🆕 blog!
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blog! “NHS Goes To War Against Open Source”The NHS is preparing to close nearly all of its Open Source repositories.
Throughout my time working for the UK Government - in GDS, NHSX, i.AI, and others - I championed Open Source. I spoke to dozens of departments about it, wrote guidance still in use today, and briefed Ministers on why it was so…
Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/05/nhs-goes-to-war-against-open-source/
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#government #nhs #OpenSource #politics“There are thousands of NHS repositories on GitHub. The work undertaken to assess all of them and then close them will be massive. And for what?”
“Even if we ignore the impracticality of closing all the code - it is too late! All that code has already been slurped up. If Mythos really is the ultimate hacker, hiding the code now does nothing. It has likely already retained copies of the repositories.”
”And if it were both practical and effective to hide source code - that doesn't matter. These AI tools are just as effective against closed-source. They can analyse binaries and probe websites with ease.”
“There are tens of thousands of NHS website pages which refer to their GitHub repos - will they all need to be updated? What's the cost of that?” -
“There are thousands of NHS repositories on GitHub. The work undertaken to assess all of them and then close them will be massive. And for what?”
“Even if we ignore the impracticality of closing all the code - it is too late! All that code has already been slurped up. If Mythos really is the ultimate hacker, hiding the code now does nothing. It has likely already retained copies of the repositories.”
”And if it were both practical and effective to hide source code - that doesn't matter. These AI tools are just as effective against closed-source. They can analyse binaries and probe websites with ease.”
“There are tens of thousands of NHS website pages which refer to their GitHub repos - will they all need to be updated? What's the cost of that?”“I've no idea what led to NHS England making this retrograde decision - so I've send a Freedom of Information request to find out.
I am convinced that closing all their excellent open source work is the wrong move for the NHS. I hope they see sense and reverse course.”
“Until then, I've helped make sure that every single NHS repository has been backed up and, because the software licence permits it, can be re-published if the original is closed.”
@Edent -
@otfrom I do not know. Health is devolved but, on some matters, they do take the lead from their colleagues in England.
I suggest writing to both your MP and MSP
@Edent I'll see what I can do. I'll have some new MSPs next week
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blog! “NHS Goes To War Against Open Source”
The NHS is preparing to close nearly all of its Open Source repositories.
Throughout my time working for the UK Government - in GDS, NHSX, i.AI, and others - I championed Open Source. I spoke to dozens of departments about it, wrote guidance still in use today, and briefed Ministers on why it was so…
Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/05/nhs-goes-to-war-against-open-source/
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#government #nhs #OpenSource #politics@Edent this will be the Palantir influence. Disgraceful and sad.
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blog! “NHS Goes To War Against Open Source”
The NHS is preparing to close nearly all of its Open Source repositories.
Throughout my time working for the UK Government - in GDS, NHSX, i.AI, and others - I championed Open Source. I spoke to dozens of departments about it, wrote guidance still in use today, and briefed Ministers on why it was so…
Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/05/nhs-goes-to-war-against-open-source/
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#government #nhs #OpenSource #politics"NHS sides with Trump billionaires to increase dependency on ghouls like Peter Thiel, despite national security risks & associations with Jeffrey Epstein.
National Security Vulnerabilities deliberately promoted."
What is Palantir? The US analytics firm behind the £330m NHS data platform
The US data analytics company plays a central role in the NHS’s £330 million Federated Data Platform
The Independent (www.independent.co.uk)
Labour and Lib Dem MPs demand ‘shameful’ Palantir NHS contract be scrapped
Spy-tech company and founder Peter Thiel should ‘have their hands ripped off our NHS’, say MPs
the Guardian (www.theguardian.com)
Palantir defends its record as MP demands more scrutiny of data use
NHS guidance that all hospitals should be using Palantir software from this month has sparked a backlash.
(www.bbc.com)
https://www.ft.com/content/1ac7a046-329c-4036-b01e-f2291dde28ca
https://archive.ph/rFIqN
Alarm in health service over Palantir staff being given NHS email accounts
Exclusive: Sources believe AI tech company’s engineers have been granted access to directory of up to 1.5m staff
the Guardian (www.theguardian.com)
Cautionary Tale: Trump orders access denials
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2026/feb/18/international-criminal-court-icc-judges-trump-sanctions
The networker: Microsoft shutting down email accounts of ...
The commercial interests of US tech giants have fused with the country’s national interests. We’re about to find out what ‘digital sovereignty’ really means
The Observer (observer.co.uk)
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@Edent this will be the Palantir influence. Disgraceful and sad.
@NineStonesClose no. This is about source code and security. Not datasets.
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"NHS sides with Trump billionaires to increase dependency on ghouls like Peter Thiel, despite national security risks & associations with Jeffrey Epstein.
National Security Vulnerabilities deliberately promoted."
What is Palantir? The US analytics firm behind the £330m NHS data platform
The US data analytics company plays a central role in the NHS’s £330 million Federated Data Platform
The Independent (www.independent.co.uk)
Labour and Lib Dem MPs demand ‘shameful’ Palantir NHS contract be scrapped
Spy-tech company and founder Peter Thiel should ‘have their hands ripped off our NHS’, say MPs
the Guardian (www.theguardian.com)
Palantir defends its record as MP demands more scrutiny of data use
NHS guidance that all hospitals should be using Palantir software from this month has sparked a backlash.
(www.bbc.com)
https://www.ft.com/content/1ac7a046-329c-4036-b01e-f2291dde28ca
https://archive.ph/rFIqN
Alarm in health service over Palantir staff being given NHS email accounts
Exclusive: Sources believe AI tech company’s engineers have been granted access to directory of up to 1.5m staff
the Guardian (www.theguardian.com)
Cautionary Tale: Trump orders access denials
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2026/feb/18/international-criminal-court-icc-judges-trump-sanctions
The networker: Microsoft shutting down email accounts of ...
The commercial interests of US tech giants have fused with the country’s national interests. We’re about to find out what ‘digital sovereignty’ really means
The Observer (observer.co.uk)
@Npars01 I'm not a Republican.
This isn't about access to data. It is about source code security. -
@Npars01 I'm not a Republican.
This isn't about access to data. It is about source code security.Forgive my snarky remarks.
My hashtag isn't directed at your post but at the public officials fostering these policies of obsequious compliance.
The moneyed interests behind deliberate source code insecurity policies have their own agenda.
Security of data and data sovereignty are threats to those interests.
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@NineStonesClose no. This is about source code and security. Not datasets.
@Edent true, but I do wonder what influence they are having on other areas now their evil foot is in the door. Still very sad to see this, it’s a shame that open source is not even more valued in these times.
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@Edent true, but I do wonder what influence they are having on other areas now their evil foot is in the door. Still very sad to see this, it’s a shame that open source is not even more valued in these times.
@NineStonesClose as I say in the post, you should write to your MP about the matter. Let them know how you feel about it.
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Forgive my snarky remarks.
My hashtag isn't directed at your post but at the public officials fostering these policies of obsequious compliance.
The moneyed interests behind deliberate source code insecurity policies have their own agenda.
Security of data and data sovereignty are threats to those interests.
@Npars01 understood. But we don't have Republicans in the UK (other than the anti-monarchy lot).
What did your MP say when you wrote to them about it?
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As I say in the post, if you're in the UK *please* write to your MP about this.
Don't just pontificate online. Write a short email to your MP and tell them you disagree with NHS England's decision to shut down all their Open Source code.
@Edent email and SMS done...
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@Edent email and SMS done...
@DamonHD much obliged!
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blog! “NHS Goes To War Against Open Source”
The NHS is preparing to close nearly all of its Open Source repositories.
Throughout my time working for the UK Government - in GDS, NHSX, i.AI, and others - I championed Open Source. I spoke to dozens of departments about it, wrote guidance still in use today, and briefed Ministers on why it was so…
Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/05/nhs-goes-to-war-against-open-source/
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#government #nhs #OpenSource #politics@Edent this is huge
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@NineStonesClose no. This is about source code and security. Not datasets.
@Edent @NineStonesClose Not sure how you can say this. Surely any software security breach would be undertaken with the aim of exfiltrating NHS data about patients. Exactly the data Palantir and their ilk would like to have.
I would say it is almost certain that the people who have made this decision would have been cowed into it by 'advice' that open source software leaves the door open to the data sets.
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blog! “NHS Goes To War Against Open Source”
The NHS is preparing to close nearly all of its Open Source repositories.
Throughout my time working for the UK Government - in GDS, NHSX, i.AI, and others - I championed Open Source. I spoke to dozens of departments about it, wrote guidance still in use today, and briefed Ministers on why it was so…
Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/05/nhs-goes-to-war-against-open-source/
⸻
#government #nhs #OpenSource #politics@Edent why on earth would they do that??! Madness. I can only guess someone has a vested interest...
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blog! “NHS Goes To War Against Open Source”
The NHS is preparing to close nearly all of its Open Source repositories.
Throughout my time working for the UK Government - in GDS, NHSX, i.AI, and others - I championed Open Source. I spoke to dozens of departments about it, wrote guidance still in use today, and briefed Ministers on why it was so…
Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/05/nhs-goes-to-war-against-open-source/
⸻
#government #nhs #OpenSource #politics@Edent For not patching and auditing their systems they lost, they did not learn a thing or two
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As I say in the post, if you're in the UK *please* write to your MP about this.
Don't just pontificate online. Write a short email to your MP and tell them you disagree with NHS England's decision to shut down all their Open Source code.
I’m based in Scotland. Does this decision apply UK-wide, or England only?
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As I say in the post, if you're in the UK *please* write to your MP about this.
Don't just pontificate online. Write a short email to your MP and tell them you disagree with NHS England's decision to shut down all their Open Source code.
@Edent email sent, even offered to discuss this. now waiting for response...
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I’m based in Scotland. Does this decision apply UK-wide, or England only?
@iamdavidobrien as I understand it, this is NHS England. That said, you should write to your MSP to ensure NHS Scotland doesn't do the same.
