Open Source/Free Software in Maricopa Government -another view.

[Derek Neighbors]

J said:
>
> Let us take a look at a much more basic issue.
> Should we attempt to make govt function better?

Unless you like your hard earn money (that you give to them in the form of
taxes) to be used in in efficient ways you absolutely should attempt to
make your government function better.

> Let them go their merry way down the yellowbrick road of miscrosoft or
> anywhere else they choose.

At the cost to whom?

> Increasing their efficiency or capability will not cut taxes, slow govt
> growth, increase freedom,  help the poor,  or help anyone who is trying
> to  make a living outside of the govt pork barrel.

It might not cut taxes, but it likely could help them from increasing.  It
might not slow growth, but perhaps will divert growth to areas more in
need (in essence helping the poor or containing criminals etc)

> I think the wise course is to let them be, let them choke on the IT
> cancer of  their own making. It will  make for quite a show.

Yeah it makes for great show.  Look at your state legislature.  It will be
really funny when the cuts get so severe at the state that they start
releasing criminals and cutting teachers.

I understand your frustration, I am no fan of how many governments
operate, but just turning one's back on the problem does no good. (imho)
>
> Roger
>
>
>
>
>
> On Tuesday 17 December 2002 03:04 pm, you wrote:
>> On Tuesday 17 December 2002 02:51 pm, Michael Havens wrote:
>> > On Monday 09 December 2002 12:34 pm, Gary Nichols wrote:
>> > > Sorry to seem sarcastic, but I get irate knowing that they are
>> wasting my tax dollars on stuff that could be done SOOO much
>> cheaper.
>> >
>> > Someone who knows alot about this (not me) should write a letter to
>> the editor about how much money the government is wasting on
>> Computer applications when there is such a viable option!
>>
>> But then Maricopa County would have to hire competent IT people at
>> market rates, instead of incompetent hacks at 2/3rds of market rate!
>>
>> Like Microsoft is fond of saying, TCO is more than just the up-front
>> software costs. For Maricopa County to switch over would require that
>> a) they find some pretense to fire the incompetent hacks who currently
>> run their IT department, b) pay lots of money to settle the inevitable
>> "wrongful dismissal" charges out of court, c) do a search for a
>> competent IT director (and who is going to do this search? Who at
>> Maricopa County has the knowledge to tell a competent IT director from
>> a hack?), d) pay this guy market rates, e) have him hire competent IT
>> staff at market rates. In other words, we're talking considerable
>> expense to do the changeover, plus a higher recurring cost because of
>> the need to pay competent IT staff at market rates. If the difference
>> in licensing costs is $50,000 per year, but the difference in staffing
>> costs to get competent IT people is $100,000 per year, you can see how
>> it wouldn't be worth it to change over to Open Source -- even if we're
>> not counting the wrongful dismissal settlements as part of the
>> difference in staffing costs.
>>
>> Microsoft software is like crack cocaine -- once they get you
>> addicted, breaking the addiction is hard to do :-(.
>>
>> Btw, the personnel costs are not insigificant. When I was doing school
>> consulting, I was regularly asked "What server platform should we
>> use?". My inevitable response was "Use whatever your staff is most
>> familiar with and whatever has the most local talent that knows it" --
>> whether that was Novell, Microsoft, or (unlikely in that era) Linux.
>> Our own servers (that we installed at these school districts) were
>> Linux, but that's because we were being paid to maintain them and we
>> were Unix database geeks. These mostly-rural school districts couldn't
>> afford to hire people at market rate and pay them to move to BumFuck
>> Mississippi... they had to stick with the local talent, which was
>> (alas) mostly Microsoft-centric (with some Novell guys out there).
>> When I was asked by these school districts, "should we use Linux?", my
>> response was inevitably "ask your local computer experts", because if
>> the local computer experts didn't know Linux, they hadn't a hope in
>> hell of making a Linux installation work right. Given how
>> (in)competent these "local experts" were with Microsoft software, I
>> didn't see a hope in hell of them ever learning Linux... but what the
>> hey, maybe the horse learns to speak, right? And in fact one or two
>> districts DID dabble in Linux, mostly for mail servers (much cheaper
>> than Exchange Server).
>>
>> But the deal is, I recognized that I, as an outsider merely passing
>> through, was not in the best position to say whether Linux could
>> successfully be deployed there. And you, as an outsider, are in no
>> position to say whether Linux could successfully be deployed by
>> Maricopa County. Given the general incompetence and ineptitude of how
>> these "local experts" are handling their Microsoft install, the
>> thought of them trying to do Linux is rather... terrifying.
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