DOD Says Yes To More Open Source

Open source in the government and military isn't a new thing; governance is one of open source's biggest target markets, so to speak. It's still all the more heartening to hear the Department of Defense come out strongly in favor of open source, and to recommend using more of it whenever possible.

The recommendation comes in the form of a memorandum (PDF) issued back on October 16th by David M. Wennergren, deputy CIO for the DoD. Wennergren notes that the "positive aspects of OSS [open source software]" should be considered when performing research for its use in the DoD.

Among the positive traits: publicly-auditable code, the possibility unrestricted modification, minimal reliance on any one vendor or developer, no restriction on the nature of the use, no licensing costs -- in short, all of the things that open source lovers have been saying for years now.