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Open Source: Mandating Open Source in the Government
Commercial companies with Open Source products have approached the white house in an attempt to convince the Obama administration that the government should favor Open Source over proprietary commercial alternatives. The letter from nineteen executives included: Open Solutions Alliance President Anthony Gold, Collaborative Software Initiative CEO Stuart Cohen, Alfresco CEO John Powell, Hyperic CEO Javier Soltero and Jaspersoft CEO Brian Gentile.
In the letter, the executives write:
“We urge you to make it mandatory to consider the source of an application solution (open or closed) as part of the government’s technology acquisition process, just as considering accessibility by the handicapped is required today (as defined by section 508).
Mr. President, we believe the open-source industry is changing the world of software development in many of the ways you have promised to change American politics.
The values of open source mirror those you promoted in your campaign: hope, change, and openness. We, the undersigned, sincerely hope that you will make the use of
open-source software a key component of every new technology initiative the United States government enters into during your presidency.”
While Open Source has many benefits and merits, it doesn’t seem appropriate to politicize technology decisions. Software should be selected based on usability, effectiveness in
solving a set of requirements, and total cost.
