Federal Linux

Slashdot, Free Software, and the Department of Defense…

Tracy R Reed  | 

I read http://slashdot.org every day because it has a lot of interesting news about the computer business and computer culture.

Today there was an article about how the US Department of Defense (that’s the military) is sometimes afraid to use “Open Source” software which is what some people call Linux:

They say that some military types do not like the word “open” because it sounds insecure and dangerous. So I replied that maybe we should be using the phrase “Free Software” to describe what Linux is which was the original term for it until maybe 7 years ago when a guy named Eric Raymond made the phrase “Open Source” popular. Many people really liked my comment and gave it a very high score. Many people have replied to it. But the best reply so far is this one:

He talks about Free Software, freedom, the Cold War, communism, etc. Very interesting discussion and ideas.