Armed Polite Society

Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: RevDisk on May 22, 2017, 02:38:02 PM

Title: Finally, a "Your Tax Dollars At Work" that isn't negative
Post by: RevDisk on May 22, 2017, 02:38:02 PM

https://code.gov/#/explore-code

Apparently someone at the fed.gov beat up enough government brass to start coughing up their code bases that the taxpayers paid for. Some is pretty mundane stuff, others is highly useful. My favorite is the Mission Control framework from NASA. Basically takes sensor data and makes it look pretty. Some other useful stuff in the list, with it hopefully growing in future years.

Title: Re: Finally, a "Your Tax Dollars At Work" that isn't negative
Post by: Ben on May 22, 2017, 03:28:18 PM

Thanks for the link.

I'm actually surprised this wasn't already universally happening. I know that DoD for years has been putting some of their stuff on SourceForge. When I left the gov, that's where I was able to download the PD versions of various UAS software and add ons I was using at work (albeit sometimes limited in function for good reason). Between that and ruskie sites for remote sensing and GIS software, I was able to nearly duplicate my abilities on a personal mobile workstation at no cost.

Title: Re: Finally, a "Your Tax Dollars At Work" that isn't negative
Post by: Jocassee on May 22, 2017, 03:29:59 PM

Quote from: Ben on May 22, 2017, 03:28:18 PM

Thanks for the link.

I'm actually surprised this wasn't already universally happening. I know that DoD for years has been putting some of their stuff on SourceForge. When I left the gov, that's where I was able to download the PD versions of various UAS software and add ons I was using at work (albeit sometimes limited in function for good reason). Between that and ruskie sites for remote sensing and GIS software, I was able to nearly duplicate my abilities on a personal mobile workstation at no cost.

tell me more about the Ruskie GIS sites.

Title: Re: Finally, a "Your Tax Dollars At Work" that isn't negative
Post by: Ben on May 22, 2017, 03:46:20 PM

Quote from: Jocassee on May 22, 2017, 03:29:59 PM

tell me more about the Ruskie GIS sites.

Sorry, I shouldn't have said "Russian sites" but rather "Russian software". They did a lot of open source development that was picked up by a lot of euro university folks and expanded upon. Look at NextGIS, Quantum GIS (QGIS), and SAGA for starters.

Title: Re: Finally, a "Your Tax Dollars At Work" that isn't negative
Post by: RevDisk on May 23, 2017, 08:32:50 AM

They moved a whole bunch of stuff around. https://github.com/deptofdefense is looking pretty sparse at the second. Some went behind the CAC-wall. Others probably got forgotten. Keep copies of any of that code you collected that is public licensed.

Title: Re: Finally, a "Your Tax Dollars At Work" that isn't negative
Post by: Ben on May 23, 2017, 08:54:54 AM

Quote from: RevDisk on May 23, 2017, 08:32:50 AM

They moved a whole bunch of stuff around. https://github.com/deptofdefense is looking pretty sparse at the second. Some went behind the CAC-wall. Others probably got forgotten. Keep copies of any of that code you collected that is public licensed.

Yeah, I saw a few months ago that FalconView is no longer available. I can go to the site and read about it, but the download link is gone unless you're on a gov computer. As soon as I saw that I made three extra copies of the install file I already had and geographically distributed them.  :laugh:

Title: Re: Finally, a "Your Tax Dollars At Work" that isn't negative
Post by: RevDisk on May 23, 2017, 09:53:07 AM

Quote from: Ben on May 23, 2017, 08:54:54 AM

Yeah, I saw a few months ago that FalconView is no longer available. I can go to the site and read about it, but the download link is gone unless you're on a gov computer. As soon as I saw that I made three extra copies of the install file I already had and geographically distributed them.  :laugh:

Mind if I get a copy?