John Scott's been working with the US Department of Defense to develop a set of guidelines for using free/open source software in the US military:
As a Marine friend says "Agility is the Capability" - open source software and methods is the enabler of this. The DoD CIO office (or ASD-NII) just has posted new open source software guidance for the whole Department of Defense! Only took about 18 months to get through, so worth it. Hopefully this puts the FUD to bed.DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE NEW GUIDANCE ON OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE (Thanks, John!)Definitively open source software can be used inside the US Dept. of Defense. This is great news and shows that DoD is heading in the right direction to change how information intensive technology acquisitions programs can move toward a more dynamic OODA loop like model.
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The .mil link in the memo 404s, the memo doesn't appear in the list of cio-nii memorandums on its website, and "Performing the Duties of the ... CIO" now isn't Wennergren; "(Acting) CIO" is listed as on the website as Cheryl J. Roby, with Wennergren as "Deputy CIO" now. Somebody worked fast.
In fact, the newest on the list of memorandums on the website is from May 2008, so maybe the list is just not being kept up. But probably somebody should make the bring the place linked in the memo into existence.
Hard to believe this will fly when they block access to your blog (along with every other one) and such nefarious sites as Flickr and Netflix.
I work as a contractor for the Navy, peripherally involved with NMCI (Navy Marine Corps Internet). I do assure you that is a four-letter word in most user's lexicon.
They preclude the use of ANY software without a draconian (and expensive) vetting process, prevent users from installing anything at all, and scan constantly. I'll believe in their use of anything open source when I see it on a machine, not before.
Deken
Deken,
I work as a combat correspondent in the USMC and I totally agree with you. One of our main missions is to deal with the public. It would be fantastic if we could post happenings or events on Twitter or even Facebook.
Alas, they block almost everything on our computers. They make it difficult for us to complete mission from slowing down the process of uploading photographs we take to having a fast enough computer to run photoshop or adobe in-design!
(For goodness sake, one of our computers is running Windows 98!)
Actually, I know of people who have been working open source stuff for DISA for years. One of many examples: http://www.oss-institute.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=142&Itemid=210 I wouldn't call the extent of the open source use pervasive, but it's a good start. Also, @knmi, boingboing isn't blocked from where I'm sitting. ;)