I'm the Chief Strategist for Red Hat's US Public Sector group, where I work with systems integrators and government agencies to encourage the use of open source software in government. I'm a founder of Open Source for America, one of Federal Computer Week's Fed 100 for 2010, and I've been voted one of the FedScoop 50 for industry leadership. I'm a member of the Military Open Source working group, the SIIA Software Division Board, the Board of Directors for the Public Sector Innovation Group, the Open Technology Fund Advisory Council, and New America's California Civic Innovation Project Advisory Council. I perk up when people talk about cross-domain security, edge innovation, and interagency collaboration through the open source model. I'm also co-host of the Dave and Gunnar Show. Prior to joining Red Hat, I worked as a developer, systems administrator, and IT director for a series of internet businesses. I've also been a business and IT consultant to not-for-profit organizations in New York City. During that time, I spearheaded the reform of safety regulations for New York State's electrical utilities following the tragic death of Jodie Lane.When I'm not spreading the Good News about open source, I'm wishing I had a dogenjoying time with my dog and my wife.
Authored Comments
Josh Tauberer at http://govtrack.us has done just that. Here's H.R. 3200, "America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009". Note the "Compare to this version" pulldown on the left.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-3200
govtrack.us is a tremendous resource that periodically scrapes THOMAS and makes it... well, useful.
You're exactly right that there's a class of software that requires the kind of rigor you describe. But it's a subset of all the software being developed.
I agree that there is always room for better developers, more scrutiny on security and reliability measures, and so on. This has to be balanced, though. Not all software needs DO 178B certification.