[PLUG] Re: the government doesn't support linux?

[Quentin Hartman]

On 8/1/07, Eric Wilhelm <scratchcomputing at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> # from Kenneth B. Hill
> # on Wednesday 01 August 2007 02:41 pm:
>
> >The federal
> >government, and state government, public health agencies are not
> >receptive to Linux or open-source software applications.
>
> Really?  Sounds like the GOSCON folks have a bit more work to do.  Or
> maybe they just need to make more noise.


I think that depends on where you are and who you talk to. I know of a lot
of healthcare and public education agencies that have Linux all over the
place. It's not often on the desktop, but the infrastructure is crawling
with Penguins. Slowly, they seep onto PC's as well. At my most recent K-12
school district, I ran the whole thing with Linux in the backend, with the
exception of two servers. One to host our anti-virus updates, and another to
host a reading application that required a Windows machine as an application
server. I even had 75 seats of Linux on the desktop in the for of two LTSP
installations. It's possible, even if it's not common.

> Also,
> >Microsoft is releasing fee [sic] development tools for us application
> >developers that are nice and fairly easy to use.
>
> (Your Freudian-slip of a typo amuses me greatly.)
>
> They also look the other way while their software gets pirated all over
> the developing world.  This 'free' set of toys is just a legalization
> of that ploy.  Come on, don't you know anything about how drug dealers
> operate?
>
<snip more commentary>

Well put Eric. It's exactly that long term cost that I alluded to in Ken's
original thread, that pseudo-exponential curve theory I have applies to
monetary costs as well as intellectual ones.
-- 
-Regards-

-Quentin Hartman-