Tom Adelstein writes in the LINUX Journal:
eGovernment applications need to cost less, allow for rapid development, provide a user-friendly experience for constituents and offer enhanced security. Linux provides everything eGovernment initiatives need.
I agree with the first statement. I think the jury's still out on the second, but we do have a LAMP environment and are beginning to deploy more applications on Linux. We're certainly not going to throw away everything we have accomplished in other environments overnight, nor is the overwhelming core of technical support and development resources we have in place ready to make such a leap. On the other hand, there are some intriguing opportunities.
Tom goes on to write about sharing applications between government agencies and organizations. Does that have to occur only within the Linux environment? Brian Sweeting addresses the same issue. Over the weekend, I discovered Government Forge, a website dedicated to providing free and open source software to state and local governments. It appears that there is a tie between Adelstein, the Journal, and Forge. Let's keep our eye on this and look for opportunities to contribute.
4:01:10 PM
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