Both forrester and gartner, the industrys leading research and advisory firms, claim that anywhere between 80%90% of all commercial software developers use open source components within their applications. If you agree with one or more of these statements, please like this idea and leave a comment to let us know which ones you support. Interview with david wheeler on open source in government. In this interview, we explore the current state of use of open source software by the us government. In addition, simm section 120 is updated to replace references to the department of finance with the ocio, as appropriate. Frequently asked questions regarding open source software oss and the department of defense dod this page is an educational resource for government employees and government contractors to understand the policies and legal issues relating to the use of open source software oss in the department of defense dod. The open source initiative osi maintains the open source definition osd, and is recognised globally as the authority on certifying whether a license is truly open source. The open politics theory, a narrow application of open source governance, combines aspects of the free software and open content movements, promoting decisionmaking methods claimed to be more open, less antagonistic, and more capable of determining what is in the public interest with respect to public policy issues. It is presented in recognition that open source software is underused across government and the wider public sector. Open source technologies, communities, and methodologies are playing an. Government is committed to improving the way federal agencies buy, build, and deliver information technology it and software solutions to better support cost efficiency, mission effectiveness, and the consumer. Nov 06, 2017 how open source differs to open standards open source is a way of developing and distributing software.
The us government and opensource software linux journal. Us government now has an official open source software policy. Recognizing the potential benefits of open source, a number of private sector companies have also shifted some of their software development projects to an open source model. Aug 16, 2016 furthermore, open source software can support the digital government strategys shared platform approach, which enables federal employees to work togetherboth within and across agencies to reduce costs, streamline development, apply uniform standards, and ensure consistency in creating and delivering information. Using opensource software, which is based on open standards that facilitate data transfer, makes it easier to achieve it homogeneity, and thus.
Four myths about open source in government contributed. Leveraging american ingenuity through reusable and open. In addition to streamlining software use in the federal government, the white house wants code. The mood in governments around the world has swung behind open source and open standards, but the shift is not being driven by cost cutting alone. Use free and open source software foss, which is software that does not charge users a purchase or licensing fee for modifying or redistributing the source code, in our projects and contribute back to the open source community.
Inside the governments open source software conundrum. Open source software and the federal government april 2, 2016 by admin the federal government is still lagging behind in technology from the common world but recently it has announced its love for open source software or what it considers to be open source software. Opensource software fits this practice well because it reduces a governments reliance on a single vendor. Apr 21, 2016 sharing source code between different parts of the government makes a lot of sense. The administration made a commitment, as part of its second open government national action plan, 17 to develop an open source software policy that, together with the digital services playbook, will support improved access to custom software code developed for the federal government.
As the government works to secure its tech amid a flood of new vulnerabilities, a new threat is emerging in the open source software world that will. Earlier this year, we noted that the federal government was looking to further embrace open source software in its process of contracting out for or creating in house code. How does it tie into the larger view of open source software in government. An introduction to open source software for government it. Reports on the adoption of open source software in government. Today, the federal government is already building some of our most important projects using open source, and more are launching all the time. Its not just the people, government themselves are considering to ditch expensive proprietary software for their open source alternative. Ben balter, githubs government evangelist, outlines in this fedscooptv interview the advantages of open source and the innovative ways government is using it. Aug 08, 2016 the open source working group will establish the pipeline process and publish it at s. Adoption of free and opensource software by public institutions. The proposal also has a portion that relates to open source software in the traditional sense of the term. Serve as the community leader in driving code reuse and open source development to decrease code spend while increasing code quality. Achieving efficiency, transparency, and innovation through reusable and open source software the u.
As discussed above, agencies must obtain sufficient rights to customdeveloped code to fulfill the open source release. This refresh empowers the dod to accelerate open source participation across government and improve open source. Open source technologies, communities, and methodologies are playing an increasingly important role in international governments and policymaking. Writing at linux journal, glyn moody reports that dozens of government it systems are switching to open source software. Many of our projects have open issues associated with them. Open source software oss policy gsa open technology.
Although open source software consumption in government is strong, the next phase is for agencies to contribute to the projects they care about most. The government of canada has been using open source software as part of its technology ecosystem for years and is increasingly relying on them for it successful service delivery. Where appropriate, government will procure open source solutions. Sep 27, 2017 in 2016, the government launched code.
Software is everywhere at lawrence livermore national laboratory. And in august, the us government issued a new federal software policy that aims to improve efficiency, transparency, and innovation across government by. Nov 17, 2016 and in august, the us government issued a new federal software policy that aims to improve efficiency, transparency, and innovation across government by promoting the use of open source. Henry brown posted an update in the group open source software in government 6 years, 5 months ago. Government software development and make the government more open, transparent, and accessible to the public. We get questions from other people in the federal government because theyve run into legal and practical uncertainties when seeking permission to work in the open from their agency or team. This was formulated after the firstever free software conference in india, freedom first. Some of the biggest linux news stories of 20 included millions saved by switching to open source by french police, spanish.
The history of democracy and autocracy offers interesting parallels to how we develop and release software. In practice, nearly all open source software is released under one of a very few licenses that are known to meet this definition. They began releasing software in the 1990s long before the federal source code policy required government institutions to make their code available to each other and to release at least 20 percent to the public. Opensource software advocate evan leibovitch said he hopes the request will lead to government policies that give a level playing field to vendors of opensource software services, who provide. When used in conjunction with compulsory open standards, open source presents significant opportunities for the design and delivery of interoperable solutions. Inside the governments open source software conundrum nextgov. Government budgeting and planning software opengov. But its also often misunderstood in parts of the public sector, seen as a timeconsuming and unsupported solution. Using free, opensource software in local governments. Guidance on releasing open source code can be found at s. Opengov is the leader in providing our nations state and local governments with modern cloudbased software to help power more effective and accountable government. The city is committed to using and contributing to open source software.
May 22, 2019 as the government works to secure its tech amid a flood of new vulnerabilities, a new threat is emerging in the open source software world that will make it even more important for agencies to. Keralas governments support for free software in 2001 is perhaps the earliest instance of a government supporting the use of free software. Switching to open source software seems the latest trend worldwide. Adheres to releasing open source code through a publicfacing software version control platform, including code developed by gsa personnel and contractors. Dec 30, 2016 at 18f, we believe that developing software in the open has many benefits, and we write about our open source work as much as we can. As part of its commitment to become a digital government, it has to also contribute back to external projects as well as release its own source code under open source. Jan 07, 2010 software management plan update simm section 120 is updated to include the definition of open source software page 2, and to allow for the use of open source software within existing it policy. In fact, its a policy that should have been passed a long time ago, but its not quite what most of us mean when we say open source software. Jul 12, 2018 companies of all sizes and across all industries are creating software products and relying on open source code to do it. Nov 04, 2016 in addition to streamlining software use in the federal government, the white house wants code. Learn more explore the opengov local government suites.
Whatever happens, even if the initial solution provider fails to complete an implementation or no longer supports its product, governments retain the right to use and modify the opensource software. The code is often written collaboratively, and it can be downloaded, used and changed by anyone. Uk government considering the switch to open source software. The government of kerala, india, announced its official support for free open source software in its state it policy of 2001. Governments using opengovs budgeting and planning solutions have seen a 50% reduction in the time spent creating the budget. Vision serve as the community leader in driving code reuse and open source development to decrease code spend while increasing code quality. Encourage software developers in the government of canada to use existing open source software as much as possible to reduce costs and development time. How open source fits into government it strategy where appropriate, government will procure open source solutions. These licenses include the mit license, revised bsd license and. Should all government it systems be using open source software. We are americas primary platform for aggregating open source software from the federal government. Numerous states, cities, and counties have launched open data sites. Adoption of free and opensource software by public.
Despite its large following, open source software suffers from persistent misconceptions about cost, security and general acceptance. Facts about publishing open source code in government gsa. Open source software open government, government of canada. Each agency shall release as oss at least 20 percent of its new customdeveloped code 29 each year for the term of the pilot program. Anyone, especially local, state, and foreign governments are welcome to borrow the code behind data. Open source software faq dod cio department of defense. As early as the late 1990s, david was demonstrating why open source software was integral to the us goverment it architecture, and his personal webpage is a frequently cited source on open standards, open source software, and computer security.
1146 491 536 439 134 1328 567 481 194 82 388 1295 499 991 685 385 994 155 1547 1533 1547 911 1506 1356 140 151 105 133 289 1072 482 519 1473 1214