[ Thanks to John for
this link. ]
“FAR, of course, requires agencies look at what
commercial software when procuring a new application, as commercial
software can, of course, offer a lower-cost alternative than
commissioning a contractor to write a program anew. Wheeler argues
that open source software, even when available for free, still
should be considered commercial software. As a result, “An agency
that fails to consider OSS options is in direct violation of the
FAR, because it would be failing to consider commercial items,” he
wrote.”