Obama’s Victory was Backed by Open Source Technology!

Obama’s tech team employed open source technology on services and consulting not only to save funds but to create a more efficient infrastructure.

When US president Barack Obama and his techsavvy team started using Drupal and Linux to run wHbVLWHV bDcN Ln 2009, cRncHUnV wHUH UDLVHG DOO over the world. Those who favoured the proprietary system were of the opinion that resorting to open source technology could turn out to be one of the biggest mistakes of the Obama administration. Since then, the White eouse website is running D WySLcDO L$M3 (LLnXx, $SDchH, My64L DnG 3H3) VWDcN WR support Drupal. The credit for bringing in the new Linux-based infrastructure goes to dDIT (deneral Dynamics Information TechnologyF, an IT contractor for the US government.

This was not the only incidence of Obama banking on RSHn VRXUcH WHchnRORJy. 2nH wRXOG finG LW hDUG WR bHOLHvH bXW open source technology played a crucial role in his win. The

By: OSFY Bureau recently held presidential elections in the US were not just a battle of ideologies but also a duel between the IT strategies and tools of the two parties. Obama’s IT technology team’s use of open source technology proved to be much more effective than oomney’s expensive IT infrastructure.

Obama’s tech team employed open source technology on services and consulting not only to save funds but to create D PRUH HIficLHnW LnIUDVWUXcWXUH. $ccRUGLnJ WR VRPH RnOLnH reports, Obama’s internal IT back-up cost him $9.P million, while his competitor oomney spent around $2P.S million Rn PRVWOy SURSULHWDUy WHchnRORJy VHUvLcHV. $nG WhH HnWLUH world has witnessed how Obama’s architecture outperformed oomney’s costly IT campaign.

Obama’s tech team mostly depended on Linux. To be precise, Ubuntu was deployed on the server as the chief operating system. “We used the right technology in the right place,” said Scott sanDenmlas, lead DevOps for Obama for $PHULcD. ThH WHDP GHvHORSHG DURXnG 200 DSSOLcDWLRnV Ln mython, ouby, mem, gava and Node.js.

ThH 2bDPD DGPLnLVWUDWLRn, Ln LWV fiUVW WHnXUH, LVVXHG guidelines for using open source technology in critical sectors such as defence as well. In a DoD (Department of DefenceF Clarifying duidance oegarding Open Source Software memo, the CIO declared, “To effectively achieve its missions, the Department of Defense must develop and update its softwarebased capabilities faster than ever, to anticipate new threats and respond to continuously changing requirements. The use of Open Source Software (OSSF can provide advantages in this regard.”

It’s not just Obama and his tech team that is recognising the power of open source technology. Open source is spreading its wings far and wide. Canonical’s Ubuntu Linux distribution, which is very popular in the desktop environment, is slowly gaining space in Web server deployment also. If the data available online is to be believed, seven per cent of Web servers globally run Ubuntu compared to 5.5 per cent last year. UNIu is used by S4.2 per cent of all websites. Seven per cent might seem low but when compared to the P.4 per cent that oed eat holds, the 1.2 per cent of oed eat’s community-maintained )HGRUD, DnG RnOy 0.8 SHU cHnW IRU 6U6(, WhH fiJXUH VHHPV WR be quite promising and shows that open source technology is being actively adopted across the globe.