OStatic

Executives representing several open source software companies collaborated on an open letter to President Barack Obama in the hopes of moving open source solutions to the top of the list of ways to implement parts of his national economic stimulus plan. The letter asks Obama to make FOSS a key component of all new technology initiatives implemented during his administration.

Of course, that's a tall order. Under Obama's new plan, everything from digitized medical records and nationwide high-speed Internet access to improved classroom technology stands to benefit in some way. Stuart Cohen, CEO of Collaborative Software Initiative, is confident that this letter is the first step toward helping determine which initiatives should get attention first.

Panels, presentations, and Birds of a Feather meetings are certainly the highlight of next month's Southern California Linux Expo (SCALE), but that's not the only thing happening during the event. The Demonstrating Open Source Health Care Solutions (DOHCS) conference will be co-located with SCALE and both will get underway on Friday, February 20, 2009.