问HN：我应该成立一个软件基金会吗（目标：帮助紧急服务）？
我这周在出差，坐在飞机上随意浏览《纽约时报》，读到了一篇让我非常生气的文章： https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/14/us/fire-department-software-private-equity.html?unlocked_article_code=1.8k8.yzeR.NwSK3PTQeXQj&smid=nytcore-android-share
简而言之：私募股权正在收购所有这些软件供应商，并对脆弱的消防部门进行掠夺；某个年预算仅为13万美元的乡村消防部门，其软件费用在一年内上涨了三倍（从每年4000美元涨到12000美元）。
我想做点什么。我之前没有在紧急服务领域工作过，所以我知道自己很天真。我确实有应急和关键任务软件维护以及高可用性/耐用服务的经验，但当我说“关键任务”时，我指的是数百万美元的风险，而不是人命。
我想向HN寻求非常早期的方向性建议，任何类型的建议都可以。
- 是否有一些现有的开源项目或基金会，其使命是服务和保护紧急响应等关键服务？
- 逐步构建是否可行，即发布小的增值组件，消防部门是否愿意尝试开源选项？
- 是否存在像认证或监管障碍这样的东西，获取这些可能会很昂贵？
- 有没有人恰好在这个行业有经验，并愿意分享他们的看法？
我最初的想法是这样的：我个人无法接受仅仅被动地“让”私募股权侵入社会的这一方面，使紧急服务部门以及由此影响到的纳税人成为人质。他们本质上是在勒索和剥削社会对紧急服务的无弹性需求。所以我并不关心盈利，我只关心真正解决紧急部门的需求和保护人类生命（虽然我知道自己仍然很天真，我绝对不想过度承诺并将生命置于风险之中）。但撇开个人感受，我确实认为这里有一个有用的见解：如果可以由有志于帮助社区的工程师（或者只是想给私募股权一个教训）可靠且廉价地开发出有用的软件，那么最终私募股权无法与一个不在乎利润的对手竞争——我们实际上可以赢，因为如果他们看到没有利润可榨取，他们最终会放弃并退出这些行业。
“有些人并不追求逻辑上的东西，比如金钱。他们无法被收买、威胁、说服或谈判。有些人只是想看世界[不]燃烧[因为消防部门应该有廉价可靠的紧急软件]。”
“要小心耐心之人的愤怒。”——约翰·德莱顿
我很有耐心。我愿意编写代码，或者组织一个软件基金会，或者为其他人编写软件提供投资/资金支持。
感谢任何和所有的帮助或反馈（无论是积极的还是消极的）！
查看原文
I've been on a business trip this week, and sitting on the plane, I was randomly browsing NYT and read this article which really REALLY pissed me off: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/14/us/fire-department-software-private-equity.html?unlocked_article_code=1.8k8.yzeR.NwSK3PTQeXQj&smid=nytcore-android-share<p>TLDR: Private equity is buying up all these software vendors, and preying upon vulnerable fire departments; one rural department with a total budget of $130k/yr saw their software costs go up 3x in one year (from $4k/yr to $12k/yr).<p>I want to do something. I have not worked in the emergency services domain before, so I know that I am naive. I do have experience with oncall and mission-critical software maintenance and highly available/durable services, but when I say mission critical I mean millions-of-dollars at risk, not human lives.<p>I want to solicit HN for very early directional advice, of any and all kinds.<p>- Are there some existing open source projects or foundations with a mission like this, to serve and protect critical services like emergency response?<p>- Is it feasible to build incrementally, i.e. ship small components of incremental value, and would fire departments be open to trying an open source option?<p>- Are there things like certifications or regulatory hurdles, that might be expensive to get?<p>- Does anyone randomly happen to have experience in this industry, and would be willing to write up their perspective?<p>My early initial thesis is something like this: I personally cannot stomach the idea of simply passively "letting" private equity invade this aspect of society, to hold emergency services departments and by extension taxpayers hostage. They are essentially extorting and exploiting society's inelastic demand for emergency fucking services. So I don't care about making profit, I only care about actually solving the needs of the emergency departments and of protecting human life (knowing that I am naive still, I definitely do not want to overpromise and put lives at risk). But my personal feelings aside, I do think there is a useful insight here: if useful software can be made reliably and cheaply, by engineers motivated to help their communities (or just to poke private equity in the eye), then ultimately private equity cannot compete against an adversary that doesn't care about profit -- we actually CAN WIN, because eventually they will give up and exit these industries if they see that there is no profit to squeeze.<p>"Some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world [NOT] burn [because the fire departments should have cheap reliable emergency software]."<p>"Beware the fury of a patient man." -- John Dryden<p>I am patient. I am willing to write code. Or organize a software foundation. Or be an investor/funder for someone else to write the software.<p>Appreciate any and all help or feedback (positive or negative)!