U.S. Votes For Open Source

The White House has placed its imprimatur behind open-source software, posting on its Web site a memo encouraging all federal agencies to give open source a fair shake in any procurements they make.

The memo, which was issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on July 1, takes the form of a formal software-acquisition "reminder" aimed at senior government procurement officials and CIOs. Its essential message is that the federal government is committed to the idea that open software belongs amid commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) and government off-the-shelf (GOTS) software as part of the purchasing process.

As with most bureaucratic communications, the document is heavily sprinkled with jargon and isn't terribly specific. Perhaps that's why it's the subject of wildly differing interpretations. Some advocates of open-source software are painting the document as a crucial endorsement for Linux. On the other hand, the OMB also is being much more cautious, taking the view that the memo simply reaffirms the inclusion of open source in federal procurement practices.

The memo itself starts off innocuously enough with a declaration that the OMB's software policies are technology- and vendor-neutral. It goes on to instruct government managers that, in going about their purchasing business, they should consider not only the initial price of whatever software they buy, but also life-cycle maintenance costs,and the costs associated with ensuring security and privacy of data.

For Linux advocates, it's the next paragraph that contains the kicker: "This reminder applies to acquisitions of all software, whether it is proprietary or open-source software," it reads.

To the VAR less steeped in government-speak, that might seem like a throwaway line. But parsed by government-savvy resellers, the mention of open source in the same sentence as "proprietary" is an indication that the former now holds a rough equivalence with the latter.

Indeed, Tom Adelstein, a Linux entrepreneur and author, thinks this is a big deal.

"This memo states that the procurement process has been altered to allow open-source software to be part of that process," he told me. "When someone writes an RFP, they have to include open-source software in their considerations."

More measured in her assessment of the new memo's import is one of the people who wrote it.

"It re-emphasizes existing policy," says Karen Evans, OMB's administrator for IT and a co-author of the memo. "Agencies have and continue to use open-source software in their IT infrastructure. "Open-source software is viewed by government officials as one of many suitable providers of technology solutions. The memo lays out the guidance for those agencies that are evaluating open-source software. It does not instruct agencies to always consider open-source software."

Triangulating on these two positions, it's clear to me that the memo does indeed mark a clear step forward for Linux and other open-source programs. True, government purchasers don't always have to select open source for their actual solution, but now they pretty much have to put it on an even footing with proprietary software, insofar as their overall deliberations are concerned.

And, as time goes by, if they continue to think about open source, they'll likely end up using it more often, too.

"When you're working with the government, things take time to happen," is how John Weathersby, chairman of the Open Source Software Institute, Oxford, Miss., puts it. "There's a lot of work being done with open source in the government. This is one more step along the way. It's great that they've acknowledged it."

I'm inclined to agree.

You've also got to consider the outsider/insider angle. Before Linux breached the federal wall, it could be viewed from afar as a potential salvation for all government software problems great and small. However, now that it has wedged its way into the procurement process, it's subject to the same rules as everything else.

"A good and bad thing about the government is that they have regulations," Weathersby says. "Once you get in that groove and start moving, it's not real fast, but it's steady. And open source is inside."

"Open source is not going to eradicate proprietary software," he adds. "But it is becoming an accepted solution in government."