Nowadays, the growing use of open source software may be observed worldwide. The biggest users and consumers of software tend to be governments and the institutions related thereto, who have likewise noticed this ever-strengthening trend in information technology, and have launched several initiatives accordingly to discover the possibilities within the usage of open source software. Everyone has a view connected to or concerning the usage of open source software by the government. However, for the most part these opinions are grounded on a strong emotional or ideological basis. The presentation not only examines the questions relating to the usage and support of open source software by the governments, but also, through exploring certain related socio-economic fields which reflect the complex effects on the existing trends of software usage habits in general.