"Many information technology vendor and product names have
become part of the average American's lexicon. Microsoft Corp.'s
Windows and Apple Computer Inc.'s Macintosh are more famous than
some rock bands. Even products that the average Joe would have no
use for, such as Oracle Corp. databases, have amazingly good name
recognition.
"On the other hand, with the possible exception of Linux, few
people outside the IT industry know much about open-source
software. But that hasn't kept these freely available programs from
playing an increasingly important role governmentwide, especially
as budgets tighten.
"From the Defense Department, where a recent study showed
widespread use of the software, to civilian agencies such as the
Census Bureau, which is considering moving some desktop users from
a commercial system to Linux, the use of open-source software is
growing fast. Of course, that trajectory is not always apparent,
because open-source projects typically fly under the radar of
procurement offices..."
