Urge Obama to Consider Open Source for Government

From the Galecia blog archive, 2003–2024. Posts are kept as they were published, so some details and links are out of date.

I just signed on to a letter to President Obama (I love saying that!) urging him to consider expanding the use of Open Source Software in government.
Here's an excerpt from the letter:
Open-source software brings transparency to software development. There are no "black boxes" in open-source software and therefore no need to guess what is going on "behind the scenes." Ultimately, this means a better product for everyone, because there is visibility at every level of the application, from the user interface to the data implementation. Furthermore, open-source software provides for platform independence, which makes quick deployments that benefit our citizens much easier and realistic.
Right on. Here's my contribution:
Open Source Software promotes trust, collaboration, and empowers everyone involved in the process. It also ensures that the end result is excellent (not just commercially viable). I have been working with libraries to help them understand the similarity in the underlying principles of librarianship and Open Source....and I agree these same principles are shared by the Obama administration: transparency, empowerment, access. Yes we can!
Can you sign the letter to President (love it) Obama? Why...Yes, you can!