Croatian government adopts open source software policy

Last month the Croatian government adopted an open source software policy and issued guidelines for developing and using open source software in the government institutions. The Croatian government is concerned that proprietary software leads to too much dependence on the software suppliers. Open source software will make the government's work more transparent, according to the government's document, entitled "Open Source Software Policy."

The document includes the following guidelines:

* Government institutions will choose and/or develop open source solutions as much as possible, instead of using closed source alternatives.
* The government will support development of closed source solutions that use open standards for protocols and file formats, and which are developed in Croatia.
* The government will support the use of open source programs and open standards outside of its institutions.
* The government will support the use of open source solutions in educational institutions; both closed and open source solutions will be equally presented to students.