Open source also creates a better pathway to "organic" sustainment or emergency (I forget the term they actually use) sustainment. In organic sustainment the s

Open source also creates a better pathway to "organic" sustainment or emergency (I forget the term they actually use) sustainment. In organic sustainment the system is maintained by government employees. In the emergency context, it's the ability of the government to sustain a system without needing to defer to contractors in extreme circumstances. Imagine an actual total war for the US, contract negotiations take months or years even for stupidly simple work (I'm pretty sure some systems spend more in contract negotiations than the entire rest of the system costs). Open source is an effective way to ensure the government has access to all or most of the data needed to assume responsibility for the work later on. Technically the government also purchases data rights, but that part of contracts is almost always fouled up in some subtle way that makes it near useless.