This is one of those common questions I get about open source - and one that was addressed in the open source tracks at Computers in Libraries. I always say that it’s no more risky than other software options - in fact I think it’s less risky - and apparently I’m not the only one:

Casey Coleman, chief information officer for the U.S. General Services Administration, said in a speech this week that the GSA heavily relies on open source to drive down costs, increase flexibility of IT dollars, and reduce risk.

…

Coleman cited some excellent reasons for deploying open-source software:

“By using open source, the agency won’t be locked in to using a proprietary software program, at least for the duration of the contract.

Not having sunk costs in a commercial software program also means the agency can move to a new program more quickly should its needs change. The general openness also means the agency could become a collaborator in the further development of the software itself.

‘You get much more transparency and interoperability, and that reduces your risk,’ she said.”

Awesome!! Read more here.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 7:00 pm by Nicole C. Engard and is filed under Government, Open Source. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.