate government I just hate most of ours.
I want this account deleted.
Can you move to Wisconsin and run for governor?
We have the best government that money can buy.
No, you don't understand the bill...
It doesn't REQUIRE them to use Open Source over other solutions, but to consider it, using cost benefits answers. And all of your objections are moot then, since this bill essentially DOES what you want it to do: "government adopting Common Open Data formats and selecting the software based on performance makes more sense." (performance and price = total cost benefit analysis, right?)
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The CIO of NH (ie the Commission of NH DOIT) supported this legislation, because it will enable them to track and review purchases for EXACTLY that sort of reason. And in State Government, nothing is ever 'credit card purchase' of software, or shouldn't be.
So I'll reverse the question to you: Have you ever worked at State Government?
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No, NH is much nicer. Come visit us!
I was in Wisconsin last year, for a 10th anniversary party celebrating Neil Gaiman's American Gods novel, at House on the Rock. Neil was dressed as Doctor Who (4th Doctor), I was dressed as a Neil Gaiman audio book. Fun times were had by all.
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Seriously, I live in New Hampshire, and I emailed RMS about this bill last year. He said that if the bill called it Free Software instead of Open Source, he'd get behind it.
I think a state government is well within its rights to dictate how best to save and spend its money. If a person works for a state government he or she is agreeing to work within the confines dictated by government policy. Similarly, a corporate IT department dictates what can and cannot be run on its network. Are you suggesting that an employee should be free to make those decisions without regard to what corporate or government policy dictates?
Besides that, the NH legislature isn't telling government offices that they are required to use OSS. It is telling them to consider it as part of the decision-making process in order to best evaluate the options in order to find the most cost-effective choice. Your argument is off-target.
Even if Google Chrome is prohibited, another company's respin of Chromium Browser isn't. That's the beauty of free software: you're free to hire anyone to make it work the way you want.
1) Yes, appointed, by the Governor, and approved by the NH Executive Council (essentially 5 lieutenant governors - unique system we have to check and balance the Governor).
2) total NH budget for 2012: $5,244,850,965 ($5.24 billion)
IT share of that: $67.5 million (roughly)
http://www.nh.gov/transparentnh/where-the-money-goes/index.htm
http://www.nh.gov/doit/internet/
3) Yes, and they don't have to submit open source as a solution, for example, but the requirements of open data still apply, for one thing, and for another, the total cost analysis will still have to happen... so an proposal submitted that didn't use open data, and used a proprietary solution would have to show that it was the only answer, and why it was cost effective, and couldn't meet the open data requirements. Remember that the principles are listed, and more specific guidelines for RFP and the like will be generated, by the CIO.
4) I tried (as a non-legislator) to get even a study of open source through in previous years. Killed it each time. This time, I was ready, I knew the opposition's issues, and had answers... plus Open Source is no longer a geek thing. People know Linux, Android, Google, etc. Opposition hinged on FUD mostly... It wasn't anything beyond that... So being able to address the usual FUD, and do education the entire time for non-geeks was the biggest factors needed.
comments: The Open Data elements are the key piece here. 3rd party vendors who fail to meet those are unlikely to get the business anyway. And no, this isn't perfect, nor will it guarantee open source is always the answer. Because it isn't. But it should put it on a level field for the first time.
And my website is SO outdated... I need to update hundreds of votes since. But thanks.
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Of course the point is that if you use Microsoft Office and Microsoft goes bankrupt, then you're left with your documents in a closed, proprietary format (and even Microsoft's "open", "standard" format is pretty damn closed).
But if LibreOffice forks/dies, then your documents are in an open, documented, internationally recognised ISO-standard format.
Which documents would you rather attempt to recover.
Good eye.
In order to get the bill passed.
They are in the midst of rolling out an E-Court system, and they felt this would get in the way... and besides which it was a turf war (Legislative versus Judicial)
I wanted the bill to pass, so I said 'Ok, you guys are exempt'. Such is politics.
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Actually, this is why the Secretary of State's office, via the State Archivist, came out in favor of the bill:
They have punch cards they legally must retain, and no way to read them. Data without the code/hardware to read it is useless, but we have to keep it all.
So the above is really true. Open formats are vital for data to be historically useful.
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Sorry to hear that. But what you are saying is that, given your limited resources, you'd prefer to spend money in things other than improving the quality of your street. That is totally reasonable.
My street doesn't get improved (it was a WPA project from the 1930s - the city won't rebrick it for some reason, and they can't pave over the bricks because the historical society won't let them), but that's besides the point. If I were to go out and rebrick the part of the street I own, it wouldn't do any good for the part of street in front of the vacant lot two houses down, or the part in front of the old woman down the street who gets $300/month on social security.
The city, on the streets that it actually does improve, improves streets all at once, to the same quality, with the same materials. And no, there's no way the people on my street would come together on this. The old woman can't pay, the drug dealer across the street wouldn't be interested, the drunk dude on the corner would just want to start a fight, etc.
Poorer areas don't have to be maintained. It would be nice if they were, but people might want to user their money for other things.
Thus increasing the class disparity in this country. Think about the consequences of that kind of thinking for a while. Look at countries where it prevails.
Places like India, where some people make good money and live in nice houses, while other people literally live in dumps, recycling garbage to buy enough rice to stay alive. Places like Nigeria, where the population lives in squalor, except for the people making money hand over fist in the oil trade.
A large class disparity makes for a dissatisfied, bitter populace. That breeds security problems. I don't know about you, but I like not living behind a barbed wire fence.
If you regard the company as violent for cutting your services, you'd have to regard your neighbors/friends/family/coworkers in the same way for not helping you pay the bill. Why are the gas company owners any more responsible for your wellbeing than your neighbor or your friend?
I never said I regarded the company as violent, or that the company was somehow responsible for my well-being. I was pointing out that I would suffer potentially fatal consequences if I failed to pay my bill. Not paying taxes is actually safer - the most they'll do is garnish my wages or put me in jail.
I don't think I'd like Somalia at all...
Somalia is what happens when you have an ineffectual government. People are people - regardless of religion, culture, whatever - we as a group are greedy bastards who look after ourselves and those we care about first. We don't organize well, and when we do, it's usually as a special interest group or a mob.
To keep a people calm and peaceful, they have to be satisfied with their situation (or at least satisfied enough that they won't risk losing what they have). First, you need security - you have to feel safe in your home and about on your business. The government provides that. Next you need a standard of living that isn't disgraceful. Most people here have that - including most poor people. That's provided either by the government or by the economic system it supports. Next you need the people to feel they have some control over their lives. We have democracy and the government prevents most monopolies from forcing themselves on the populace.
When you don't have these things, the people don't stay peaceful. Where do gangs form in this country? Places where the standard of living is the lowest and security is lax.
This is out of order, but it shouldn't hurt the context:
Agreed. I believe this is the primary function of government, although I'd call it an enterprise instead of a company.
I believe the primary function of government is to fill in the spaces where capit
Those who can't do, teach. Those who can't teach either, do tech support.
I'm a former Libertarian, and remain a libertarian (small l), and yes, I'm an elected Republican.
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They also care about cost, and transparency, and lots of other things. This is NOT regulation of indviduals, but only self-regulation...
And while I love NH, and it's the free-est of the 50 states, it's far from perfect, and it's not yet the closest thing you can get to a libertarian state, just the closest right now in the US.
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So really, I've spent about 7 years or so learning how to get stuff like this done.
Pay attention to Seth here, folks. I was with him at the State House in 2006 when we tried and failed, and I testified for his bill as an open source entrepreneur this time around when we won.
Others have tried and failed to get something like this through. At least in the US, this is a prime and major success. You guys should be taking notes and seeking to replicate his success in your local jurisdictions.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Agreed, the arrogance is thick in government bureaucracies. EVERYTHING is political, nothing is done on merit or because it is the most efficient. It is really tiring to watch this day-in and day-out when you come from the business world or a non-profit where you had to make choices based solely on efficiency or merit. Having worked in one of these government environments I can safely say that any lifer (employee of ten years or more) is sucking down tax payer money, floating jobs to their friends, and trading favors on a constant basis. This reality is also openly talked about as these people feel immune from accountability.
I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
Isn't this one of the standard arguments made in 'The Cathedral & the Bazaar?'? If a project dies, its source code is still with the people who got the software, and they are free to continue working on it and custom develop it to suit their requirements. Yeah, the code would be orphaned, but the government could either get in-house programmers who could read that source code as well as the documentation, and work on any required improvements or bug fixes. And not just that - let's say a new computer platform is introduced from a vendor who passes their audit, which doesn't support legacy software, like Windows: in such a case, the source code could be used to compile the existing OSS code to the new platform, get all the data imported, and be off to the races.
I'd also argue that one of the reasons projects die is that nobody is interested in them b'cos beyond a point, if they have no customers, there's no reason to continue w/ the project. But in this sort of a case, let's say software project P gets bought into and used by a whole bunch of NH offices. Chances are more likely than not that they'd contract the developers of the project for maintenance (the same way people have service level agreements w/ MS or RH), and if developers are paid, they'd continue to work on that project, even if it becomes a single customer solution and thereby ends up becoming a custom solution for a single customer. The reason one sees forks go dead is that nobody is interested in their product and the developers do have to make their ends meet somewhere. In this case, where they have users who are willing to pay a reasonable amount for a service contract, chances of the project dying would be less likely. The IT offices too might just hire them to maintain the stuff on a full time basis, while the users focus on actually working off the databases.
As the submitter of the story, I just want to make 3 points:
1. Seth Cohn is a prime sponsor of the bill, and a fairly hardcore slashdotter. J'raxis is, like myself, an emeritus Director of Research for the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance... and a fairly hardcore slashdotter.
Q: What happens when the geeks rule? A: New Hampshire, baby!
2. I learned about the Free State Project right here on slashdot, back in 2003. How cool is that?
3. This is for real. This is not just web slacktivism. This is people taking back control of the government. AND IT'S HAPPENING. If you have a vaguely libertarian bone in your body, you really do owe it to yourself to see what's going on in New Hampshire.
I'd strongly recommend coming to the NH Liberty Forum. People come every year, and after the experience, go back to their home states. Just long enough... to pack!
Part of the Second American Revolution!
About 8 years ago, my employer adopted a policy which favored open standards and open source software. Today the site license for Microsoft products like Office and Exchange continues to rule as one administrator's secretary adopts a new version of Office and proceeds to distribute data in the new default format which is incompatible with previous versions so everyone upgrades because its easier than learning that Open/Libre Office can handle .docx and .xlsx files or using a Save As to ensure backward compatibility. Acess remains a problem as the stand-alone "database" file continues as the default.
The increasing number of Mac and *nix users learn to deal with the new file format but the new version virus always spreads because no one will enforce the policy and damn few people understand that there are alternatives.
Jon was aware of the bill(s), but didn't have much to do with it, mostly due to time... but of course, his influence on me and so many others is one of the people at the root of this sort of thing.
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Mr. Cohn, a question for you sir.
I know New Hampshire takes the whole "Live Free or Die" motto very seriously and I think that's awesome. I have three questions for you, little nagging things that are sort of holding me back on advising friends who are considering leaving New Jersey (the polar opposite of NH) for anywhere else to go to NH.
1) What's your Internet infrastructure like down there? Any plans to get a municipal system going, or something akin to power/telephone where the lines are public and the ISP provides the service?
2) How's the whole "cops don't like getting recorded by videos" thing going? Has there been any recent acknowledgements of the citizen's right to record police actions in public?
3) What's the downside to NH? It's cold, sure, and there's loads of Bostonians moving in towards the South/Southeast area, but aside from that I don't know what it is. So in the sense of an interview question, what's New Hampshire's greatest weakness?
The more informed I am, the more willing I am to advise people to move there and to move there myself eventually.
Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)