The IRS has terminated its commitment not to release its own tax-filing software. Does this matter?

When the article says "free", it means "gratis" — zero price. The gratis digital filing options offered by companies almost surely require the user to run a nonfree program. (Can anyone check the facts for me?). In addition, they require trusting the company with your personal data.

A gratis digital filing option from the IRS won't require trusting a company with personal data, but no other improvement is assured.

The IRS would be able to release it as free/libre software, but we can't expect that to happen by itself. More likely it will release that software in the unjust way most software is released. A nonfree program is equally unjust whether it comes from a company or a government agency.

We will need to urge, perhaps pressure, the IRS to respect taxpayers' computing freedom by releasing free/libre tax-filing software.