The Hawke administration is upgrading government computers to run Linux instead of Microsoft Windows. White House Press Secretary Krista Bok explained the move.
“The U.S. government has long relied heavily on proprietary software like Microsoft Windows. Today we’re starting to replace Windows with Linux on all government computers.
“Linux and free and open-source software has several advantages over Windows and proprietary software. Quality is the biggest advantage. Open source software is consistently of higher quality than proprietary software. Improved security is another advantage. Experts have long regarded Windows as the least secure operating system one can run on computers. Also, Linux is free so cost is another advantage.”
Bok was asked if the migration to Linux also applied to computers used by the military.
“Absolutely. Relying on proprietary software that has poor security has been an ongoing risk to national security for our armed forces. In mission critical situations like combat operations you want software that does what it’s supposed to when it’s supposed to do it, not crash or decide to do an untimely and lengthy software update.”