[IGSTK-Developers] Open Source in Warfare

[Luis Ibanez]

"Future Combat Systems"


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/23/AR2008012303695.html

   Lines of code (Millions LOC):

   Blue Force Tracker  :     1.5
   Joint Strike Fighter:    23.0
   Microsoft Windows XP:    40.0
   Future Combat System:    63.8


"Congressional investigators are also concerned that the lines of code
have nearly doubled since development began in 2003. And they question
the Army's oversight of a far-flung project involving more than 2,000
developers and dozens of contractors working across the nation,
including in Clear Lake, Tex.; Huntsville, Ala.; Philadelphia, Mesa,
Ariz.; Red Bank, N.J.; Seattle; and here, in Southern California, in an
old rocket factory."


"The Government Accountability Office, Congress's watchdog, says the
Army underestimated the undertaking. When the software project began,
investigators say the Army estimated it needed 33.7 million lines of
code; it's now 63.8 million -- about three times the number for the
Joint Strike Fighter aircraft program. "


"Boeing and the Army said they chose not to use Microsoft's proprietary
software because they didn't want to be beholden to the company.
Instead, they chose to develop a *Linux-based operating system* based
on *publicly available code*.

Microsoft, which does substantial business with the military, declined
to comment. "


...


""Soldiers don't care about software," he said. What they care about is 
"if it's going to work."

[We can say the same about Patients...]


.....


"One concern is that the software ultimately won't be able to do what
it's supposed to do. "Is that a possibility?" said Sorenson, the
general. "Certainly, the answer is yes." But he said developers are
performing rigorous tests, simulations and evaluations along the way."



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