[Gllug] [petition] Publically funded free software

[Matthew East]

Saw this petition on the Ubuntu-uk list, which I think is quite
interesting/worthy. I recently noticed the Prime Minister's office
replying to one of these petitions in a positive fashion so it might be
worth a look.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Open-IT-projects/

The text of the petition is:

[quote]
Software written using public funds should have it's source code published
under a distribution licence that has been declared Free by the Free
Software Foundation, rather than remaining a closed secret.

This would allow for more of the public to benefit from the development of
the software since the code would be available for anyone to use and
improve. Furthermore, compatibility with other Free licences (such as the
GPL) would promote rapid development and reduced costs through the reuse
of existing code.

An open development model would also allow the public to be more informed
of the progress and quality of these projects, which so frequently seem to
end up severely over budget.
[/quote]

Matt
-- 
http://www.mdke.org
gnupg pub 1024D/0E6B06FF


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