TY - JOUR T1 - Free and Open Source Software: Overview and Preliminary Guidelines for the Government of Canada JF - Open Source Business Resource Y1 - 2008 A1 - Robert Charpentier AB - After a slow beginning in the late 1990s, Free/Libre and Open Source Software (F/LOSS) has been constantly growing in importance and expanding in many software architectures all over the world. This impressive growth has been supported by the numerous successes, the high-quality reputation of F/LOSS-based systems and, of course, by the expectation of cost savings. In 2003, Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) initiated a special study to determine the role of F/LOSS in our information system architectures. This study was later expanded to the whole Government of Canada (GoC). This article summarizes some key findings based on the original DRDC report published in 2004. It includes a general introduction to F/LOSS followed by some guidelines in assessing the usefulness of F/LOSS in GoC project contexts. PB - Talent First Network CY - Ottawa UR - http://timreview.ca/article/127 IS - March 2008 U1 - Defence Research Establishment Robert Charpentier completed his degree in engineering physics at l'Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal in 1979. After working at CAE Electronics on flight simulators, he joined Defence Research Establishment Valcartier, where he specialized in infrared imagery and space-based surveillance. His current research domain is software security design and attack resistance of information systems operated in hostile environment. He has been deeply involved in F/LOSS studies since 2003. ER -