California voters recently resoundingly rejected budget measures that would have eased, but not solved, a disastrous budget deficit. As a result, services across the board from welfare to schools face significant cuts as administrators try to close massive budget gaps. Declining state tax revenues aren't helping, either. The result is going to be a multi-year fiscal catastrophe. Never before has there been a stronger argument for "opening" government - specifically, converting to open source software. Any program, board, department or commission in any aspect of government that is spending ANY money on software licenses when an open source alternative exists is not only throwing money away, it's stealing from schoolchildren. Literally. Software licensing costs are the low hanging fruit of budget-conscious administrators looking for ways to cut costs in their budgets. Consider that a Microsoft Word license costs school districts $100 and that a school district recently saved over $100,000 by switching to open source software. Government administrators in California, and at every level and function of government everywhere, should immediately resolve to move quickly to an open source technology platform and consider how opening government processes and data might generate efficiencies that will save real dollars right away. This goes not only for government, but for business, non-profits and foundations, too. Trying to save money? Go open source.