NewsForge: German government email contract could lead to agencies switching to Free Software

"Just as the U.S. Congress begins considering a bill that some advocates believe will outlaw Open Source operating systems , the German government has hired three companies to create Free Software email options for its IT security agency's email project.

The German Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik (Federal Agency for IT Security, also known as BSI) has contracted with the German Free Software companies Intevation and g10 Code and Swedish platform-independent software company Klarälvdalens Datakonsult for its Sphinx secure email project. Company officials predict the contract could lead to wider adoption of Free Software by the German government.

The three companies' Project Ägypten will focus on making Open Source email programs KMail and mutt compatible with Sphinx, which include standards S/MIME and X.509v3. The results of the project will be released under the GNU GPL."

Complete Story

Related Stories:

• IDG.net.nz: Letter urges govt to put faith in Linux(Sep 25, 2001)
• Washington Technology: Is Linux Going Mainstream? Maybe, But Government Still Lags (Sep 24, 2001)
• German Linuxtag 2001: Linux in German Government(Jul 09, 2001)
• WIRED: Argentina Embraces the Penguin(May 12, 2001)
• AsiaBizTech: Linux Players Call for Government Support(May 11, 2001)
• UPDATED: Linux to become official OS of choice in Norway?(Mar 30, 2001)
• CNET News.com: China invests in Linux revolution(Mar 20, 2001)