Implement an Open Source Action Plan

Text of the Policy

 * An Open Source Action Plan will be implemented across federal government departments and will be promoted to other Canadian provincial and municipal governments.
 * The Action Plan will encourage the use of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), saving money where practical and economically viable.
 * Any third party contractors will not retain any rights or ownership over any source code from a government project.
 * All source code will be released under an open source license as well.
 * Additionally, to give back to the *nix community from which we draw on for an OS as well as other FOSS communities, we will hire and retain a number of full time programmers to work solely with the intention of giving back to the community.

Rationales

 * Proprietary programs tie the government hands and forces the government to rely on one vendor and their high annual licensing, technical support and related fees.
 * Keeping it Open Source could provide improve security and auditability, allows public access for programs paid for with their money, and support open source community (who contributes immensely to charities and affordable access to essential technology in the information age)

Snippet of Discussions

 * I dislike the 'to give back to *nix community', as it points us towards forcing a technological choice (we will replace OSes, likely more than software on top), including hiring people even if not necessarily needed. I like the original version better.

Possible Misinformations
Myth: Open source and community developed code is inferior.  Fact: This claims are often made by company who stands to profit significantly by charging hefty fees that is enough to pay a full time developer or open source community developer to develop an Open Source program that does not have high recurring licensing fees. A well maintained Open Source project pften provides good documentation and understanding that closed proprietary who relies on constant tech support contract would provide. For an example, see blogs here Oracle attacks open source as inferior, here Open Source vs Proprietary Software, and here Real Life Example of Experience with Oracle

Related News or Articles

 * The Case for Government Promotion of Open Source Software
 * Swiss government consider re-use of Swedish open source procurement program
 * Best Practices for Open Source in Government (Using GitHub)

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