Kelsey Hightower: If governments rely on FOSS, they should fund it

Acclaimed engineer Kelsey Hightower, who stopped coding for money in 2023, remains an influential figure in the world of software, and he’s proposing something that might stir up the open source community.

Funding open source is an ongoing hot topic. During a chat at Civo’s recent Navigate event, Hightower joked with us how companies were happy to spend big on cloud subscriptions but tended to skimp when it came to paying a comparatively token amount for open source.

Open source developers, however, require reimbersement, and Hightower has some interesting ideas on how that could be accomplished. “I think we have all got a little complacent,” he tells The Register.

It’s true that much of the open source that is used by governments, are often essential, otherwise they’d be paying an arm and a leg for some commercial cloud subscription. It’s important, not only to ensure getting some support, but to also ensure that the software is kept up to date and continues to receive support into the future.

Some governments do actually contribute already if I think of some examples from France, Germany, and the EU itself. FOSS software being used is not just the glossy front-ends that users see, it is often the essential plumbing holding the wide area networks together, or keeping the storage and databases going. In many cases, I’m pretty sure that CEOs are not even aware of how much open source software is used in their organisations.

See theregister.com/2024/09/19/kel…
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