Open source in the stars for NASA?

An analyst for NASA recommended in a recent paper that the agency move some software development to an open-source model.

The paper, published in late April and featured on Slashdot on Friday, argues that developing software under open-source licenses will improve development, lead to better collaboration and enhance efficiency.

"We recognize that some software, because of export control, ownership or commercialization concerns, may not be suitable for open source," Patrick Moran, a staff member of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Ames Research Center, said in the paper. "Nevertheless, we expect that many NASA projects would be appropriate for, and would greatly benefit from, an open-source distribution."

The report is the latest to propose that government agencies more fully consider open-source software. Last October, nonprofit government contractor MITRE recommended that the government recognize the critical role that open-source software is already playing in both civilian and military agencies.

That report found that open-source software "plays a more critical role in the (Department of Defense) than has been generally recognized" and argued that, if open source were banned, the military's information security would plummet and costs would rise sharply.

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