Perhaps it is time for some people in the government to make changes. There should be a web site where anyone can download any finished software product developed by any federal agency. All agencies should be required to put that software on the web site. Of course, there needs to be an exemption rule. But it should be of the reverse type. That is, all finished software must be placed on the web site unless the agency requests an exemption. This way there would be no need for FOIA requests.
The nuts and bolts need to be worked out of course. For example, should all Class III VistA software be placed on the site? I can see arguments on both sides. In any case, that would be a management nightmare. Would every VA employee that develops a spreadsheet template be required to submit it to the web site? Perhaps the rule could only apply to software officially sanctioned by responsible government managers for the good of the agency. Some one would have to decide about these Class III stuff. There have been articles recently about the DoD clamping down on blogs as those sites are releasing sensitive information without appropriate clearance. If we had a site just for agency approved software, that would be a big improvement. ------------------------------------------------------- SF.Net email is sponsored by: Tame your development challenges with Apache's Geronimo App Server. Download it for free - -and be entered to win a 42" plasma tv or your very own Sony(tm)PSP. Click here to play: http://sourceforge.net/geronimo.php _______________________________________________ Hardhats-members mailing list Hardhats-members@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/hardhats-members
