Your Tax Dollars Buying Open Source Software

Roblimo has a story over at NewsForge about DevIS, a software company that relies on Free and open source software to not just weather but actually do well in the current software economy. Part of the reason may be that the company doesn't preach software philosophy; they just find that combining well-tested (and mostly GPL'd) software tools is the path of least resistance when it comes to building Internet applications. Most of their work is for the Federal government; always nice to see public dollars supporting public software. Can anyone point out other good examples of similar businesses?

Tax $$$ for Free Software?

[Whatthehellever]

I've finally found a reason to stop complaining that my tax money isn't being properly used. Now I'll happily pay my taxes!

Public money supporting OS

[grub]

Does RMS' welfare cheques count as another example?

Not for long

[gokubi]

Now that we've publicized that DevIS is a bunch of communists, you can be sure that federal grants for this company will mysteriously dry up.

mmm... $

[goatasaur]

I thought our tax dollars were used to market government-approved violent games [americasarmy.com] to our nation's youth. Silly me, it's being used for the development and proliferation of OSS!

Why do I always feel like I'm waking up from a nightmare?

Re:I'd rather see...

[jimand]

Doesn't ninenine.com "repackage someone else's" content to create a "Free Porn" site? Doesn't your stated philosophy here say you should be hiring/paying the, uhh, content providers?

Re:Right

[grub]

Sorry, you get "+1; Insightful" for the overall message, but "-1; Catch-Phrases" for major paradigm shift

The Editors.

Communists are your friends

[Captain Beefheart]

Now, if it was proven DevIS were *terrorists*, we'd already be under a barrage of PSAs telling us open-source funds drug abuse or something.

Re:Similar businesses...

[geekoid]

lets see you buy 12 custom order toilet seats, capable of handling repeated launches into space for less.

Re:Tax $$$ for Free Software?

[Anonymous Coward]

Just be glad you don't get as much goverment as you pay for.

My grandmother drives a Volvo

[e2d2]

Perhaps the ideal Open Source company is not a behemoth run by a ruthless, profit-driven executive, but is something like devIS, run by a Volvo-driving, former Peace Corps volunteer like Gallagher, who talks more about money he has saved taxpayers and how well the sites his company has made serve their intended constituencies than about the amount of money he has put in his (or investors') pockets.

Hey! Some of us like money, american muscle cars, tits, red meat, guns, AND Open Source thank you very much ..

Re:Right

[swillden]

Sadly it's the fortune 500 corporate america that has yet to embrace common sense and as they still feel the need to live by the "Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM"

IBM is selling them Linux!

Re:I don't give a FLYING FUCK!

[Madmanz123]

If you read the article, you'd see that they use a combination of open-source and proprietary software to accomplish the job, whatever worked best for the situation...

That's if you read the article...

You haven't have you?

Don't give me that look.