The U.S. Defense Department should think twice before embracing open-source software, a trade association is advising.
The Initiative for Software Choice, which counts Microsoft, Cisco Systems and Intel among its backers, said in comments filed Tuesday that the department should "avoid crafting needless and potentially detrimental IT policy to promote the use" of open-source software. "Open source" means every software developer can view the source code for software, modify it, and use it for free. The initiative, which launched in May and is chaired by a group called CompTIA, an organization that has close ties to Microsoft, is worried about a recent report that concluded the Defense Department relies on open-source software and recommended its further adoption.
Written by defense contractor MITRE, the report said that free and open-source software "plays a more critical role in the (Defense Department) than has been generally recognized" and endorsed it as a viable alternative to proprietary Microsoft products. This week, the Initiative for Software Choice counterattacked, telling the Defense Information Systems Agency that the Pentagon should not "openly promote the use" of open-source software, arguing that proprietary products are not inherently less secure. The group also assailed the General Public License (GPL), which generally permits programmers to incorporate code released under the GPL as long as they make their own source code available. "While the law on this matter remains untested, it makes sense for companies to be highly risk-averse in this area, striking a more defensive posture when confronted with software development that may implicate GPL code or similar coding environments," the initiative said. "Commercial and hybrid software developers generally do not want to risk losing their investment." Proprietary software companies such as Microsoft have labeled open-source software as a serious threat and have begun to oppose its use by governments. At the same time, however, nations such as France and Germany have begun to encourage open-source software to limit their dependence on proprietary vendors and to stimulate local software development.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Kiran Nadgir
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Kiran Nadgir wrote:
<nothing new>
Kiran, Whats the point of just copying and pasting from websites and filling up our mailboxes? You would be far better off providing a short paragraph and a URL for the article. Also, by not making a mention of your source, you are violating the copyright rights of cnet.com. Quoting their website, "Re-use of any of CNET's editorial content and graphics online for any purpose is strictly prohibited. The materials from CNET's sites are available for informational and noncommercial uses offline only, provided the content and/or graphics are not modified in any way, all copyright and other notices on any copy are retained, and permission is granted by CNET.". Please don't provide illegal(assumiing you have not obtained explicit permission from the source) documents on the mailing list and make us a part of the *crime*. Also, the disclaimer attached to the email states that "This message (including any attachments) contains confidential information intended for a specific individual and purpose". Does that not make your email totally useless for any mailing list with more than one member. It means that this email was meant only for the person who uses the address linuxers@mm.ilug-bom.org.in, and that all the rest of us getting this message should "delete this message". Also the disclaimer makes linuxers@mm.ilug-bom.org.in, or whoever the list admin is, a criminal because the disclaimer also states that "copying, or distribution of this message, or the taking of any action based on it, is strictly prohibited."
For those who want to read the article in its original form, its available at the following link
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-975578.html?tag=fd_top
-- Bhargav Bhatt, Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University. -- "If English was commutative, we could all talk like Yoda." - Anonymous.
On Fri, Nov 29, 2002 at 03:17:31AM -0500, Bhargav Bhatt wrote:
Also, the disclaimer attached to the email states that "This message (including any attachments) contains confidential information intended for a specific individual and purpose".
I think people using company accounts should seriously consider these disclaimers ... They can either use some other account for mailing lists and public forums, or get things cleared out with the "authorities" in the company.
"Because our company policy says so" is not a good enough excuse ... everyone should in fact make this a big issue and put an end to these stupid disclaimers.
Sameer.
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Bhargav Bhatt -
Kiran Nadgir -
Sameer D. Sahasrabuddhe