US Department of Defense embraces Open Source

It is official now! As of the 16th of October 2009, the United States Department of Defense recognizes Open Source software at Commodity, Off the Shelf (COTS) software, eligible for purchase, read implementation, under the purchasing rules of the Department. Check out this web site dated 28 Oct 09:

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/us_department_of_defense_embraces_open_source.php

Quoting:

At the US Department of Defense, open source and proprietary software are now on equal footing. According to Defense Department guidance issued yesterday (PDF), open-source software (OSS) should be treated just like any other software product. The document also specifies some of the advantages of OSS for the Department of Defense (DoD). These include the ability to quickly alter the code as situations and missions change, the stability of the software because of the broad peer-review, as well as the absence of per-seat licensing costs. The document also stresses that OSS is "particularly suitable for rapid prototyping and experimentation, where the ability to 'test drive' the software with minimal costs and administrative delays can be important.

From one more source at: http://ostatic.com/blog/u-s-defense-department-cozies-up-to-open-source

From the Defense Department's guidance document:

"To effectively achieve its missions, the Department of Defense must develop and update its software-based capabilities faster than ever, to anticipate new threats and respond to continuously changing requirements. The use of Open Source Software (OSS) can provide advantages in this regard."

You can find the entire guidance document here. In it, there are many indications that the Defense Department likes the idea of "peer review" of code from a reliability and security standpoint. The advantage of "many eyeballs" that open source has from this perspective is often cited.

I am sure the Indian Government and Defense services follow suit earliest!!