I’m home in Portland (arguably the open source software conference capital of the world) for the third annual GOSCON get-together. Linux Foundation Executive Director and keynote speaker Jim Zemlin says he may have been mistaken in thinking that attendees were fairly well-versed in Linux and open source. The reality is that while these attendees — from city, county, state, federal and foreign governments — are already using, benefiting from and appreciating open source software, most are still seeking enlightenment on the subject.

Zemlin, who spoke of the important role of open standards and ensuring they are truly open without proprietary, vendor hooks in parts or development, was not the only one who found the conference different than what he expected. One attendee, head of a government agency increasingly interested in Apache and Java, said he expected to see geeks at the conference. However, as the heavy number of jackets and ties would imply, this was no OSCON. Instead it was mostly departmental, regional and upper government management, prompted by various open source champions in government, dipping their feet further into open source software, open standards and what it means for them.

Nevertheless, the crowd at GOSCON this year does come with more sophistication. Reinforcing our research of the commercial market, these customers do not equate open source software with no cost. They associate it with greater freedom at less cost. One of the questions following Zemlin’s keynote concerned what is an open standard? His response, and the basis of Linux Foundation efforts, is that there should be no single beneficiary of the standard’s progress. The standard, whatever it is, will go further if it is open and equally available to all. Linux and the Linux Standard Base (LSB) are a perfect example of this, thus far. While Zemlin concedes Linux vendors must do more to make their different distributions united as a single OS for ISVs, integrators and others, he points out that the LSB and Linux Foundation do exist, and vendors continue to pool resources to promote Linux development that is broader than their own company endeavors.

What does that mean for governments contemplating open source? Beyond using Linux and other open source software, it holds the potential for dramatic savings and increased efficiency through open source’s most visible advantage: collaboration. Although they may sometimes participate in wagers that result in mayors kissing pigs, different governments are not typically competing with governments in other areas. They are almost always open to more collaboration, and finding software and IT policy that works in government is more of a badge of honor than a proprietary trade secret. Bottom line, open source and government are a good match. Also, there may have actually been more geeks at GOSCON than previously indicated here. Government developers and administrators are apparently more likey to wear collared shirts and slacks, but the long hair and beards still give them away.