Change my mind: package management infrastructure run by government as a public service should be the ideal end outcome for everyone.
Why I think this: private or volunteer models are unsustainable in the long run owing to funding uncertainties or conflicts of interest between stakeholders. Utilities that support the bulk of our technical infrastructure should be secured by public interests. Governments can keep things free.
Common objections:
- "Governments are inefficient". Depends on the area. The government tends to be inefficient in handling areas with direct consumer benefit, but less so in dealing with consortiums or private entities. Since private entities are the primary mainstream users of packages, I don't think government will be too slow on this front.
- "Governments will be malicious". This I don't doubt, but the solution for that is building better trust mechanisms rather than keeping a practical solution at bay, and for software at least such trust mechanisms are tenable e.g. see the CNCF's Falcon project.
Why I think this: private or volunteer models are unsustainable in the long run owing to funding uncertainties or conflicts of interest between stakeholders. Utilities that support the bulk of our technical infrastructure should be secured by public interests. Governments can keep things free.
Common objections:
- "Governments are inefficient". Depends on the area. The government tends to be inefficient in handling areas with direct consumer benefit, but less so in dealing with consortiums or private entities. Since private entities are the primary mainstream users of packages, I don't think government will be too slow on this front.
- "Governments will be malicious". This I don't doubt, but the solution for that is building better trust mechanisms rather than keeping a practical solution at bay, and for software at least such trust mechanisms are tenable e.g. see the CNCF's Falcon project.