The United States Department of the Navy has adopted a new policy which requires that open source software must be considered in every software acquisition the Navy makes.

Department of the Navy CIO Robert J. Carey signed a memorandum today entitled "DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE GUIDANCE" which first notes that misconceptions about whether or not open source software qualifies as COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) or GOTS (government off-the-shelf) software has hindered the Navy's ability to fully utilize open source software.

The new guidance memo unequivocally states that the Navy will now "treat OSS as COTS when it meets the definition of a commercial item" in an enclosure to the memorandum.