Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology Phil Bond today said that the Bush Administration will remain neutral in the brisk competition now evident between Open Source software and more established, proprietary software vendors.

Speaking at the LinuxWorld Exposition in New York City, Bond said “healthy competition” between the two development methodologies is “good for the market place ... We don't perceive it as a policy of either/or, but both,” he said. The Open Source and Industry Alliance praised the Secretary's remarks.

Bond's comments came just days after a handful of Open Source opponents launched a lobbying campaign aimed at defaming open-source developers and undermining the copyright protections central to their work.

“We particularly welcome these comments from the Administration’s top Technology official because some others in the Administration have occasionally taken positions antithetical to open source methodology,” OSAIA President Ed Black said.

“Just days ago, a failing software company sent Congress a letter that defamed the thousands of developers of the GNU/Linux operating system. Secretary Bond's comments will show Members of Congress and other policy makers the absurdity of falsehoods spread by those who would rather sue than compete with open source.”

“We thank the Secretary for speaking out.”

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OSAIA is an association of a number of the world's most prominent high-tech companies, including those that use and develop both proprietary and open source software. OSAIA, an organization affiliated with the Computer & Communications Industry Association, promotes the understanding and adoption of open standards and open source software worldwide.