DoD CIO Approves Open Source Software.. But Beware of Low Cost Assumptions

The DoD CIO’s office clarified its position on open source software in a DoD open source  memorandum issued by David M. Wennergren, deputy CIO for the DoD on October 16, 2009.

The memo states “positive aspects of OSS [open source software]” should be considered when evaluating its DoD use including auditable code, ability to modify, less reliance on a particular vendor, and no licensing costs.

While This Is Good It Does Not Necessarily  Mean Low Costs

While the lack of licensing licensing costs are certainly a benefit and there can be some cost savings , once the open source software is modified for DoD usage it is no longer in the public domain. That means a contractor or another developer will need to take ownership. The software will need to be reverse engineered, verified for security issues, probably more thoroughly tested under a controlled environment and other significant costs. Appropriate design documentation and other documents will need to be built in many cases, of course test cases will need to be built. Bottom line: The development and maintenance cost of government modified open source software could be expensive: perhaps cheaper than new but expensive none the less..  And when something goes wrong the contractor will expect to be paid to debug / fix the modified open source. A quick run through rework guidance from Galorath shows up to:

• Up to 80% of the design of new software for modified open source
• Up To 64% of the testing of new software fr modified open source
• The percentages don’t include new functionality, just getting the open source into shape for mission critical applications
• Could be better or worse depending on the amount of modification and the critically of the application.

This means that it could be around 54% of developing new just to be able to use the software, not counting the customization itself.

PS: It is not clear to me that the assertion by the CIO will be relevant for weapons systems, etc.

The formula and assumptions follow:

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