Given the events happening in the world, I find that many people are trying to find a way to have agency and an effect the state of the world. I believe I have found a few options that anyone, anywhere in the world can use and will be generally seen as a benefit to their citizens and policy makers regardless of ideology, while reducing the power of authoritarian governments. Given that the “No Kings” protest is today, I thought it would be a good time to present one.
The first one I want to provide and discuss is pushing Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) alternatives to local government.
Your initial reaction may feel this idea is unexciting and insignificant. It’s kind of supposed to. My goal was to come up with ideas that could be implemented regardless of the local political environment, while still having an effect at reducing the power/finances/influence of authoritarian forces and improving /increasing the strength/resiliency of local leadership.
Momentum
Many people and businesses are moving away from US tech for various reasons (ex. politics, privacy concerns). I believe, one area that is mostly overlooked and can have a significant impact on improving the goals of the exodus, is local government purchasing.
There has been movement on this front with some European state governments moving from Windows to Linux.
I’ve looked through several of my local government’s planned budgets for 2026 and the amount that a city/town spends on IT software licenses varies from roughly 0.3-3.5% ($750k-5M; the larger the city the smaller the %, but the larger the amount).
I believe this is a great time to push the benefits of moving to Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) alternatives. I think arguments can be made, regardless of political ideology, that switching would be good for everyone involved (tax payer, government official, FOSS developer, city/town in general, etc.).
Benefits
The first benefit is the cost (free). While technically free, FOSS projects are typically maintained through donations and community contributions. If a city transitioned to FOSS alternatives, I would suggest that the city consider contributing a percentage of the savings from replaced proprietary software back to the FOSS developers, supporting the sustainability of these projects.
The second major benefit is that FOSS is “open,” meaning its code is publicly accessible and can be used indefinitely once adopted. This transparency allows long-term resilience, reducing the risk of sudden cost increases or vendor lock-in associated with proprietary software.
Given the savings, a city’s IT department could hire additional IT professionals, either temporarily to facilitate the transition or permanently, as deemed appropriate by the IT department (funded by the savings). The remainder of the saving could be directed toward bolstering underfunded programs, reducing taxes, or addressing other community priorities (whatever option the city officials are interested in / motivated toward).
I believe this approach could reduce unnecessary expenses, while also keeping more tax funds local, and enhancing each town/city’s technological resiliency.
How to Implement This (in order of Difficulty)
- Send an email to the local government (alt. call on phone)
- Show up in person to city council meetings, public forums, and community events
- Set a meeting with a local government official to discuss
- Build coalitions to amplify your message
- Leverage local media to amplify your voice
- Others?
List of Potential Software Used
I’m not sure there are any FOSS alternatives for these software types (if you know of any please let me know). Potential government specific software (rough):
| Software Type | Example | Cost($) |
|---|---|---|
| Cybersecurity & IT Management | CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks, SolarWinds | $50k-200k |
| Economic Development & Planning Software | Envisio, CommunityViz, UrbanSim | $25k-70k |
| Document & Records Management | Laserfiche, OnBase, GovQA | $40k-120k |
| Utility Billing Software | Harris Utility Billing, BS&A, Tyler Utility Billing | $25k-80k |
| Human Resources & Payroll Software | UKG, ADP Workforce Now, Paycom | $30k-100k |
| Citizen Request & 311 Software | SeeClickFix, CitySourced, GovPilot, GOGov | $15k-50k |
| Public Safety & Police Software | Spillman, CAD (Computer-Aided Dispatch), RMS (Records Management System), Motorola Solutions | $80k-300k |
| Financial Management & ERP Software | Tyler Munis, Oracle EBS, Workday, Springbrook | $50k-500k |
| GIS & Asset Management Software | Esri ArcGIS, Cartegraph, Cityworks | $30k-100k |
| Permit & Code Enforcement Software | Brightly SmartGov, CitizenServe, OpenGov, GovPilot, GOGov | $20k-150k |
| Total | $365k-1,670k |
However, local government specific software only seems to account for 50% or less of town/city listed budget cost (no good source on this; government budgets are very vague). I’m assuming (big assumption) that the majority of the remainder are from software that has a FOSS alternative (Office Suites (Microsoft Office), Communication & Collaboration (ex. Zoom), Project Management (ex. Trello), Creative (Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator), etc.).
Note: A budget source I was able to find for Seattle, WA, USA (Page 23/27) has “Windows Systems” as a specific line item ($13.4M for 2026, ~20% of “Technology Infrastructure Budget”). This appears to account for employee salaries/benefits, but even so, I would expect the salaries (24.5 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE)) would account for less than 50% of the total.
Perhaps the FOSS alternative is not up to 100% of the current proprietary use-cases, but it doesn’t need to be for the majority of users. If 1 out of 10 government users need a specific use-case, buy that user the proprietary software and have the others use the FOSS. Some of the saved money can go to having the FOSS developer (or a hired developer) add that use-case to the FOSS option.
Conclusion
Hopefully, I made my case for you pushing your local government to implement FOSS. If there is interest, I (or we, collaboratively) can make a non-location specific email for people to send to their local government (lower the bar to potentially effect change). I feel a document and/or infographic with specific FOSS alternatives and even potentially migration strategies would be more effective when trying to persuade local officials.
Please feel free to let me know if I should add anything, made any mistakes, or if you just want to talk about the idea.
Notes
- If you are curious about your town/city, internet search your town/city’s name and budget (should be first result). Finding the actual numbers for the different expenses is more work (every town/city budget I have looked at is set up differently). Usually the items of interest are listed in the “Information Technology” group / section or an expense line item like “Software Purchasing and Licensing”. There is usually an account number for the same type of expense (ex. “Software Purchasing”) that you can easily find and track throughout the document.
- Utility Billing, Financial, HR/Payroll, and Document & Records Management could be relatively easy places to create additional FOSS alternatives to further reduce government software purchasing (if one does not already exist). I feel like Permit and Code management software, while specific codes and permits are location specific, could be a potential place too with an overarching software that allows uploading and parsing of local codes.
- I wanted this to be further along before I presented it. I wanted specific alternatives for different software with a nice infographic that would be easy to share (ex. Purchase with Purpose infographic). Unfortunately, I haven’t gotten it there yet.
- Mods, if this doesn’t fit in your community feel free to remove it.