Linux Online - U.S. government seeks the open road

U.S. government seeks the open road


Publication:	InfoWorld	Date:	Mar 15 2004

2004 may be the year for open source software to catch on in a big way in government agencies. For years, federal, state, and local agencies have been using open source software - some in the open, some on the sly - but the extent of open source's proliferation in public agencies remains unknown, as few hard numbers are available.

Government agencies have implemented open source solutions that range from Linux-running, data-collection computers on Naval Oceanographic Office survey ships to a Web-based tool that allows the U.S. Agency for International Development(USAID) to quickly process the visas of foreign workers scheduled to train in the United States. USAID’s Web-based Visa Compliance System, which went live in January, was developed using the open source Python programming language and runs on the Linux operating system, the PostgreSQL database, and the Apache Web server, says Peter Gallagher, president of IT contractor DevIS.