"The proliferation of the Linux open source operating system through a growing number of U.S. defense systems poses a serious and urgent security threat, Dan O'Dowd, CEO of Green Hills Software Inc., said today in a speech to the Net-Centric Operations Industry Forum in McLean, Va.
"The Linux operating system is being developed by an open source process -- a cooperative effort by a loose association of software developers from all over the world. 'The very nature of the open source process should rule Linux out of defense applications,' O'Dowd said. 'The open source process violates every principle of security. It welcomes everyone to contribute to Linux. Now that foreign intelligence agencies and terrorists know that Linux is going to control our most advanced defense systems, they can use fake identities to contribute subversive software that will soon be incorporated into our most advanced defense systems...'"
