Government policy toward open source software book. The book addresses several issues related to open source software, including the role for government subsidies for research and development, government procurement policy, and patent policy. But the cabinet office minister francis maude believes a significant proportion of that outlay could be cut by switching to software which can produce opensource files in the open. Policy on adoption of open source software for government of india there is a need to formulate a policy for the government organizations to adopt open source software. Arguably more important, some governments have expressly tilted the playing field toward open source software, subsidizing its production and use. Deciding what you need technology to do, avoiding lockin, sharing software and choosing open source. Why software policies should read the same, whether open source or proprietary. With open source software, users and others can read the code and change it to suit their needs. The pentagon is set to make a big push toward open source. This book addresses a host of issues raised by the rapid growth of open source software, including government subsidies for research and development, government procurement policy, and patent and policy. This book examines the impact of government policy on open source software.
Can open source software software that is usually available without charge and that individuals are free to modify survive against the fierce. This chapter provides a brief overview of policy issues as sociated with open. Open source software institute is a membershipbased, nonprofit 501 c6 organization established in 2001 that promotes the development and implementation of open source software solutions within us. Experts disagree about the best government policy toward open source software.
More often than not, the open source policy is written by the information systems department and enforced blindly in letter, but not in spirit. The full text of this book, plus reader comments, is available on the publishers website. Government policy toward open source software hahn, robert w. C aeibrookings joint center for regulatory studieshigh growth rates for open source in germanyopen source software. Historically the answer would have been a blind eye and deaf ear. The dod must overcome bureaucratic hurdles and embrace open source software as a critical element of its efforts to maintain military technical superiority in the 21st century. The us government and opensource software linux journal. This book addresses a host of issues raised by the rapid growth of open source software, including government subsidies for research and. Can open source softwaresoftware that is usually available without charge and that individuals are free to modifysurvive against the fierce competition of p.
Government policy toward open source software on jstor. Us government now has an official open source software policy. This is the seventh update to the csis open source policy survey. Efforts to push the government toward open source are not new. Hahn editor aeib rookings j oint c enter for r egulatory studies government policy toward open source software robert w. Ministry is supporting the czech open source software alliance to provide consultation on oss projects and assist with representation in the eus idabc with. Government is committed to improving the way federal agencies buy. Government policy toward open source software american. Software policies should read the same, whether open. Open source software and the department of defense. This volume, commissioned by the aeibrookings joint center for regulatory studies, is one in a series that. When purchasing new software, free and opensource software and proprietary software are to be considered on an equal footing, with. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves. Open source software has long been used by government agencies, and prospects for increased use have been greeted enthusiastically by knowledgeable government employees who understand open sources.
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. The survey tracks governmental policies on the use of open source software as reported in the press or other media. Government policies on open source introduction open source software is a relatively recent phenomenon that has been steadily gaining in popularity. Pushing the government toward open source sd times. This chapter provides a brief overview of policy issues associated with open source software and offers an economic framework for thinking about these issues. This book addresses a host of issues raised by the rapid growth of open source software, including government subsidies for research and development, government procurement policy, and patent and. Sharing source code between different parts of the government makes a lot of sense. The phenomenon of governments formulating legislation and policies on open source software is a recent trend that seems to be gathering some momentum in.
Government policy toward open source software by robert. Government policy toward open source software robert w. Open source refers to access to the source code, written in a programming language, that constitutes a working software program. How to write an open source policy that works in practice. C aeibrookings joint center for regulatory studies. Those interested in recent government policy in the u. Heres a fun experiment if, like me, youre a huge nerd. Everyone is making it up as they go along while others guidelines can help an it manager create corporate opensource policies, theres no. Government policy toward open source software ebook, 2002. The importance of open source security download whitepaper.
Open source refers to access to the source code, written in a programming language, that constitutes a working software. Government policy toward open source software academics. Achieving efficiency, transparency, and innovation through reusable and open source software. In fact, its a policy that should have been passed a long time ago, but its not quite what most of us mean. Us government now has an official open source software policy misuses of technology. Uk government plans switch from microsoft office to open.
Best practices for creating an open source policy need to create an open source policy but unsure of how to get started. Main points open source software lets users change the code to suit their own needs. A nonprofit group has made it its mission to show government the benefits of opensource software at all levels continue reading. Government policy toward open source software book description. Government policy toward open source software brookings.
Opensource governance also known as open politics is a political philosophy which advocates the application of the philosophies of the opensource and opencontent movements to democratic. The briefing begins with a definition of free open source software, i. The mood in governments around the world has swung behind open source and open standards, but the shift is. Download citation government policy toward open source software can open source software software that is usually available without charge and that individuals are free to modify survive. California moves another step toward opensource government. Government policy toward open source software book, 2002. Icelandic government policy regarding free and opensource software 1. The paperback of the government policy toward open source software by robert w. The code is often written collaboratively, and it can be downloaded, used and. Youre not alone, so we compiled this handy guide chock full of best. As with the previous efforts, we included only explicit statements of policy and did not count decisions by governments to use or purchase open source software. It preferred pushing government agencies to refactor code into reusable modules, with a focus on what would be the most reusable. Instead of choosing software based on its meritsreliability, security, ease of use, and so onthese governments favor open source as a matter of policy. Government policy toward open source software 2020ok.
Hahn t his chapter provides a brief overview of policy issues associated with open source software and offers an economic. Government policy toward open source software by robert w. Government open source policies center for strategic and. Specifically, the order outlines requirements for implementing open source code produced by andor for the agency in accordance with omb memorandum m1621, federal source code policy. How open source differs to open standards open source is a way of developing and distributing software. His research interests include free open source software, intellectual property, and digital technology policy.
1180 1636 779 706 1232 1133 1597 1347 746 577 1644 1161 37 1052 343 1589 1025 1245 86 1388 1228 1092 158 376 1578 402 745 778 358 1200 629 1241 794 636 106 678 591 102 262 172 1459 1035