Public Code

This is episode nine … … of the Open Source Utopia Podcast. If you live in a democratic society, part of the social contract is that … … taxes should benefit everyone, from infrastructure and education … … to helping those most in need. It should not hurt democracy … … or distort fair competition. Today, however, most of the software … … that is financed by tax money, is kept under lock and key, using restrictive, closed-source licenses. Even though our taxes pay for it, this proprietary, closed-source software … … makes it hard for governments … … and public institutions to collaborate, share innovation, and save money … … on software projects. Even worse, this restriction also creates a basis … … for unnecessary monopolies. And — most places around the world — your tax money is sent out … … of your country's economy altogether. Not to mention, our security and privacy is always … … at risk from code that is hidden from sight. In the last few episodes, I have talked about the importance of trust … … and the positive impact … … that open source practices can have … … on civil society and democracy. A democratic government should di everything … … to strengthen its own foundations and economy. Luckily, there is hope! “Public money? Public code!” is a campaign … … by the Free Software Foundation Europe … … to make it legally required to make software … … paid by the public sector open source. There's a link to signing the petition … … in the episode description. (Visit publiccode.eu) In the next episode, you'll hear more … … about open source as a “Pillar of Society”.