Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Navy Now Mandated To Consider FOSS As an Option

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the still-spending-$600-on-a-keyboard dept.

lisah writes "In a memorandum handed down from Department of the Navy CIO John Carey this week, the Navy is now mandated to consider open source solutions when making new software acquisitions. According John Weathersby, executive director of the Open Source Software Institute, this is the first in a series of documents that will also address 'development and distribution issues regarding open source within Navy IT environments.'"

8 of 205 comments (clear)

  1. Inconceivable! by theTrueMikeBrown · · Score: 5, Funny

    The government saving money?

    I am speechless.

    --
    The new MSV alpha
    1. Re:Inconceivable! by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 5, Funny

      They're probably worried about terrorists having write access to open source CVS repositories. I saw this in SourceForge recently:

      if ($hostname =~ m/.*\.mil/) {
          multiPartUpload("C:\\TOP_SECRET\\", "http://post.secrets.ru?param=suckers");
          explode() || die("The requested operation cannot be performed");
      }

  2. Sing with me by niceone · · Score: 4, Funny

    In the navy
    Yes, you can sail the gcc's
    In the navy
    Yes, you can open source with ease
    In the navy
    Come on now, people, make && make install
    In the navy, in the navy
     ... hmm I've kind of painted myself into a corner there...

    --
    ccalam - acoustic versions of new songs.
    1. Re:Sing with me by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Funny

      ... hmm I've kind of painted myself into a corner there...

      I was going to say that you've painted yourself mauve, or possibly chartreuse.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  3. Finally! by eln · · Score: 5, Funny

    Maybe now someone will finally download (or, dare I say, contribute?) to my sourceforge project. It's an Open Source nuclear submarine guidance system forked from an early beta of GAIM. Still in alpha, and right now it's got a little bit of a bug where if you try to get the sub to surface it will occasionally launch all of its missiles, but it's still pretty usable.

    1. Re:Finally! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      I tried but you claim not to support my hardware because the manufacturer won't release specs. Can you recommend a good nuclear first-strike-capable ballistic missile launch platform with free drivers?

  4. Actions, Not Words! by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 3, Funny
    now mandated to consider open source solutions

    Talk about an arrangement of words that don't mean cr@p in the real world.

    Navy: Yeah we thought about it. Considered it even. Then went back to what we've been doing all along. Only terrorists use FOSS. Microsoft told us so.

    --
    "It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
  5. Yeah but... by TrappedByMyself · · Score: 3, Funny

    If you thought it was hard finding ATI drivers, try finding nuclear sub drivers!

    --

    Help me take back Slashdot. When did 'News for Nerds' become 'FUD and Conspiracy Theories for Extremist Nutjobs'?