The idea of running institutions on open source software has long appealed to many governments. Its most basic attraction is that it should be more cost-effective than proprietary software if only because there are no license fees to pay. But, there may be other charges.

In fact, the open source movement has often targeted local and national governments. They are potentially very large customers with a tendering process and a duty to their taxpayers. There are now open source alternatives for most government processes, but...