Should the government really consider writing its own software?
Interesting article here talking about the implications of the DoD writing its own software. Doubtful it would be for cost or lack of solutions. But would this proposed notion really speed along the process for various software packages to be tested and cleared for secure government use?
I’ve heard from friends in various agencies and departments of the federal government that they just got up to Internet Explorer 6 (exaggerated, I hope - 7 is passable at least), and Windows Vista is just beginning to get rolled out (who knows why - I use Vista daily and really don’t notice any major difference in usage from my years spent on WinXP, other than glossy transparency transitions and effects).
Commercial Off The Shelf Software isn’t the problem, IMO. If the government is really just checking for security holes, backdoors, and vulnerabilities, why does it take so long? Is it just another constantly repeating example of the slow-moving government inefficiency that everyone has come to expect?
Not exactly the intent of the original article that the first article I linked is responding to, but it’s just something that’s weighed on my mind the more I hear about how the government deals with its software solutions. Interestingly enough, the original article is dealing with the notion of agencies and departments rewriting and customizing various open source software packages that have been put together by the DISA.
In this case, in regards to the multiple times the issue of more conventional open-source software’s usage in the government, would this address the issue of needing someone to go to and yell at specifically when things go awry? What would be the procedure if the software was being produced/customized by the government itself? The possibilities are interesting, at best, with execution sure to be complicated and mired in bureaucracy and liabilities.