+ Prepared by The MITRE Corporation for DISA (Defense Information Systems Agency), + this report analyses how DOD uses open source software. + The summary talks briefly about various terms (free, open source, etc.), + then talks about the survey itself, one question of which was + "... the hypothetical question ... + of what would happen if FOSS software were banned in the DoD." +
+ "The main conclusion of the analysis was that FOSS software plays + a more critical role in the DoD than has generally been recognized. + FOSS applications are most important in four broad areas: Infrastructure + Support, Software Development, Security, and Research. One unexpected + result was the degree to which Security depends on FOSS. Banning + FOSS would remove certain types of infrastructure components (e.g., + OpenBSD) that currently help + support network security. + It would also limit DoD access to, and overall expertise in, the use of + powerful FOSS analysis and detection applications that hostile groups could + use to help stage cyberattacks. Finally, it would remove the + demonstrated ability of FOSS applications to be updated rapidly in + response to new types of cyberattack. Taken together, these factors + imply that banning FOSS would have immediate, broad, and strongly + negative impacts on the ability of many sensitive and security-focused + DoD groups to defend against cyberattacks." +
+ So, let's hope the policy wonks read this report. +
+
December, 2002
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