It's only absurd if it's ran as a public-private cooperative. The government directly running something like this can be every bit as efficient as what any private entity could do.
It's not as if the gov doesn't already employ in several sectors skilled software developers. It only goes haywire when Reagan/Clinton style "Send it to the private businesses" policies get in the way.
When you start talking about a constrained resource like this, it only makes sense to move it to the only entity without profit as its primary motivation.
> It's not as if the gov doesn't already employ in several sectors skilled software developers.
Supply and demand -- gov't doesn't pay as well, so top SWEs do not work for gov't. Stronger reward signals attract stronger performers. If you can get paid 2x-10x more to do the same work, who will you go work for?
> When you start talking about a constrained resource like this, it only makes sense to move it to the only entity without profit as its primary motivation.
If the goal is to give competitors a starting point to mitigate the negative effects of a monopoly, then sure it'd be nice to have an open index that anyone can get. However I'd argue this is an ineffectual strategy because it's likely to be too little to be helpful, and just have low overall quality.
Profit is a reward signal that typically signals a customer's demand / need. When organizations like gov't lose that signal, they typically end up optimizing for some far less effective target (someone's whim, political clout) and missing what the underlying need is in reality.
Additionally, gov't lacks of a lot of software infrastructure and tend to use outdated tech / must adhere to procurement procedures that don't always yield the right set of tools.
So in addition to being unable to understand constituent needs well, and being unable to hire good people, they also have the nasty privilege of working with worse infra when they do get funding.
> The government directly running something like this can be every bit as efficient as what any private entity could do.
I hope I've illustrated that the answer is no. Also, anecdotally I've worked with gov't on behalf of a big tech company and it was very enlightening to see the structural issues keeping them from succeeding at tasks of even moderate complexity. The US Digital Corps can only do so much :(
I'm not anti-gov't though -- gov't _can_ make private entities more efficient though by busting monopolies and enabling maximum competition in the markets. Big tech is certainly due for a shakeup.
