Why isn’t software funded by taxpayers released as Free Software? 🤔💻
We need legislation 📜 requiring publicly financed software to be #FreeSoftware. If it’s public money 💰, it should be public code! 👨💻👩💻
Code paid by the people should be available to the people! 🙌 #PublicCode
@fsfe
As a programmer, just b/c the project is public, doesn't mean my code should be as well.
Certain exceptions where release of the code is in the public interest, like code used on voting machines, but when a coder's work can be applied to other uses, the author deserves compensation for their hard work.
@MugsysRapSheet @fsfe The author already got compensation when the government paid them. If you work for a company, do you get extra compensation for each new software copy sold by the company? Or when the company sells the source code? Or when the company opens the code? Of course not. You agreed to transfer copyright to the company and got paid for writing code. That's it.
@elgregor @fsfe
Since I *do* write software, I can best explain this:
Say I was contracted by a gov't agency to write a program to guide missiles using AI, and that code was released to the public, whereupon Elon Musk used it to make millions self-driving cars.
You may say, "Hey, sorry, those are the breaks."
But what if someone like T**** ordered the military to hire me to write such an app for... say... $10,000 SPECIFICALLY so he could then give it to Musk to make millions off it? 🤔
@MugsysRapSheet @fsfe Government paying to have software written specifically for a private company, without any benefit for the public would be a misuse of taxpayer money. But for you (as a programmer, not taxpayer or citizen) nothing changes - you get paid to write software. If you think the pay is too low or the goal is unethical, simply refuse.
@elgregor @fsfe
I've been in that position. "Refusal" isn't an option.
Fortunately, I've never had my work repurposed by a private corporation for profit, but if someone did, I'd probably sue for royalties.