"Late last week, it was announced that the Massachusetts Department of Administration and Finance has taken the bold step of pursuing Open Standards and Open Source Software for that Commonwealth, whenever and wherever possible. Eric Kriss, the department's Secretary, has charged the government office to begin looking for alternatives to many of the legacy systems that the agency currently uses.
"Such a step is certainly within the purview of Secretary Kriss, but how did such a bold move come to pass?
"Kriss cited the obvious technical reasons for pursuing Open Source options, such as robust environments, stability, high quality testing and interchangeable software. Of course, there were other benefits and challenges, too..."
