Open Source For President

The article published recently (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7841486.stm) suggested that the new Obama Govt should adopt open source technology in its offices. Currently the government spends nearly a a trillion dollars on proprietary software. This is great news for the open source community although it has to be mentioned here that the proposal was from Sun Technologies and obviously there were talking about their own (open source ) Java Technology.

Personally Im neither for nor against open source since most of the softwares that I used are acquired free. However I would support a model where when you subscribe for a technology, you pay a commission on what you earn using that technology. This is of course, easier said than done.

Whether the new govt chooses proprietary or open source, one way or another companies will find a way to milk the government. In the long run, there is no doubt that open source will be the clear winner because many of the infrastructure and health care plans will run on slim budgets and open source technology is one way to save a penny or two. After all, the govt cannot get its hands on software that is acquired free.