"Linux should be used more in governments, right? With no Microsoft tax being required and many fewer viruses, the taxpayers would be saved some money and the government would run more efficiently. Do I dare mention the possibility that Linux people might be hired in greater numbers?
"Well, this is what a bunch of us in Maryland thought. Our goal--no one has accused us of thinking small--was to make Congress use Linux. Our reasoning was Congress, our second branch of government, can't very well take steps to encourage open source and free software in the Executive branch until Congress itself uses such software.
"Certainly, no law exists to stop any representative from installing Linux on any computer at her/his disposal. But in order to be effective, Linux has to be able to get to and receive material from the outside world. As is natural, Congress has a connecting layer of software that is run and maintained by the House Information Resources (HIR). HIR enables congressional offices to communicate safely with their constituents, with each other and with the rest of government. The client software used by the offices themselves runs mainly on Microsoft but also on Macintosh machines. It doesn't run on Linux..."
