The Government Computer News website has an interesting article posted, an article that is good news for Open Source.
OPERATIONAL RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, TEST, AND EVALUATION
Open Source Software Systems
The committee is concerned by the rising costs and decreasing security associated with software development for information technology (IT) systems. These rising costs are linked to the increasing complexity of software, which has also resulted in increasing numbers of system
vulnerabilities that might be exploited by malicious hackers and potential adversaries. While the Administration has put forth a plan to increase cyber-security within the larger enterprise of federal IT systems, a focus and assessment of fundamental software engineering practices is not apparent.
Open source software (OSS) is a set of practices on how to write software, based on the open availability and right to use software code. This process provides greater rigor in the software development process by making it available to a diverse community of programmers for review, testing, and improvement. The Linux operation system and Internet Protocol internet addressing system are examples of high quality products developed within the business sector using the OSS standard.
The committee encourages the Department to rely more broadly on OSS and establish it as a standard for intra-Department software development. The committee acknowledges the availability of proprietary software and encourages its development and acquisition as necessary and appropriate. The committee believes, however, the wide-spread implementation of an OSS standard will not only lead to more secure software, but will also foster broader competition by minimizing traditional constraints imposed by an overreliance on proprietary software systems.
This is nothing exacly new, I had posted an article before (can’t find it in my own archives though) about the DOD demanding the use of more Open Source software.
