The Vietnamese government has mandated that all government systems run Firefox, OpenOffice, Thunderbird, and UniKey. While that may not seem very interesting, what IS interesting is that this policy is part of a four-year plan to promote open source software--not just in the government, but in universities as well. The use of open source in government is gathering steam, but this progress is mainly outside the United States: South Africa has decided to go 100% Free and Open Source Software, while several other governments throughout the world are now Linux-based.

Why is this catching on everywhere but here? For one, security: it'd be tough knowing that your government's military systems were American-made. But second, it's cheap. The first reason may not be motivation for the U.S. Government to make the switch, but the second reason should only get more attractive over the next year.

Also, Vietnam's promotion of open source inside universities is a fantastic idea. Add it to your CTO wish list.