Whats the difference between open source software and. In that time, as kane mclean writes in his article, military open source community growing, its use in the department of defense dod has grown significantly, widely adopted and implemented in a variety of systems. Licensing policies, principles, and resources project open data. Dod esi white paper considerations for open source software use i. Open source software compliance within the government dtic. Open source software is software for which thehumanreadable source code is available for use, study, reuse, modification, enhancement, and redistribution bythe users ofthat software. Open source software and commercial software licenses that are.
Software acquisition adaptive acquisition framework. Use of directory information on secondary school students for military recruiting purposes. There are undoubtedly other ways, such as microsoft could provide source licenses only to the government for software the government buys, etc. The types of software applications used within the dod include commercial offtheshelf cots, government offtheshelf, and open source software applications. In otherwords, oss is software for whichthe source code is open. In the case of open source software and software developed in whole or in part at government expense, the ip strategy should include, to the maximum extent practicable, negotiation for and periodic delivery of executable and source code and all associated scripts, tools, databases, libraries, other software executables, and anything else. Open source software development linkedin slideshare. Free software confused with noprice other synonyms. Therefore, oss provides a netcentric licensing model that enables rapid provisioning of both known and unanticipated users. Us government now has an official open source software policy. These policies focus around ten 10 key areas and their associated tasks which mandate that software engineering practitioners and program managers pm must. Many enterprises also use open source software but most of them do not disclose this information for various political and security reasons. Absolutely, as long as you dont violate the terms of the license. Open source software oss usage is growing across the department of defense dod, not surprisingly so is the community of open source developers and integrators.
December 10, 2010 by from military information technology, volume 10, write as we fight. One way to ensure that safety is through the use of open source software. The us government will now require some federal tech. Its purpose is to maintain a single consolidated list of products that have completed interoperability io and cybersecurity certification. For dod information assurance purposes, an ais application is the product or deliverable of an acquisition program, such as those described in dod directive 5000. Despite the benefits of open source software, dod software is. Free and open source software entails a new kind of competition, separated from that of traditional business in that the product generally is not owned by any single company. Open source software is in fact s o ubiquitous that the running gears of internet such as mail transports and web servers mostly run on open source. Dec 10, 2010 despite the benefits of open source software, dod software is bound up in proprietary systems. Development takes place within the form of projects, and those who participate are. Whats the difference between open source software and free. According to the free software movements leader, richard stallman, the main difference is that by choosing one term over the other i.
Frequently answered questions open source initiative. Open source licenses impose certain obligations on users who exercise these rights. The united states department of defense open source software faq is an educational resource for government employees and government contractors to understand the policies and legal issues relating to the use of open source software oss in the department of defense dod. Government is committed to improving the way federal agencies buy, build, and deliver information technology it and software solutions to better support cost efficiency, mission effectiveness, and the consumer. In particular, the guidance explains that open source software meets the legal definition of commercial computer software 48 cfr 2. Perhaps the existence of two such terms with and without l may have diluted and thus diminished the ability of either to break out as a broadly used term. Open source licenses do not restrict who can use the software or the fields of endeavor in which the software can be used. The term free software is older, and is reflected in the name of the free software foundation fsf, an organization founded in 1985 to protect and promote free software.
Acquisition and use of criminal history record information for military recruiting purposes. In doing so, it will gain the common mode benefits of open source platforms and methods, as. Collaborate with dia and dosc to optimize use of dod osint resources. For the first time ever, the us government has a policy requiring the release of source code for federallyfunded websites, apps, and other software projects. Free and open source software gives the user the freedom to use, copy, distribute, examine, change and improve the software. Operate an open source program to support nga authorized mission activities that is integrated with dod osint programs and systems. Blackman said government and the military are more interested in the free as in freedom aspects of open source software, as opposed to free as in beer, adding that foss is ideal for such applications because of. The guidance addresses the use of open source software and the release of governmentdeveloped software as open source. See enclosure 3 for the dosc purpose, membership, and responsibilities. The fear about shareware and its been codified in us government information assurance regulations such as department of defense instruction dodi 8500. Provide an annual report for the previous fiscal year on the state of the nga open source program to the usdi and the director, dia, not later than november 15 of each year.
Opensource solutions for programmatic and operational. Differences in distribution, linking, modification, private use of open source licenses like mit, gnu gpl, apache 2. Fulfilling the military service obligation mso ch 1. Quick note, there are unpopular licenses that do say that you cant put the code to commercial use. Despite the benefits of open source software, dod software.
Updates dod memo open source software oss in the department of defense dod 2003, which also stated that oss is fine as long as it meets usual software requirements omb m0416 software acquisition july 1, 2004 dept. Open source software oss has become increasingly popular for software. Vs viewmodify the source code of an application or software. The european commission has updated its strategy for internal use of open source software. This comes after mitre, a defense contractor, published a report stating that not only does the department of defense use opensource, but is recommend on using it more. Frequently asked questions regarding open source software oss and the department of defense dod this page is an educational resource for government employees and government contractors to understand the policies and legal issues relating to the use of open source software oss in the department of defense dod. The commission, which is already using open source for many of its key ict services and software solutions, will further increase the role of this type of software internally. Software choice group tells dod not to use open source. Achieving efficiency, transparency, and innovation through reusable and open source software the u.
Department of defense dod dacs webinar february 11, 2008 presenter. Oct 27, 2009 open source gets dods longawaited blessing. The report helped end a debate about whether foss should be banned from u. Department of defense is a 2003 report by the mitre corporation that documented widespread use of and reliance on free software within the united states department of defense. The us government will now require some federal tech projects. Despite the benefits of open source software, dod software is bound up in proprietary systems. Many people mistakenly use the term commercial software as if it was the opposite of freelibre open source software floss. Difference between different types of open sources licenses. Can i sell proprietary software based on open source. This interim policy will be replaced by issuance of a dod instruction within a year of signature of this. Establishes the dod open source council dosc as the primary.
Apr 07, 2017 differences in distribution, linking, modification, private use of open source licenses like mit, gnu gpl, apache 2. Earlier this year, we noted that the federal government was looking to further embrace open source software in its process of contracting out for or creating in house code. Open source software faq dod cio department of defense. Licensing policies, principles, and resources project. Dod systems, and helped redirect the discussion towards the current official u. Methodologies used in open source approach to developing. The department should instead seize this opportunity to make greater use of open source methods and more fully embrace the use of open source software. Considerations for open source software use dod esi. Sun, etc use free and open source software in their own products and solutions and also contribute with their own resources in the various projects.
These licenses include the mit license, revised bsd license and its 2clause variant, the apache 2. Open source software is software for which the humanreadablesource code is available for use, study, reuse, modification, enhancement, and redistribution bythe users ofthat software. Guidance urges department to treat opensource as it does other forms of commercial software. The department of defense dod and open source software. In practice, nearly all open source software is released under one of a very few licenses that are known to meet this definition. For open source software, sometimes that collaboration is private, and sometimes it is public. Air force software policy centers on air force instruction afi 63101 and afi 631201. Also, do not use the terms freeware or shareware as a synonym for open source software. Provide an annual report for the previous fiscal year on the state of the nga open source program to the usdi and the director, dia, not. The term open source was coined by christine peterson and adopted in 1998 by the founders of the open source initiative. Open source software is defined by the department of defense as software for which the humanreadable source code is available for use, study, re use, modification, enhancement, and redistribution by the users of that software. In addition, many of the worlds largest open source software projects and contributors, including debian, drupal association, freebsd foundation, linux foundation, opensuse foundation, mozilla foundation, wikimedia foundation, wordpress foundation have. Open source software and the department of defense center.
Open source software is defined by the department of defense as software for which the humanreadable source code is available for use, study, reuse, modification, enhancement, and redistribution by the users of that software. The commission shall continue to adopt formally, through the product management procedure, the use of oss technologies and products. He helped develop the department of defenses open source software policy and faq and has written other guidance materials to help people understand how to use and collaboratively develop open source software in government. In other words, oss is software for which the source code is open. The commission shall ensure a level playing field for open source software and demonstrate an active and fair consideration of using open source software taking. It has been three and a half years since software tech news addressed the topic of open source software oss. However one of the main factors into considering open source software is the rising cost of software licenses. User activity posted a comment on discussion open discussion on opensong. Open source software is released to the development community but closed source software is developed in isolation.
Department of defense dod issued an updated policy on the use of open source software oss. The information on this page does not constitute legal advice and any legal questions relating to specific. Establishes policy, assigns responsibilities, and provides procedures for. In industry and the technology community at large many consider open source to be somewhat of a social movement centered. The department of defense information network approved products list dodin apl is established in accordance with the uc requirements document and mandated by the dod instruction dodi 8100. In accordance with the authority in dod directive dodd 54. Oss refers to software that is ed and distributed under a license that provides everyone the right to use, modify and redistribute the source code of software. Dodin approved products list apl, which is mandated by dod instruction 8100. Intellectual property and data rights considerations. The closest to a neutral term would be foss free and open source software or floss freelibreopen source software, which have had limited success fulfilling that valueneutral role.
In licensing open source software as an alternative to commercial quality software, the government takes on the responsibility for testing and integrating the major software components. Department of defense is a 2003 report by the mitre corporation that documented widespread use of and reliance on free software termed foss within the united states department of defense dod. Dod policy of treating foss and proprietary software as equals. The closest to a neutral term would be foss free and open source software or floss freelibre open source software, which have had limited success fulfilling that valueneutral role. Nevertheless, there is significant overlap between open source software and free software. Aug 11, 2016 for the first time ever, the us government has a policy requiring the release of source code for federallyfunded websites, apps, and other software projects. In the case of open source software and software developed in whole or in part at government expense, the ip strategy should include, to the maximum extent practicable, negotiation for and periodic delivery of executable and source code and all associated scripts, tools, databases, libraries, other software executables, and anything else necessary to compile, test, debug, deploy, and successfully operate the software. Open source software is in fact s o ubiquitous that the running gears of internet such as mail transports and web servers mostly run on open source software. Memorandum for the heads of departments and agencies anne e. Foss is distinctive because it gives users the right to run, copy, distribute, study, change, and improve it as they see fit, without having to ask permission from or make fiscal payments to any external group or person.
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