Your U.S. government uses open source software, and loves it

Writing the words government and open source in the same sentence feels inherently wrong, almost as if lying. Recent talk of the NSA, Edward Snowden, and PRISMdoesnt make the government seem any more open. The government carries the stigma as being on of the least open things in the world. If youre a fan of House of Cards on Netflix, you understand just how not open the government is perceived to be. Yet contrary to popular belief, the government is using open source as a tool to improve agencies on the back-end and save tax dollars.

. More of the government is using open source than you may realize. To quote OpenSource.com, While the U.S. government has, to date not issued guidance requiring a preference for open source, it has clearly indicated that open source products are to be given at least as much preference as proprietary products.

OpenSource provides an example of the successful use of open source by the a U.S. government agency, with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). It is the second largest agency of the U.S. federal government, employing more than 280,000 people and providing health care services to almost 8.7 million patients, benefitting close to 23 million veterans. The VA also operates the nations largest health care system with more than 1,700 hospitals, clinics, community living centers, and other facilities. And the VA also happens to be one of the largest users in the federal government adopting Open Source Software (OSS).

Wes Caldwell. Image via LinkedIn

To give you more insight as to the governments use of open source software, we sat down with Wes Caldwell, Chief Architect, Intelligent Software Solutions (ISS). ISS provides the federal government and the Department of Defense with data visualization, event analysis and pattern detection software. The company places a heavy emphasis on OSS applications and affordable government off-the-shelf (GOTS) products, which make it easier for government agencies to integrate into their networks and keep them from having these inflexible programs that lead to huge cost overruns.

The following is an excerpt from a recent interview with Caldwell, who shares his thoughts on the benefits of OSS in the US government, as well as suggestions on how the country can tackle remaining obstacles to OSS adoption.

What are 2-3 immediate benefits for government agencies using open source?

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Can you give examples of the Pentagon or other government agencies using open source?

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Your U.S. government uses open source software, and loves it

Open source project builds mobile networks without big carriers

Steven Max Patterson | March 18, 2014

Data centers, mobile phones, and the software industry have all been changed by open source. Are mobile networks next?

Open source projects garner the attention of the tech community because the passionate people behind these developments occasionally cause major disruption and create opportunities to change industries, as Android and Linux did. An open source project with the goal of changing how mobile networks are built, from expensive proprietary hardware to cheap commodity hardware - just as mainframe data centers moved to commodity X86 hardware - is certainly worth a deeper look. Learning that former Cisco CTO Ed Kozel is leading the venture, Range Networks makes it worth a deep dive.

For now at least, Range Networks isn't trying to compete with NSN, Ericsson, Huawei and Alcatel-Lucent. The company is looking for underserved areas that need a low-cost alternative to the big mobile network solutions designed for big mobile carriers. Range Networks' OpenBTS has been used to build a temporary mobile network serving 1,200 people over a 10-square-kilometer area at the 2011, 2012, and 2013 Burning Man festivals, as well as permanent mobile networks in Antarctica and Papau Indonesia.

The core of Range Networks innovation is an open source OpenBTS 3G GSM stack and a software defined radio (SDR) covering the 700 Mhz to 2.5 Ghz bands. Range Networks has plans to add 4G and LTE, but in the meantime a visitor to Papau Indonesia, where there has never been mobile phone service, would have to feel extremely entitled to complain about slow 3G Facebook download speeds.

OpenBTS runs on standard X86 hardware that can be packaged in an environmentally hardened enclosure to withstand the elements. Range Networks' engineering team includes not only open source software hackers, but open source hardware hackers too. The SDR is designed by the company's engineers and all the specifications, schematics, and production data have been made available under open source BSD, Creative Commons, and GPL licenses at OpenBTS.org, so other manufactures can improve and produce it in volume at reduced cost.

The Tier project at the University of California Berkeley is a great example of the value of Range Networks' open source model. UC Berkeley researchers have built software that runs on handsets and OpenBTS that samples the airwaves to find unused radio spectrum, called white spaces, that are free of interference from other types of radio broadcasts. Once the white space is identified, it can be used for voice and mobile data services. Because UC Berkeley built it with OpenBTS, the white space functionality is contributed back into OpenBTS.

Use of white space radio spectrum is of interest to anyone who builds any type of product that uses radios. Government radio spectrum regulators, like the FCC, auction radio spectrum for billions of dollars to commercial users. But the regulators often reserve some spectrum for free public use. If public spectrum is detected as unused by OpenBTS, it can be added to the white space table and used for voice and data. The regulations and exact use of radio spectrum differ from country to country, but a socially or financially motivated entrepreneur could build a mobile network inexpensively in an underserved part of the world using OpenBTS if he or she could identify white space.

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Open source project builds mobile networks without big carriers

Dorian Nakamoto: I’m Not Satoshi, I Don’t Know Cryptography

Dorian S. Nakamoto listens during an interview with the Associated Press on March 6, in Los Angeles.

Image: Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press

By Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai2014-03-17 13:13:25 UTC

Dorian Nakamoto, the man Newsweek claims is the creator of the digital cryptocurrency Bitcoin, denied being the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto once again.

In a statement issued on Monday by his newly hired lawyer, Ethan Kirschner, Nakamoto said he "did not create, invent or otherwise work on Bitcoin." The 64-year-old went one step further than his previous denial, adding that he doesn't know anything about cryptography, something experts believe he would have needed to create Bitcoin.

"I have no knowledge of nor have I ever worked on cryptography, peer to peer systems, or alternative currencies," Nakamoto wrote in the statement, first reported by The Los Angeles Times.

Cryptography experts like Ed Felten, a professor of computer science at Princeton University, have doubted the Newsweek report on the grounds that the article doesn't prove, or even allege, that Dorian Nakamoto has any background in cryptography.

"The real Satoshi was obviously conversant with crypto the Bitcoin design shows it, and the fluency of the crypto discussion in the paper tells us that Satoshi was well acquainted with the jargon and literature of the field," Felten wrote in a blog post on March 11. "Newsweek doesnt offer any evidence that Dorian knew crypto."

In the statement, Nakamoto again claimed he first heard of the word Bitcoin when his son called him in mid-February, after talking to a reporter. Nakamoto clarified that he "never consented to speak with the reporter" when Newsweek's Leah McGrath Goodman confronted him in front of his house. That's when Nakamoto uttered the key quote in Newsweek's story: "I am no longer involved in that and I cannot discuss it."

Nakamoto even added that he can't even afford to pay for his Internet connection, which he discontinued in 2013 "due to severe financial distress."

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Dorian Nakamoto: I'm Not Satoshi, I Don't Know Cryptography

Dorian Nakamoto denies any knowledge of Bitcoin or cryptography

Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto, the man identified by Newsweek as the creator of Bitcoin, issued a statement today saying the "false report" has harmed his job prospects and created stress for him and his family.

"I did not create, invent or otherwise work on Bitcoin. I unconditionally deny the Newsweek report," his statement read.

The cryptocurrency Bitcoin was introduced in 2009 by a person calling himself Satoshi Nakamoto, but the man profiled by Newsweek says the magazine got the wrong guy. His statement today was reported by news outlets including the Los Angeles Times and was posted in full on Twitter by Reuters reporter Felix Salmon. The statement was provided to media by Nakamoto's lawyer, Ethan Kirschner.

"The first time I heard the term 'bitcoin' was from my son in mid-February 2014," the statement says. "After being contacted by a reporter, my son called me and used the word, which I had never before heard. Shortly thereafter, the reporter confronted me at my home. I called the police. I never consented to speak with the reporter. In an ensuing discussion with a reporter from the Associated Press, I called the technology 'bitcom.' I was still unfamiliar with the term."

Nakamoto went on to write that his background is in engineering, that he knows how to program, and that his most recent job was as an electrical engineer troubleshooting air traffic control equipment for the Federal Aviation Administration. But his knowledge wouldn't have been sufficient to create Bitcoin, he wrote. "I have no knowledge of nor have I ever worked on cryptography, peer to peer systems, or alternative currencies."

Nakamoto's career stalled and he's having trouble getting work because of health problems and the Newsweek article, the statement said.

"I have not been able to find steady work as an engineer or programmer for ten years," he wrote. "I have worked as a laborer, polltaker, and substitute teacher. I discontinued my Internet service in 2013 due to severe financial distress. I am trying to recover from prostate surgery in October 2012 and a stroke I suffered in October of 2013. My prospects for gainful employment [have] been harmed because of Newsweek's article."

Finally, Nakamoto wrote that the report "has been the source of a great deal of confusion and stress for myself, my 93-year-old mother, my siblings, and their families... I have retained legal counsel. This will be our last public statement on the matter. I ask that you now respect our privacy."

Nakamoto previously denied inventing Bitcoin the same day Newsweek's story came out. The Newsweek article relied on a quote in which Nakamoto said he was "no longer involved in that." Newsweek said that he was referring to Bitcoin. Nakamoto told an Associated Press reporter that he was referring to engineering in general rather than a specific project.

Newsweek today said it would not comment. "Newsweek has not received any statement or letter from either Mr. Nakamoto or his legal counsel," the publication said on its website. "If and when we do, we will respond as necessary."

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Dorian Nakamoto denies any knowledge of Bitcoin or cryptography

Dorian Nakamoto didn’t create Bitcoin and doesn’t know cryptography

THE MAN ACCUSED by Newsweek of creating the Bitcoin digital currency is still disputing that and has a newly appointed lawyer to deal with any questions on the subject.

Doriani Nakamoto was 'unmasked' by Newsweek as the elusive Bitcoin creator in a report that came to be much criticised.

Almost as soon as it was published people doubted the tale, and its subject, Dorian Nakamoto, disputed it, claiming that none of it was true.

In a statement released through his lawyer he said that he is not Satoshi Nakamoto, and is not an expert in cryptography.

The first time I heard the term 'Bitcoin' was from my son in mid-February 2014. After being contacted by a reporter, my son called me and used the word, which I had never heard before," he said.

"Shortly thereafter, the reporter confronted me at my home. I called the police. I never consented to speak with the reporter. In an ensuing discussion with a reporter from the Associated Press, I called the technology 'Bitcom'. I was still unfamiliar with the term."

Doriani Nakamoto said that the 'false report' has caused stress and confusion for him and his family, and as a result he has retained legal counsel.

He added that he does not want to have to discuss the news story or its allegations anymore. He said that he previously worked as an electrical engineer, but has not had an internet connection since 2013.

Saying that he is in poor health and dire financial straits, he claimed that the Newsweek story has damaged his job prospects.

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Dorian Nakamoto didn’t create Bitcoin and doesn’t know cryptography