Public sector in U.K. embracing open source

The [UK's] public sector is finally beginning to understand the security arguments for using open source software, according to experts participating in V3's Security Summit...Recently...open source software has been given more consideration by public sector procurement staff, said Carl Reynolds, co-founder of Open Health Care UK, an organisation campaigning for the use of open source software in the NHS.

"Those who have a financial interest in maintaining the status quo, proprietary software vendors, may promote the idea that open source software is inherently less secure. I think in the past they have been successful in spreading this idea amongst people who have procurement influence," said Reynolds.

"Fortunately we are now in the position now where people in the Cabinet Office and in the Department of Health with procurement influence understand this, and have stated relatively categorically that the argument doesn't stand up against open source on the basis of security."...