Guide to Open Source Software for Australian Government Agencies
Publication Summary
Released 18 April 2005
The Guide is a companion document to the 2004 publication A Guide to ICT Sourcing (since updated September 2007). Between them these publications provide a basis for better ICT procurement decisions across the whole of the Australian Government.
This Guide seeks to assist agencies by providing practical information and approaches for agencies to consider when assessing open source solutions. Risk management procedures and the different contractual considerations that can apply to open source software issues are addressed in the Guide, as are cost of ownership issues. Understanding cost of ownership issues for open source software is important because, under an open source model, costs are incurred at different phases of the implementation and operation of an information technology system.
Table of Contents
- Glossary
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Typical concerns about open source software
- Sourcing open source software
- Preparing a procurement plan
- Risk analysis and risk management
- Risk mitigation procedures
- Understanding the legal context
- Sharing OSS solutions
- Appendix A: Open source software resources
- Appendix B: More about open source software
- Appendix C: Open source software packaging
Full Publication
Guide to Open Source Software for Australian Government Agencies [
952 KB]
Contact Details
To obtain hard copies of the Guide to Open Source Software for Australian Government Agencies publication, please email your name, organisation, delivery address and the number of copies you require to SourceIT@finance.gov.au.
Copyright Notice
© Commonwealth of Australia 2005
This work is copyright. You may download, display, print and reproduce this material in unaltered form only (retaining this notice) for your personal, non-commercial use or use within your organisation. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, all other rights are reserved. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to Commonwealth Copyright Administration, Attorney General’s Department, Robert Garran Offices, National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600 or posted at http://www.ag.gov.au/cca [
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Contact for information on this page: SourceIT@finance.gov.au