Open source software in government was the topic on the Linux blogs this week, particularly President Obama's request that Sun Microsystems' Scott McNealy prepare a paper on how the U.S. government can use open source technologies.

There are number of factors coming together that lead me to believe that open source's moment is right now, today, this year.

Red Hat's CEO, in a blog post on Monday, is endorsing the Obama Administration's call for openness and participation in government by likening the President's statement to the open source software movement.

A group of prominent open source software vendors have written an open letter to the Obama administration encouraging broader adoption of open source software.

To me, the bottom line of all of this is that the Obama administration recognizes that information technology in the public sector can be, and should be, a two-way street.

One of Silicon Valley's last true characters has signed off - Sun founder Scott McNealy has sent a final goodbye memo to his staff. In his own words McNealy is "a big mouth who is always ready with a clever quip" and his swansong email does not disappoint. He said the last four years (since he left the company) had "not been without serious withdrawal".

President Obama came to office with the promise of change. His administration has pledged to create an environment of openness and participation. Some have already called him the “open source president” such as consultant and CNN contributor Alex Castellanos. There’s no better time than now. Transparency builds trust. Participation solves problems.

In December the U.S. White House set guidelines for an open and transparent administration. The Open Source for America (OSFA) organization is now following up with tips for a governmental move to free software.

Open source is answering the call at government agencies on all levels as they look for opportunities to carve out costs and improve security, transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Why?