I feel like if the source code is released, things will get much worse before they get better. I would rather give the contractors time to fix their code and then release it later. Plus as a developer, an open source maintainer, and open source contributor the last thing I want to see is a half billion line program that doesn't work properly. They should probably just start over clean on GitHub and build it from the ground up correctly.
Which costs us all money. If they really did build the system, as requested by HHS then open source it. There's nothing to hide. If they defrauded the government, then it's all the more reason to see the code. It's very simple: taxpayers paid for this, what did our elected officials agree to, did the contractor build that or not? If they did, the it's not on them and everyone needs to stop beating them up, if they didn't and it's way off from what they agreed to do them they need to be help reponsible.
And before anyone thinks I have no sympathy or am some political hack, I worked in the Clinton White House and wrote a lot of code for them (24 hours in cyberspace anyone?) and a few years later I helped build the GSA schedule system. I know how hard it is tackle politics and design. And that's why I have little tolerance for waste.
I agree that they should open source it, but I don't think it's finished. There is a mantra with some companies that say "The product will be ready when it's done" and this site is not done, but it is launched. With the amount of code, there are probably hundreds of security issues that could be fixed, but also may inevitably break the live site once people see ways to hack around certain components.
I feel like open source is a decision you need to make at the beginning of the project or spend a lot of work at the end ripping out bad decisions. If you're saying you would hack on this and help fix it, I commend you.
