Part two of a three-part series.
WASHINGTON -- Open-source enthusiasts sometimes predict that Linux and other free software could revolutionize not merely the business world, but also government.
U.S. government agencies, the thinking goes, could save taxpayers perhaps $1 billion a year in licensing fees by dumping proprietary products sold by Microsoft and Oracle in favor of more reliable, free software alternatives.
But a Wired News survey of 14 Cabinet-level agencies found that open-source software has made scant progress inside the federal government. While a handful of agencies use Linux regularly, most have adopted the operating system minimally -- if at all.
"Linux is not on our list of approved operating systems," said a senior State Department information technology official who spoke on condition of anonymity. "That generally dictates whether it's used or not."
The State Department has an IT budget of approximately $859 million, with nearly 40,000 computers and 100 Web servers worldwide.
In interviews, representatives of many of the 14 federal agencies typically gave one of two answers for the lack of adoption: Linux was not standardized for use by the feds, or it lacked a full-fledged enterprise system like some of its proprietary competitors.
The Department of the Interior shied away from adopting Linux, one top official said, because "it's not an enterprise system. Normally we go with things that are well-supported."
Other agencies that say they have avoided the use of Linux include the departments of Agriculture, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, Treasury and Veterans Affairs.
Still, there are signs that proprietary software's chokehold on the federal government's computer systems could be slipping -- just a bit.
IBM and Hewlett-Packard have recently announced sales of powerful Linux computers to federal agencies including the Air Force, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Defense Department.
Last week, liberal activist Ralph Nader wrote a letter to the White House's Office of Management and Budget asking the government to use its purchasing power to restrain the "the Microsoft monopoly."
"The federal government spends billions of dollars on software purchases from one company that is continually raising prices, making its products incompatible with previous versions in order to force upgrades, deliberately creating interoperability problems with would-be competitors, and is well known for engaging in many other anticompetitive practices," Nader said. "Would a business that was spending this much money be such a passive consumer?
On May 30, the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, funded in part by Microsoft, opened a new front in the battle over federal government purchasing. A press release said that "terrorists trying to hack or disrupt U.S. computer networks might find it easier if the federal government attempts to switch to open source."
A few agencies acknowledged limited adoption of Linux, but noted that open-source usage is still in its early stages.
"We have not prohibited it," said Department of Defense spokesman Lt. Col. Ken McClellan. But "the DOD at this stage of the game is just starting to use it."
A report commissioned by the Defense Department, according to a recent Washington Post article, said that limiting open-source software -- which Microsoft's lobbyists had suggested -- would have "strongly negative impacts." But since the Defense Department is prohibited from purchasing software that has not been approved by the National Security Agency, procedural roadblocks remain.
In the Department of Transportation, Linux is used "on a dedicated communications server at the Coast Guard," according to Bill Mosley, a public affairs specialist at the Transportation Department. Mosley stressed, however, that "the DOT is moving towards Windows 2000 and Window XP for most applications."
So is the Navy. It plans to use Windows 2000 in its next-generation aircraft carrier, expected to be finished in 2008.
The Department of Justice uses Linux in a limited capacity. A Justice Department official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said: "The department's information technology needs are currently met through various operating systems including Linux. However, Linux is used to support only a limited number of operational systems within the department today. Several IT program managers are testing Linux for possible future use."
The Department of Commerce admitted using Linux extensively -- but only on its Web servers. "Linux is gaining ground like wildfire," said Tom Pyke, chief information officer for the Commerce Department. "We're finding that Linux does a good job for servers that have primarily static pages."
The Department of Commerce has over 40,000 computers and 360 Web servers. It has an annual IT budget of $1 billion.
By far, the biggest factor driving Linux in the Commerce Department is an open-source licensing agreement that makes the source code freely available and allows agencies to use the software without any fees. "Our interest is primarily in performance and cost for server function," Pyke said. "The two of those together contributed to our decision to use Linux."
Other countries seem more enthusiastic than the United States.
The German government said two years ago it would rethink its use of Microsoft products and turn more to open-source offerings.
Red Hat, which sells a widely used version of Linux, counts the European Commission and agencies in Germany and France among its customers.
Open Source (a.k.a Free Software) is a generic term applied to programs for which the source code is available and freely redistributable. Such software is usually available at no cost. The most common license is the GNU General Public License. The GNU/Linux operating system is Free Software.
