Revelations about the PRISM project involve US tech companies that have been compelled to provide special assistance to US intelligence agencies. Will secret arrangements between tech companies and US intelligence affect how independent security researchers disclose vulnerabilities?

That the American National Security Agency has previously helped Microsoft harden various Windows versions is old hat, but what is news is that the NSA now also assists Apple, Sun and Red Hat with increasing the security of their operating systems.

It's not just European government that's opting for open source. Today the NSA (the super-secret spy agency in the US) have announced they are joining in with OpenSolaris. Barton has an interview that explores this more. I think we'll see more and more government engagement as the adoption-led market takes hold.

Using Free software from open source communities makes perfect sense for governments, and not just for the obvious reasons of up-front savings on license fees.