Full Version: Government and Open Source
In order to minimize the amount of money spent by state and local governement--and of course federal--
Should we make our government switch to open source software to help maintain lower budget costs?
Should we make our government switch to open source software to help maintain lower budget costs?
Should we make our government switch to open source software to help maintain lower budget costs?
That is an idea, but I don't think it would really solve the root cause of the problem. All too often people try and solve a problem by throwing technology at it when in a lot of cases it is a business process that is flawed.
What I'd rather see is the following:
1. Currently departments rush to spend their entire budget (even if it is on frivolous items) because if they don't then they risk having it cut the next time around. This is completely illogical and should stop immediately. Departments should be rewarded for coming in under budget and operating efficiently, not penalized.
2. All departments need to get out of the dark ages and move into the information age. Open source software definitely could play a role here. But when you have huge government departments providing services to people and they still use paper records and have email systems that take a day to deliver a message you have bigger problems than deciding between windows and linux.
3. We need to trim the fat off all departments, consolidate all unecessary positions/departments and have someone seriously analyze the processes used by each department to gain efficiency.
4. The government needs accountability. If you are a government worker (much like a union worker) it is next to impossible to get fired. I have seen people still collecting a city paycheck that basically sleep at their desk and read the news paper and they have been doing this for 10 years. Employees and especially Managers and people in positions of power need to be held accountable for performance of their department in exactly the same way a business would hold its employees responsible.
All of that might sound a little idealistic, but if we were serious about reform and about saving money that is what we'd do. The best part is that it would result in smaller government without cutting into services too much.
That is an idea, but I don't think it would really solve the root cause of the problem. All too often people try and solve a problem by throwing technology at it when in a lot of cases it is a business process that is flawed.
What I'd rather see is the following:
1. Currently departments rush to spend their entire budget (even if it is on frivolous items) because if they don't then they risk having it cut the next time around. This is completely illogical and should stop immediately. Departments should be rewarded for coming in under budget and operating efficiently, not penalized.
2. All departments need to get out of the dark ages and move into the information age. Open source software definitely could play a role here. But when you have huge government departments providing services to people and they still use paper records and have email systems that take a day to deliver a message you have bigger problems than deciding between windows and linux.
3. We need to trim the fat off all departments, consolidate all unecessary positions/departments and have someone seriously analyze the processes used by each department to gain efficiency.
4. The government needs accountability. If you are a government worker (much like a union worker) it is next to impossible to get fired. I have seen people still collecting a city paycheck that basically sleep at their desk and read the news paper and they have been doing this for 10 years. Employees and especially Managers and people in positions of power need to be held accountable for performance of their department in exactly the same way a business would hold its employees responsible.
All of that might sound a little idealistic, but if we were serious about reform and about saving money that is what we'd do. The best part is that it would result in smaller government without cutting into services too much.
Money yeah sure whatever ..how about just the idea the US gov. should not be at mercy of proprietary software! Especially when it comes to very security sensitive stuffs.
Oh the stories I have been told from what my husband encounters at work. Yet money is not much of a concern
Oh the stories I have been told from what my husband encounters at work. Yet money is not much of a concern
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