outline-remy.txt

Should the Government endorse or promote Free/Open Source Software
Development?

Argument for Government:
    http://opensourceforamerica.org
    See Center for American Progress Report 2006
    http://opensource.com/government/13/1/hackathon-hosted-new-york-state-senate
    Obama Open Goverment Memo (Day one of first term)

Argument for Business:
    See Open Source Initiative's Business Case Studies:
    http://opensource.org/advocacy/case_for_business.php
        Support Sellers (otherwise known as "Give Away the Recipe, Open A
        Restaurant"):
            In this model, you (effectively) give away the software product,
            but sell distribution, branding, and after-sale service. This is
            what (for example) Red Hat does.
        Loss Leader:
            In this model, you give away open-source as a loss-leader and
            market positioner for closed software. This is what Netscape is
            doing (who would eventually became Mozilla)
        Widget Frosting: 
            In this model, a hardware company (for which software is a
            necessary adjunct but strictly a cost rather than profit center)
            goes open-source in order to get better drivers and interface tools
            cheaper. Silicon Graphics, for example, supports and ships Samba.
        Accessorizing:
            Selling accessories - books, compatible hardware, complete systems
            with open-source software pre-installed. It's easy to trivialize
            this (open-source T-shirts, coffee mugs, Linux penguin dolls) but
            at least the books and hardware underly some clear successes:
            O'Reilly Associates, and SSC are among them.

    Open Source Gold Mining:
        http://www.fastcompany.com/44917/he-struck-gold-net-really

Argument for Private Citizens:
    See "The Open Source Way": http://opensource.com/open-source-way
    Other Resources to follow


Legislative Analysis:
    https://github.com/decause/ritgradscitechpolsem-nys-foss-bills
    Follow Legislative History of S0173, the $200 Individual Tax Deduction for FOSS
    Development Bill in NYS
        Screen Scrape Copies of Bill
        Convert .pdf versions of Bill to .txt
        use 'diff' tools on command-line to compare versions, show changes in
        sponsorship and text over time.

    NYS Joint Commission on Public Ethics
        Query based on bill numbers
        download retainer agreements
        scour bi-monthly reports for evidence of lobbying activity

    NYS Board of Elections and FEC Campaign Finance Database
        Acquire historical campaign contribution history (8.0GB State, 15.1GB Federal)
        query contribution history for specific bill numbers associated with NYS bills
        query contribution history of keywords such as "Open Source" and "Free Software"
        Compile lists of donors and contributors who gave money for/against
        this bill, or other issues.

Alternatives to Tax Deduction Case-Studies:
    CodeForAmerica.org
    SeeClickFix.com
    Challenge.gov

Why Gov't Should be involved:
    Improves quality of all software, including proprietary
    supports under-invested and spill-over technology
    provides analogous support to small-biz type enterprises (individual
    developers don't have access to same tax relief vehicles as large companies
    i.e. R&D tax credit)
    Other nationstates, such as China and Korea, have even developed their own
    linux distributions:
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Flag_Linux
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Star_OS
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:State-sponsored_Linux_distributions
    From a security perspective, projects like SELinux were developed in
    public/private partnerships. SELinux is used for protecting classified
    information, and is 'military grade' technology that only improves as more
    people test it and audit the source code.
    Bridging the digital divide
        By offering affordable software, improves access to information,
        vocation training, supplements public educational resources.

Digital Government

Building a 21st Century Platform to Better Serve the American People


Open Source for Government

A collaborative resource for government employees looking to participate in the open source community