Open-Source Fight Flares At Pentagon, Microsoft Lobbies Hard Against Free Software

[Mrburns2007]

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.

"Banning open source would have immediate, broad, and strongly negative impacts on the ability of many sensitive and security-focused DOD groups to protect themselves against cyberattacks," said the report, by Mitre Corp.


whole story

 

[Maetryx]

You know, eventually a company can't grow anymore. McDonalds seems to be suffering that fate. Maybe Microsoft will be there too.

 

[kgraeme]

Yeah, this is going to go really well.

 

[Mrburns2007]

Glad there's a few smart people working within the government.

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: Maetryx
You know, eventually a company can't grow anymore. McDonalds seems to be suffering that fate. Maybe Microsoft will be there too.

well, that's why you see ms expanding into other markets like hardware, console, etc.

 

[Ameesh]

The US government routinely code reviews the sensitive code put out by Microsoft we have an excellent relationship with the NSA, Airforce, and parts of the NAVY. In fact they are our biggest customers, so if they are concerned about something we as a company do everything we can to fix the problem.

 

[Ameesh]

Originally posted by: gopunk

Originally posted by: Maetryx
You know, eventually a company can't grow anymore. McDonalds seems to be suffering that fate. Maybe Microsoft will be there too.

well, that's why you see ms expanding into other markets like hardware, console, etc.

cable tv

 

[kgraeme]

Originally posted by: Ameesh

Originally posted by: gopunk

Originally posted by: Maetryx
You know, eventually a company can't grow anymore. McDonalds seems to be suffering that fate. Maybe Microsoft will be there too.

well, that's why you see ms expanding into other markets like hardware, console, etc.

cable tv

Uh, yeah. And that's why they took back my DCT5000 and killed the developer program that I was in? I like the MSTV platform, but they don't seem to know what to do with it yet, or how to work with developers in it. It seems like they're too busy trying to wrangle deals with MSOs and not focusing on the content developers.

Edit: If you are in the MSTV group, I'd really like to talk.

 

[Nemesis77]

Originally posted by: Ameesh
The US government routinely code reviews the sensitive code put out by Microsoft

I hope so. I mean, MS exec just went on the record and said "Our code is so flawed that we cannot open it"

we have an excellent relationship with... parts of the NAVY.

I bet those "parts" don't include the people involved with the USS Yorktown smart ship project .

Oh, and if you have such a good relationship with the Navy, what was this then about?

 

[n0cmonkey]

Of course, some parts of the NAVY are partial to Open Source/Free software

 

[Kadarin]

NSA and Linux FYI

Ironic, isn't it, that the same company that claims it's a matter of national security that its source code is so flawed it must remain closed is also simultaneously lobbying against the use of open-sourced software. Can you say "credibility gap"?

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: Astaroth33
NSA and Linux FYI

Ironic, isn't it, that the same company that claims it's a matter of national security that its source code is so flawed it must remain closed is also simultaneously lobbying against the use of open-sourced software. Can you say "credibility gap"?

I forgot about NSA's SE linux, but I personally wouldnt trust it (paranoid freak). I remember seeing something a while back about the DoD using OpenBSD, but I cant remember where I saw it now and google isnt turning up anything. Other countries use plenty of open source/free alternatives and it seems to be working out for them.

 

[manly]

Just the same old MS FUD we're all used to by now. For the unaware, independent of market share, MS really has one of the absolute worst security track records of any major software vendor. For them to lobby that their development model produces more secure code than anyone else is a bad joke, just the same as their testimony that it's impossible to modularize Winblows.

n0cmonkey, since NSA SE Linux is a full source code release, why wouldn't you trust it if it's audited by the community at large?

The DOD isn't exactly a value-sensitive operation though, so I wouldn't be surprised if in the long run, they'd fall for these kinds of political tactics.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: manly
Just the same old MS FUD we're all used to by now. For the unaware, independent of market share, MS really has one of the absolute worst security track records of any major software vendor. For them to lobby that their development model produces more secure code than anyone else is a bad joke, just the same as their testimony that it's impossible to modularize Winblows.

n0cmonkey, since NSA SE Linux is a full source code release, why wouldn't you trust it if it's audited by the community at large?

The DOD isn't exactly a value-sensitive operation though, so I wouldn't be surprised if in the long run, they'd fall for these kinds of political tactics.

I dont know how well it is being auditted by the community at large and I have no love for the NSA. Echelon and all.