The amount of open source software used by the U.S. government might well be one of the biggest secrets in Washington. Not even purveyors of FOSS, as in free and open source software, know the extent of federal agency adoption of nonproprietary software. Some in the Beltway Loop contend that open source is very prevalent. Others suggest that open source is avoided because its code is exposed for anyone to see. One thing seems very sure, however. Most government agencies cling to well-known commercial software for desktop services.
