Open Source Wars at the Pentagon

Open-Source Fight Flares At Pentagon: Microsoft Lobbies Hard Against Free Software
By Jonathan Krim, Washington Post Staff Writer, Thursday, May 23, 2002; Page E01

"Microsoft Corp. is aggressively lobbying the Pentagon to squelch its growing use of freely distributed computer software and switch to proprietary systems such as those sold by the software giant, according to officials familiar with the campaign. In what one military source called a "barrage" of contacts with officials at the Defense Information Systems Agency and the office of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld over the past few months, the company said "open source" software threatens security and its intellectual property.

"But the effort may have backfired. A May 10 report prepared for the Defense Department concluded that open source often results in more secure, less expensive applications and that, if anything, its use should be expanded."

For deeper insight into Microsoft see: Microsoft and the Internet Wars: Freedom Fighters!