[celticninja]

Perhaps but I imagine people would not willingly produce something for free if it was the private sector. The fact it is government and taxes pay for it, therefore you and me pay for it, there should be no problem in getting it done for free(essentially).

Would it be better to pay a company $500, of which $150 goes to the dev and $350 to company coffers?

[thaumasiotes]

When Microsoft let volunteers supply photos for new default Windows backgrounds, there was incredible outrage among professional photographers. People who are not professional photographers can usually see that better images at lower cost is a good thing and not a bad one.