Follow Slashdot blog updates by subscribing to our blog RSS feed

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
Open Source Government United States

US Government Launches Code.gov To Showcase Its Open Source Software (venturebeat.com) 57

An anonymous reader shares a VentureBeat report: The White House has announced the launch of Code.gov, a website that shows off U.S. government open-source projects and offers relevant resources for government agencies. By launching this site the White House is hoping to improve public access to the government's software and encourage the reuse of software across government agencies. The launch comes four months after the White House introduced the Federal Source Code policy, which specifically mandates that government agencies "make custom-developed code available for Government-wide reuse and make their code inventories discoverable" at Code.gov, with certain exceptions. The new site already has almost 50 code repositories from more than 10 agencies, U.S. chief information officer Tony Scott wrote in a blog post.
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

US Government Launches Code.gov To Showcase Its Open Source Software

Comments Filter:
  • by WolfgangVL ( 3494585 ) on Friday November 04, 2016 @01:25PM (#53214209)

    Is a neat step in the right direction? A giant leap in the wrong direction? A skillful act of misdirection while we circle-jerk our big election?

    Whats wrong with Sourceforge George? Whats wrong with the GitHub, Bub? Ready for a hack jack?

    Spinup another web-server, upload all the code, NSA and Kremlin notice, now its just a node.

    It sends attacks across the sea, and at you and me,

    Now stock-up on that food and water, prepare for world war III.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by bigbang137 ( 2953369 )
      > What's wrong with GitHub
      The actual code is quite often on GitHub. Code.gov is just a listing of what's on offer.
  • Hey this is cool and all but if Trump becomes President we won't need it. After all, his 10yr old son is tremendous at "cyber!" He can do it all.
  • Set up website for this, seriously? They could have just use github. I wonder what this cost taxpayers.....
  • by bigbang137 ( 2953369 ) on Friday November 04, 2016 @01:50PM (#53214333)
    This one caught my eye - https://github.com/bro/bro [github.com] - presented to you by the DoE
    > Bro is a powerful network analysis framework that is much different from the typical IDS you may know.
  • The problem with government software is that it is usually designed to do things only the government handles:
    Collect taxes
    Plan road projects
    Route mail
    etc.

    • by rtb61 ( 674572 )

      They could also work on an open programming language that adheres to language principles in math and English, an open translation package, core applications like spreadsheets, word processor, data base, presentation software, CAD, browser et al (to ensure compatibility with data provide by government to it's citizens) basically anything tax payer dollars have paid for should be made accessible for taxpayers to do what ever they will with it. Even defence code, honestly if you defence system can fail as a re

    • by PJ6 ( 1151747 )

      The problem with government software is that it is usually designed to do things only the government handles: Collect taxes Plan road projects Route mail etc.

      This really isn't a problem if you look at it from a state level. If they start sharing systems, even partially, that could save us a lot of tax money.

  • by NotARealUser ( 4083383 ) on Friday November 04, 2016 @02:22PM (#53214527)

    I think that this could be beneficial. In fact, in some crucial areas, where there is a public interest in accountability, the government should almost certainly require a contractor to open source the produced software. Of particular interest in the current news, I think that the recently reported issues with voter machines could be remedied with open source and independently auditable software.

    Whether or not there is anything interesting, wrong, or nefarious with the software, it would give people a peace of mind knowing that when they use such a machine, the underlying code could be viewed by anyone who knows what they are doing. It would also help to expose errors quickly to ensure that everything is as fair as possible. If the government was to release such code early enough in advance, it could be reviewed and hashed out far in advance of elections.

    I am sure there are dozens of other such applications where we could prevent even the possibility of some corruption (or accusations of corruption when a mistake is made) by simply open sourcing some government software products.

  • Seriously, there in an unlicensed child labor project managed by the Department of Labor. WTF?
    • Would kids who write code that then becomes part of larger projects be covered under child labor laws?
  • Oh boy, a OSS repository for government stuff! Yay! Wait a second, the voting stuff isn't in here.... Oh right, that's all closed platforms that the government barely audits.... Nevermind.

Your own mileage may vary.

Working...