[PublicPolicy] Open Sourcing Government Code

[Matthias Kirschner]

Hello Shimon,

* Shimon Shore [2020-06-03 09:25 +0200]:

[...]

> I am not talking about lock-in. That argument is more about using Open
> Source solutions instead of buying proprietary ones.
> 
> When people know that others may look at their code it changes how
> they write the code. They make it more readable (ex. Better variable
> and function names), they stick more to standards. They write with the
> goal that others will be able to read, understand and modify it. 
> 
> They think more about how to make sure it is secure even when someone
> can read the code instead of hoping that people will not be able to
> break the code because it would be very hard to randomly find the
> coding flaws. 
> 
> They design the software in such a way as to separate general
> functionality (that can be shared and used by others) from things that
> are very specific to the application that is being written that is
> less useful to others.

[...]

> Not only is it not decreasing but it is increasing as you get more
> experience coding in the open as is happening more and more at large
> companies like Microsoft, Google etc. Open Source is a powerful trend
> today in software development and the more experience one has with it
> the better.
> 
> Also, code that you have written is in the open and can be potentially
> reused by the programmer himself when he goes to a new company. 
> 
> Many young programmers, especially the top ones, have started
> programming already as a teenager and started out programming Open
> Source, either publishing their own stuff or contributing to projects.
> These programmers have formed an attachment to programming in the Open
> and do not want to go backwards.

Thank you for your clarifications. 

Best regards,
Matthias 

-- 
Matthias Kirschner - President - Free Software Foundation Europe
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