For those interested in my writing on open source, municipal issues and technology, I want to be blunt: I consider this to be one of the most important posts I’ll write this year.
When David Eaves says that, it has kind of the same impact on me as a donut-laden semi overturning and spilling its contents has on Homer Simpson.
And with good reason. Having proposed that cities band together to create open-source software for their own needs – reducing costs and meeting their requirements in a way that slightly-modified off-the-shelf software can’t hope to – he’s discovered another group that’s been doing just that.
“For the past 5 years, over 35 universities in the United States, Canada, Australia and South Africa have been successfully co-developing software.
“For cities everywhere interested in controlling spending or reducing costs, this should be an earth shattering revelation – a wake up call.”
To any city councillor thinking this is esoteric or beneath their notice, let me ask this: would you rather cut your next cheque to some software behemoth… or announce you’re reversing some of those unpopular cuts to libraries, community policing or your fire department?
