What has 2023 do to with anything? The four essential freedoms for software were written more than thirty years ago and today are more relevant than ever: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.en.html#four-freedoms
To answer your question: any government mandated software, or software used, or bought, or promoted by, or paid for by the government should be free software.
Something made by the military to be consumed by only them probably doesn't need to be open sourced. Same thing as if you write a program for yourself that only you use. Once something is intended to be consumed by the public, it should absolutely be open sourced. Voting machine software, tax filing software, etc.
I agree though, I just don't think it's an absolute rule. Voting machines and other stuff that the public uses probably should be.
Yes, if someone is after you specifically it won’t help, but you avoid automated stuff.
- All taxpayer funded sw should be open source
- what about defense?
- yes
- why?
- because it's taxpayer funded
Software that is used internally and not distributed need not be free software. That was not my point.
That said, I do work in defense now (writing software for a defense partner that finances the research of my lab) and the contract requires that all our production be published under an open source license. Only the data is secret, and we don't really get to see most of it.