I always assumed it would be a cold day in hell when Vancouver city council came up with a good idea. They are usually too busy trying to make a bad road system even worse or harassing small business owners like Marc Emery. I was, therefore, quite surprised to hear that council will be debating a motion on open standards and open source software on a day that is forecast to be sunny and 19 degrees.

The motion would see the city developing and procuring free and open source software (FOSS), making more information accessible to the public, and publishing the information using open standards.

FOSS is a method of developing computer software, whereby an application’s source code is made freely available and software is developed collaboratively by programmers from around the world. Popular applications developed using this method include the Firefox web browser and the Linux operating system.

It seems as though governments on both sides of the border have taken an interest in free software in recent days. While neither government has taken the initiative to start replacing proprietary systems with free software solutions, the fact that governments are at least looking at the idea is an encouraging sign. The Canadian government put out a call for information on free software last month and the Americans have included money for a free software study in the stimulus package that was recently passed by congress.

For those who don't know what I'm talking about, free, or open source, software makes its source code (the language used to program the software) available for anyone to view and modify. Rather than just being free of charge, anyone has the freedom to modify and redistribute copies of the software. Think free speech rather than free beer.

The benefits of free software for the public service and education are quite apparent. Not only can the taxpayers save money by not paying license fees, they can also get the benefits of having a free market for development and support. Under the proprietary software model, users are often forced to buy support packages through the software vendor. Since free software's source code is available to the public, companies can compete to provide support for the application. Likewise, since anyone can modify and redistribute copies of the program, the application can be tailored to the specific needs of the institution and institutions can open the bidding for software development to multiple companies.