So far, DET has had about five similar education departments "knocking on our door" to get access to EduPass, but its source code will not be released in the short term because of security concerns.

"We are aware that the modules used in EduPass are open source already, and so is Red Hat Linux, but we have erred on the side of caution," Meadows said, adding her team has "thought long and hard" about it. "There are big security companies that build on Linux and don't release the code [and] we give credit to Openssh, Freeraduis, Squid, and Linux which are all open to scrutiny. The bits that are proprietary concern how all servers are randomly set to check updates and a lot of advanced proxy features."

Even without releasing EduPass's code, DET is being a good open source citizen by remaining in "close touch" with and contributing "issues" back to the Freeraduis and Openssh projects. Whitepapers on how EduPass works will also be released.

"We went to great lengths to harden the operating system [and] even the local school techs can't get inside the box," Meadows told Computerworld. "We even put a banner on the management interface reminding staff it is a criminal offense to hack into computers or to escalate privileges."

Meadows' team began to appreciate the flexibility of open source when digital certificates needed to be added to Windows' registry.