I think that the Wiki approach to drafting laws is not to practical, like other people have said.
But I have often thought that using and Open Source development model for drafting laws would be more suitable.
Laws contracts and software seem to have a lot in common; they are designed to meet a particular functional purpose; they are algorithmic in nature; they must often function in somewhat unpredictable and changing operating environments; their designers need to consider all eventualities; they must be robust enough to withstand attempts to subvert their original function by third parties with large resources and malicious intent.
Basically writing laws is a software development problem, your country is the hardware.
A more open source/community development approach to writing laws would include accepting contributions, keeping discussions open and on-line. Fixing bugs/loopholes as they are reported. Working out ways to test a law's effectiveness against it's stated aims.
Laws could be that appear successful could be borrowed by anyone who needs them. E.g. a law that was developed and tested in Europe could be incorporate cost free into South American Statute book cost free with minor modifications.
Or a robust law could be developed forked by different interested parties to give it a Democrat or Republican spin.
Voters would ask serious questions if a party started deploying laws that weren't developed by some kind of robust open community process.
How about setting up on your own? How About China?
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· Score: 2, Interesting
Yes I know this about companies and great working environments, but isn't one of the great joys of I.T. the daily challenges that you have to face? Geeks want to learn new geeky things, for many of us it is why we do the job we have chosen. If an employer can't provide the challenges you need to get your daily fix then all a trays of blue M&Ms in the world won't fix that.
I was getting those challenges for many years for a good company back in the UK, they also treated us pretty well. But problems/projects started getting a bit samey. So I took a career break off to teach English in China for a year, and ended up starting an IT company up there.
Now it is fair to say that the perks I give myself are much less impressive than I got in the past. But I can't complain that things are boring. I see every possible technology and industrial sector coming in through the door, from customers all over the world. I have to be lead consultant, I have to recruit and train people, I can offer pretty good local salaries and pick the cream of local graduates.
I also find that people here are pretty fun to work with, once you get over the language problems.
Would I go back to the old life? The workload is high but so are the benefits in terms of lifestyle, sense of adventure, the feeling of being an individual, so the trade off remains in favor of staying here.
I am not exactly recommending that everyone move to China to start their own company, but I am saying that in choosing an employer you should look at the bigger picture. Murals on the walls may make things more pretty but I you don't get a sense of accomplishment and purpose from what you are doing, then you are still just working for the man?
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I think that the Wiki approach to drafting laws is not to practical, like other people have said.
But I have often thought that using and Open Source development model for drafting laws would be more suitable.
Laws contracts and software seem to have a lot in common; they are designed to meet a particular functional purpose; they are algorithmic in nature; they must often function in somewhat unpredictable and changing operating environments; their designers need to consider all eventualities; they must be robust enough to withstand attempts to subvert their original function by third parties with large resources and malicious intent.
Basically writing laws is a software development problem, your country is the hardware.
A more open source/community development approach to writing laws would include accepting contributions, keeping discussions open and on-line. Fixing bugs/loopholes as they are reported. Working out ways to test a law's effectiveness against it's stated aims.
Laws could be that appear successful could be borrowed by anyone who needs them. E.g. a law that was developed and tested in Europe could be incorporate cost free into South American Statute book cost free with minor modifications.
Or a robust law could be developed forked by different interested parties to give it a Democrat or Republican spin.
Voters would ask serious questions if a party started deploying laws that weren't developed by some kind of robust open community process.
Yes I know this about companies and great working environments, but isn't one of the great joys of I.T. the daily challenges that you have to face? Geeks want to learn new geeky things, for many of us it is why we do the job we have chosen. If an employer can't provide the challenges you need to get your daily fix then all a trays of blue M&Ms in the world won't fix that.
I was getting those challenges for many years for a good company back in the UK, they also treated us pretty well. But problems/projects started getting a bit samey. So I took a career break off to teach English in China for a year, and ended up starting an IT company up there.
Now it is fair to say that the perks I give myself are much less impressive than I got in the past. But I can't complain that things are boring. I see every possible technology and industrial sector coming in through the door, from customers all over the world. I have to be lead consultant, I have to recruit and train people, I can offer pretty good local salaries and pick the cream of local graduates.
I also find that people here are pretty fun to work with, once you get over the language problems.
Would I go back to the old life? The workload is high but so are the benefits in terms of lifestyle, sense of adventure, the feeling of being an individual, so the trade off remains in favor of staying here.
I am not exactly recommending that everyone move to China to start their own company, but I am saying that in choosing an employer you should look at the bigger picture. Murals on the walls may make things more pretty but I you don't get a sense of accomplishment and purpose from what you are doing, then you are still just working for the man?