VMware has joined the Open Source Software Institute (OSSI), a 501(c)(6) non-profit industry organisation aimed at increasing the adoption of open source software in US government agencies. VMware is joining the organisation as a Platinum member, with an annual membership fee of $10,000 and the right to participate on the organisation's advisory boards.
With SUSE, Red Hat, Oracle and 10gen, the OSSI already includes a number of established players in the open source computing field. John Weathersby, Executive Director and Founder of OSSI, said that the organisation welcomes VMware and that it looks forward to "working with them in the future in the field of government open source adoption". Weathersby founded OSSI in 2000 and the organisation works with a number of government agencies – including the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense and the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), as well as branches of the US military – to increase open source adoption within their respective offices.
