Open source software has been given the green light for
the public sector in an influential report due to be launched today
(28 June) by the Parliamentary Office of Science and
Technology.
The Open Source Software Report is aimed at policy makers in
parliament and government. It sets out the official Whitehall view
that 0pen source is now a viable and credible alternative to
proprietary software for infrastructure and most desktop
users.
Open source software should be considered alongside proprietary
software in IT procurements and a combination of both open source
and proprietary approaches should stimulate creativity and
innovation, the report said.
The report sets a new benchmark and reference point on open source
for ministers and senior civil servants
It highlighted examples of successful open source implementations
in government, including the Ministry of Defence's Defence Academy,
where open source was chosen for its functionality, and Powys
Council, which had "dramatically reduced" the number of its
servers.
The report warned that the main downside of open source software at
the present was that its complex development structure could result
in weak project management, and applications could be difficult to
use.
The report also raised concerns that open source software could
suffer from a lack of support and contain unauthorised intellectual
property belonging to third parties. However, the report pointed
out that the open source software community was addressing all
these issues.
Open source test lab >>