"...The Bureau of the Public Debt saved more than
$330,000 in start-up costs when it chose Linux over other operating
systems for its Dynamic Web Publishing project, but that's not what
initially prompted officials to choose the open-source route. Their
reasons had more to do with compatibility.
The Dynamic Web Publishing project validates and publishes all
its data using Extensible Markup Language (XML). The bureau uses
the open-source Apache Web server software to process XML. "Since
Linux seems to be the development base for all Apache-related
activities, we felt like it would make sense to do our development
in Linux," said Steve Ryan, an Internet programmer analyst for the
Bureau of the Public Debt. "So we turned to it because it was
openly available with no cost and no licensing fees and also
because it's reliable and state-of-the-art."
As a franchising entity, Ryan's office develops systems that can
be used by other federal departments. The Commodity Futures Trading
Commission has already deployed the Dynamic Web Publishing
application, and the Bureau of the Public Debt will migrate to it
by this fall."
