If Software Is Funded from a Public Source, Its Code Should Be Open Source

Your Weekly Newsletter [view in browser »]( [Public Building]( If Software Is Funded from a Public Source, Its Code Should Be Open Source Glyn Moody - February 4, 2019 If we pay for it, we should be able to use it. Perhaps because many free software coders have been outsiders and rebels, less attention is paid to the use of open source in government departments than in other contexts. But it's an important battleground, not least because there are special dynamics at play and lots of good reasons to require open-source software. It's unfortunate that the most famous attempt to convert a government IT system from proprietary code to open source—the city of Munich—proved such a difficult experience. Although last year saw [a decision to move back to Windows](, that seems to be more a failure of IT management, than of the code itself. Moreover, it's worth remembering that the Munich project began back in 2003, when it was a trailblazer. Today, there are [dozens of large-scale migrations](, as TechRepublic reports: Most notable is perhaps the French Gendarmerie, the country's police force, which has switched 70,000 PCs to Gendbuntu, a custom version of the Linux-based OS Ubuntu. In the same country 15 French ministries have made the switch to using LibreOffice, as has the Dutch Ministry of Defence, while the Italian Ministry of Defence will switch more than 100,000 desktops from Microsoft Office to LibreOffice by 2020 and 25,000 PCs at hospitals in Copenhagen will move from Office to LibreOffice. More are coming through all the time. The Municipality of Tirana, the biggest in Albania, has just announced it is [moving thousands of desktops to LibreOffice](, and nearly [80% of the city of Barcelona's IT investment this year]( will be in open source. One factor driving this uptake by innovative government departments is the potential to cut costs by avoiding constant upgrade fees. But it's important not to overstate the "free as in beer" element here. All major software projects have associated costs of implementation and support. Departments choosing free software simply because they believe it will save lots of money in obvious ways are likely to be disappointed, and that will be bad for open source's reputation and future projects. [read article]( [Security]( Writing Secure Shell Scripts Dave Taylor - February 5, 2019 Don't expose your system with sloppy scripts! Although a Linux desktop or server is less susceptible to viruses and malware than a typical Windows device, there isn't a device on the internet that isn't eventually attacked. [read article]( [Surveillance]( What Is “Surveillance Capitalism?” And How Did It Hijack the Internet? Augustine Fou - February 6, 2019 Shoshana Zuboff's new book The Age of Surveillance Capitalism goes into gory details of how companies collect, use, buy and sell your data for profit, often without consent or even the consumer knowing it was happening, until disasters reveal some of the dark underbelly—like the Cambridge Analytica scandal. [read article]( [Encryption]( Disk Encryption for Low-End Hardware Zack Brown - February 7, 2019 Eric Biggers and Paul Crowley were unhappy with the disk encryption options available for Android on low-end phones and watches. [read article]( in case you missed [February Issue Cover] Data Privacy Year Doc Searls - January 28, 2019 Today is [Data Privacy Day](, known in Europe as [Data Protection Day](. [Read article »]( [February Cover] The Security Issue Bryan Lunduke - February 1, 2019 On January 13th, 2018—at 8:07 am—an emergency alert was issued in Hawaii. The message, in its entirety: "BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL." [Read article »]( upcoming events [SCALE 17X]( March 07, 2019 - March 10, 2019 Pasadena, CA USA [SUSECON 2019]( April 01, 2019 - April 05, 2019 Nashville, TN USA [LinuxFest Northwest]( April 26, 2019 - April 28, 2019 Bellingham, WA USA [Userland]( [Pulseway]( Subscribe to Linux Journal for only $2.88 an issue! [Get access today »]( You are receiving this email because you signed up to receive newsletters from Linux Journal. You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe]( from this list. Copyright © 2019 Linux Journal LLC, All rights reserved. Mailing address: 9597 Jones Rd, #331 Houston, TX 77065