Linux Adoption in Public Sector: An Economic AnalysisThe main aim of this paper is to provide an insight for policy makers, to consider adoption of GNU/Linux and other Open source software in public sector. Open source software is the one, for which the source code is freely available for general public to modify, redistribute, etc. On the other hand commercial software is accessible to the public by paying a fee and usually the source code is copyrighted and hidden, essentially locking users to their vendors. Software uses interfaces and they can be either open or proprietary. Open Interfaces are available to the public whereas the proprietary ones are not. Open source typically uses open interfaces leading to a innovative and growing industry. The economy can benefit by the co-existence of open source software and commercial software as each one complements the other.A large community of open source developers exists today and also many companies are promoting open source software development and investing in it. These companies benefit by offering support, services or even by the sale of complementary products to the open source software.GNU/Linux and Apache are the well known open source softwares. The use of open source software avoids lock-in and standards war between companies. The software quality of open source is good as it is available to public scrutiny, which has led its adoption by many public and private sectors. Public sector technology managers see Linux as the software which can reduce their costs and in turn help them use these funds in the development of the country. The growing support for Linux has made it easy for any government information technology manager to opt for Linux as their computing environment and also the qualities like reliability, maintainability, usability, security and flexibility have made its use more beneficial.There are many common myths associated with the licensing terms of open source software. And the adversaries of open source have done enough damage by amplifying the ignorance of people, making them believe that “free” is open-source is related to “money”. But the fact is that, there is a lot of scope for commercial development in open source.Discussion Questions:1) Is Java a free software?2) Considering the benefits of the Open Source Movement, why are we not shifting to GNU/Linux at least in ODU CS? Why would one oppose this change? Is the role of a University to lead change (to benefit the economic development of the country), or to reflect the society?3) How do MS, Oracle, and other proprietary companies react to emerging economies like Brazil, India, etc., who are embracing open source