North American Gov't Offices that Won't Move to Linux? 34
eugene ts wong asks: "There have been a quite a few stories lately of governments cutting budgets and seriously examining the use of Linux in their offices. I'm getting the strong impression that the majority of government desktops will become Linux desktops. Is this true? As of right now, how many US state governments and Canadian provincial governments -do not- use Linux for their work stations? As of right now, how many -do not- intend on installing Linux? I think that knowing this is important so that we can direct our attention to the appropriate governments, in hopes of helping them to make the correct choice."
Um actually... (Score:2)
Posted by Cliff on Tuesday March 11, @01:50PM
from the not-down-with-da-penguin dept.
I got the impression that "down with da penguin!" is exactly what this article implies...
The CORRECT Choice... (Score:5, Insightful)
Linux is never ever EVER the correct choice for 100% of the people 100% of the time. Neither is any other OS / chip / RAM type / network protocol / pizza topping / illegal drug.
I REALLY hope you meant to say "in hopes of helping them to make the correct choice about Linux and whether or not its a good fit for them."
Re:The CORRECT Choice... (Score:3, Interesting)
Technical and budgetary considerations aside, and in the spirit of democracy, I think any free (as in speech) open source solution would be a more correct choice for our governments to adopt, rather than be beholden to any one corporation, especially a proven monopoly. [microsoft.com]There are plenty of reasons for this, not limited to: I think where possible technical considerations and getting the cheapest solution should be at the bottom of the list of reasons the government should choose its systems. Let's not be penny-wise and pound-foolish.
huh? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:huh? (Score:3, Funny)
You must be new here
not always the choice (Score:3, Insightful)
There are other OSs out there that are not Linux that are the best choice.
Refusal to *consider* Linux is another story, but that's not what your statment / question said you wanted to talk about. Was it? You basically say that everyone should be using Linux on the desktop.
I'd love to be able to fix MacOS X boxes all day, then I could concentrate more on
Having to explain linux all day would bad as explaining Windows all day, for some of my users, just as I have to explain Windows repeatedly to my entrenched DOS user, the BSD user who likes to run our servers from his FreeBSD Box, the geek next door that uses Solaris (came with his hardware, and is free for education if he wants to upgrade)....
Uh, yeah... (Score:4, Insightful)
Reading Slashdot, I'm under the impression that Windows XP can't run 10 minutes without crashing, Macs explode if you plug in a 3 button mouse, the DMCA forbids backing up your data, John Ashcroft will put me in jail for watching foreign films and I just got first post.
In fact, the most recent Halloween Document [opensource.org] describes Microsoft's frustration at the inability of their PR machine to keep pace with the volume of nonsensical claims of enormous Linux deployments coming from the Open Source media. They didn't mention sites by name, but I have a good idea which Taco-riffic site and its stories about "Norway Switches to Linux!" they had in mind.
Research your own holy wars next time (Score:2, Funny)
Please tell me how to run my holy war.
Thanks!
Clueless poster
Wrong question. (Score:3, Insightful)
The question should have been asked: "What operating systems are governments considering for the desktops of the typical employee?"
Boiled down, Slashdot is not the place to be asking this question. Once you have compiled the list by asking the decision-makers, THEN you can tell Slashdot your results. THEN you can let Slashdot readers evangelise to their local governments for their favourite operating system, WHATEVER that may be.
The question that was asked is too biased to get an answer that is worth more than a fart in church.
Re:Wrong question. (Score:2)
since we were talking about government offices, the taxpayers (should) have quite a bit of say in what the government uses
Office of Anti-Trust Lawsuits Dept of Justice. (Score:2, Funny)
Did you imagine it any other way?
Slashed budget means no research (Score:3, Interesting)
There is a big difference between "examining" and "implementation".
Governments, like most large institutions, are slow to change. Changing from Windows to Linux desktops costs money. Many State and City governments in the US are in the midst of their worst budget crisis' in 20-40 years. Now is when the freeze spending, lay off workers, and cancel research. They're not just going to change willy-nilly.
I am actually talking to people who work for several cities in the San Francisco Bay Area about using Gnome or KDE for their desktops (I'm probing out of curiosity, and I want to see what's planned for 2 years down the line).
Their additude about switching desktops is usually something like "Sure, Linux could be great, but are you INSANE? We'll save $x00 tops, but it will cost nearly that much to install the new software, train everyone to use it, and then fix the bugs."
As of right now, how many US state governments and Canadian provincial governments -do not- use Linux for their work stations?
None? We occasionally see small cities switching to Linux, but I doubt that there are any State governments who use Linux Desktops on a systemwide level.
Look, I love the Linux desktop. I use Gnome almost on a daily basis, but I still need to use Windows to run MS Office so that I can send my resume to people who request MS Word format. If I send it using any other format (including OpenOffice's MS Word format), I get complaints on the other side like "The formatting is all screwey".
Re:Slashed budget means no research (Score:2)
Re:Slashed budget means no research (Score:2)
With a resume, I want the formatting exactly as I set it. This is really difficult with different products, and they all use Windows, goshdarnit.
Re:Slashed budget means no research (Score:1)
You obviously haven't been in the lob market lately.
Re:Slashed budget means no research (Score:1)
Answers (Score:2)
Quick answers: No, All of them (as far as I know)
Don't worry, dude... (Score:2)
I've been trying! (Score:1)
Only major stopper i have at this point is MICROSOFT ACCESS!! There is NOTHING in linux that general office people can use to replace access, i've explorered tons and tons and tons of alternatives and nothing is even slightly close. Oh and btw i mean Access as a front end, not the actual data.
Anyone who works in an office knows that many people have a few dozen access databases that they use regularly and lets face it, spreadsheets can't cut it.
Other than Access every piece of software we use can be replaced easily.
Not only would a Gnu/Linux solution be cheaper but it would make employees more productive for many reasons.
I find it extremely hilarious those TCO reports paid for by microsoft, etc... running linux is way way way way cheaper in every aspect for the most part. And i've found that Tech Support will NOT cost much more at all.
In addition to cheaper software it will cost the State less money for the machines too since the lifetime of a computer is suddenly a bit longer (since linux can run on slower hardware better than windows).
I guess another big part of this would be avoiding the Microsoft Tax however.
Re:I've been trying! (Score:2)
Perhaps a solution would be Win4Lin and their Terminal Server product. Everyone would still use Linux, and you'd only need Windows licenses for those running Access.
Re:I've been trying! (Score:2)
Are you on the west coast, by any chance? If so, I'd like to hear from you.
You may contact me at
opensource4oregon@teleport.com
Ken Barber
Lead Author, Open Source Software for Oregon act (HB 2892)
Re:I've been trying! (Score:1)
Not yet (Score:2)
I believe that there are now some companies working on having some Linux distribution(s) certified, but don't quote me on that.
IT staff people have too much to lose... (Score:1)