Air Force Orders Up A Custom Windows Monoculture 541
Soulfader writes "It seems that the Air Force has not learned from the Navy's folly in single-source mammoth contracts and their attendant problems, and is now working on something similar with Dell and Microsoft. Particularly interesting is the article's assertion that the Air Force is 'fed up' with Microsoft OS problems--but not enough to switch to something else. Instead, they're going to be getting a custom 'solution' of Windows products specially configured for their use. Is this the ever-hoped-for 'good' version of Windows, or more along the line of the sucks-in-new-and-interesting-ways version of Highlander II?"
uh huh (Score:2, Funny)
Navy versus Air Force (Score:4, Funny)
When the Navy having their bout with "Blue Screen Of Death", at least their ships still floats.
On the other hand, when the Air Force pilots getting "Blue Screen Of Death" on their fighter planes, that'd be the last thing they ever see.
The pencilpushers who chose Windoze over other more reliable system won't have to tackle the problems the frontliners have to face.
I have much sympathy for the poor grunts.
The US Navy has a great saying... (Score:5, Funny)
What's wrong with OS X? (Score:4, Interesting)
And no, it's not because of the don't ask don't tell policy.
Re:What's wrong with OS X? (Score:5, Insightful)
Throw out Windows, and everyone else will play nice together. Seems pretty obvious as to who should go in any hetrogeneous environment.
Jedidiah
Re:What's wrong with OS X? (Score:3, Funny)
Sorry, the network in your mom's basement does not remotely represent a huge desktop deployment.
Re:What's wrong with OS X? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:What's wrong with OS X? (Score:3, Funny)
PC/Mac price comparisons (Score:3, Insightful)
Starting price for a PC desktop: $499
This is an old and tired argument. There is no way you can find a Mac laptop or desktop that *starts* at a price as low as that offered by Dell or some other PC vendor. That's because Apple is not willing to drop below a certain quality point with their hardware.
As you move up the ladder in performance, you'll find plenty of high-end laptops and desktops that exceed their Mac counterparts in price.
Expense also includes a wide
Re:PC/Mac price comparisons (Score:3, Interesting)
Just the day before yesterday I saw a PC that was responsible for r
Re:What's wrong with OS X? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:What's wrong with OS X? (Score:5, Insightful)
Unfortunately, Joe User already runs a mail server because his box was owned by a spammer.
Re:What's wrong with OS X? (Score:5, Insightful)
One, the FBI does use Mac OS X. The article referenced by the GP is at http://www.securityfocus.com/cgi-bin/sfonline/col
Two, it doesn't matter how many el-cheapo Intel boxes you can get at Fry's from the bargain bin: what matters is how many can an institutional buyer like the Air Force get. Yeah, I think they can get a pretty good price on Macintoshes by agreeing to buy truckloads of them.
Three, the initial cost is far from the largest factor in the lifetime cost of a PC to the military. Focusing on purchase cost of a commodity good is really a case of diminishing returns. TCO is the place you want to focus.
Four, to get that large a price-differential on initial cost, you must be comparing bargain bin boxes with a Mac, or a 'typical' Dell box with the absolute highest-end Mac workstation possible. If you go apples-to-apples, feature-to-feature, you find that the price differntial between a Mac suitable for general purpose computing (iMac) and an Intel-based box from a major vendor like Dell or HP to be very small, under %10, plus/minus %15. Yeah, sometimes the Mac is cheaper.
Five, that security dig at the end of your post really sets the troll-tone for the whole message. Market share isn't installed base, please go do some research on that point. It is one of the most commonly misconstrued pieces of data that appears in technical columns. Security isn't synonymous with a lack of viruses, either, it goes well beyond that.
Lastly, cost, security and viruses are all tangential to the main question: which platform is going to actually perform with the necessary functionality, with the necessary uptime and meeting all other requirements? It may not be Mac OS X, but I really doubt its going to be Windows.
You know, I'm reading your message again, and now I'm sure: IHBT. You aren't advocating anything in your post and don't have any references to back up anything you do say. You assure us that Max (sic) would have their fair share of viruses if they had a larger market share, by which I must assume you mean installed base, but without any evidence to support the assurance. Has there been even a proof-of-concept virus for OS X? Not root kits, and not some kind of honor system virus ('Please email this shell script to all your friends and ask them to run it as root. Thank you!'), but an actual auto-execute and auto-propogate virus?
No.
Could it happen? You betcha, but the fact that it hasn't after this many years tells me that it is far from easy.
I'll assure you of this: so long as Windows is so easy to target with viruses that kids in VB classes do it for class projects, there won't be a virus issue on Mac OS X or Linux. Why would there be, when there is such a susceptible population of machines available? Even when Windows installed base drops to 30%, it will still have the majority of viruses. Why? Because its just too damn easy.
Stick that in your troll-pipe and smoke it.
Re:What's wrong with OS X? (Score:3, Insightful)
Mycroft
Our tax dollars hard(ly) at work. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Our tax dollars hard(ly) at work. (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, Windows can be quite stable... (Score:5, Informative)
I've had to put my 6 year old on her own machine because her kiddy games makes Windows unstable, but my wife and myself both run tons of "mainstream" software, ranging from Doom to UT to banking software to Eclipse to video editing software.
My machine doesn't lock up and it doesn't crash and neither does hers.
If the Navy gets a cut of Windows with all the games cut out and they remove the ability for the field user to install the junk apps, they might have something very useful (in a work environment... not for home users)
Re:Actually, Windows can be quite stable... (Score:2, Informative)
Also even though he uses netscape his machine gets at least 2-3 new spy/ad ware programs daily.
Compare that to my linux box or OS X box
Neither have any.
Yes he uses OS X daily FOR work, he chooses windows for gaming. i choose OS X as it actually goes to sleep if I close the lid, and restarts in seconds when i open it. Much better than any other machine booting up(
Re:Actually, Windows can be quite stable... (Score:2)
It completely boggles my mind. For one thing, I have a friend whose machine is always patched, firewalled, and anti-spywared, and a week or so after every format and reinstall, the ma
Re:Actually, Windows can be quite stable... (Score:3, Funny)
What was that IP address again?
Re:Actually, Windows can be quite stable... (Score:4, Insightful)
Include links to IE and Outlook exploits here.
Re:Actually, Windows can be quite stable... (Score:2, Interesting)
Also deals with global hooks, dll injection, and kernel root kits, and protect physical memory...
THIS makes windows secure...
http://www.diamondcs.com.au/processguard/
Re:Actually, Windows can be quite stable... (Score:3, Informative)
Create a whitelist of hashes and paths for executables (exe, dll, vbs, cmd, bat, reg, etc.) you want to approve running; if it isn't on the list, it cannot be run.
Re:Actually, Windows can be quite stable... (Score:2)
That being said, nothing makes Office stable. I can tell you why to... I've done a lot of office-VBA development (I feel so unclean) and the API is *HORRIBLE*. Nothing acts like its supposed to. A method that does one thing on a form say in access, *won't* work on a subform. So you have to learn all these weird rules that are undocumented
Missing the point (Score:2)
You missed it, man. No one is arguing that Windows cannot be useful. My initial point was two-fold.
First, they've already concluded that Windows is not doing what they need, so their solution is, to, yeah, buy more Windows. Good thinking!
Second, they're consolidating all of their IT operations under one half-billion dollar contract with Dell and MS.
Re:it can be... (Score:2)
Re:Actually, Windows can be quite stable... (Score:5, Informative)
Almost no malware can install without admin priviliges (even then only for that one user). Normal users can't infect the system with a virus. Still, you may want to install Firefox anyways, for its other benefits.
Re:Actually, Windows can be quite stable... (Score:5, Insightful)
The objects you would need to control to take over the system are kernel objects [winntmag.com] which IE plays no part in managing.
Since the Win32 server moved into kernel mode (in NT4), it has its own system function table [fengyuan.com], and none of those functions are a part of IE either.
Show me ONE malware program that can install itself for all users when only a normal user runs it.
Re:Actually, Windows can be quite stable... (Score:3, Funny)
We at here at Slashdot think it is time for you to leave. Your recent posts have shown a worrying trend of being both reasoned in approach and factual in content. These traits, as you will be aware, do not fit the spirit of our great website so we hope you will either reverse this worrying trend or leave us to revel in self-sustaining delusion. Thankyou for you contribution - please buy something we advertize on your way out. Not Microsoft stuff though.
The people of Slashdot.org
This is the Government.... (Score:5, Funny)
I also have $1,000,000,000 to throw at the problem. Any contractors that have the ability to accept and be responsible for receiving a pre-payment, please step forward.
Sorry, only top tier contractors will be accepted.
Oh, Sorry again. Because of a new requirement added by Congress, only the largest company in this industry will be allowed to submit a bid. And only one bid will be accepted. We don't have time to evaluate other solutions.
Good to see some honesty in government (Score:5, Funny)
To you naysayers (Score:5, Funny)
They never learn...! (Score:4, Insightful)
This confirms to me that the US will be behind the world in a few decades. I am also very sure that portions of this custom Windows will be outsourced. The Russians will get some insight to what runs the so called "greatest military machinery" in the world.
Question is: Why are the American bureucrats making mistakes such as these?
Short answer: Some official's hands must have been greased for this deal to get a "seal of approval."
Before Slashdotters mode me unfairly, I'd like to mention that it has always been the case that whenever obvious mistakes have been made, one's hands have always been found as having been greased. Numerous inquiries have shown this.
Yes, it's the new verion of Windows That Doesn't.. (Score:5, Funny)
Thanks for playing.
Re:Yes, it's the new verion of Windows That Doesn' (Score:4, Funny)
Sorry. You seem to have mispelled that. Here. Let me correct it.
Thanks for paying.
Was mentioned on CNET and ZDNET on 11/19/2004 (Score:5, Interesting)
"The Air Force is consolidating its 38 software contracts and nine support contracts with Microsoft into two all-encompassing, agencywide agreements, according to a statement seen by CNET News.com.
The contract, done in conjunction with Dell, will call for the installation and configuration of software as well as ongoing maintenance and upgrades. The deal, which includes 525,000 licenses of Microsoft's Windows and Office, is valued at $500 million over six years, according to Microsoft."
Posted this on my AQFL [aqfl.net] Web site and even submitted to
Sorry. =) (Score:5, Funny)
Different Link (Score:2, Informative)
"Extra Security" (Score:3, Insightful)
I hope that this "extra security" means that they'll remove some of the cruft that Windows has (such as Internet Exploder, LookOut! Express, and Media Player), and focus their energy on things that would make Windows have some respectable form of security (such as a decent firewall and better user/admin. handling).
Attack of the corporate bullshit (Score:2, Insightful)
Does anyone have an English translation available?
Re:Attack of the corporate bullshit (Score:2)
We'll overpay for software that will rely on unencrypted Internet transmissions and will use HACKME as its Hostname. To maintain it, we'll be instituting a draft, as covered by the Selective Serf Act.
Military Application... (Score:2)
Translated: We will be turning these systems over to teenagers who have completed a compulsary 12-month training course.
Considering... (Score:2)
Just what I always wanted! (Score:2, Funny)
What does the DOU or RFQ look like? (Score:2)
Such BS (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Such BS (Score:5, Interesting)
Linux, quite simply, blows in a managed environment.
Active Directory Group Policies, WMI, systems management server (inventory, software distribution, remote control), Operating System Deployment Feature Pack, MOM for the servers... management tools.
Oh, and they all work together, with relative ease.
I'm by no means an MS aplogist, but the Linux crowd has a long way to go before I can take them seriously enough to deploy on the 2500 desktops I am responsible for - and the 20K desktops that are in our entire enterprise.
Linux works great on the server - we have 'em all over. But it would be more practical for us to switch to Mac OSX than Linux on the desktop. And that ain't gonna happen either as we have really good pricing (as does the Air Force and Navy) via our enterprise agreements. All that stuff I quoted above - bundled in as part of our EA - the whole package. It really does work well together and makes managing my 2500 desktops quite nice.
Set up in a managed enterprise environment, windows is a stable and capable performer with lower cost of integration than any other platform out there. Might change someday, but not today.
So, when the armchair slashdot quarterbacks out there are really responsible for 2500 desktops and have their job hinging on their ability to carry out the organizations core mission instead of half baked IT experiments, then I'll be listening. Show me the tools, show me they work and I'll consider it - I enjoy the hell out of tweaking our MS sales rep - I would love nothing more than to have a real stick to hit him with instead of a bunch of trash talking on an "advocacy" web site...
Re:Such BS (Score:5, Informative)
Classified Systems (Score:2, Interesting)
SELinux? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:SELinux? (Score:5, Interesting)
I wouldn't make any bets as to whether the NSA themselves make a lot of use of SELinux. They won't really tell you what they use. They do certainly know alot about writing secure OS code though, considering how fast they managed to put SELinux together.
Random fact: The NSA web site has never been hacked or defaced. The CIA, FBI, the White House etc. have all been hacked, even if it is rarely and briefly. The NSA... never. You can't tell me it's for lack of trying.
Jedidiah.
Re:SELinux? (Score:5, Interesting)
Seriously... are they GLOATING at the fact that they're an agency which literally nobody knows what they're doing.
Heck, I remember reading somewhere that during WWII, the mere existance of the British equivilant to the NSA was known of by somewhere along the liens of two or three people outside of the agency itself -- Churchill was one of them.
Re:SELinux? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:SELinux? (Score:3)
Actually, the NSA has a really cool kids website. [nsa.gov]
WAIT: Scratch that, they USED [archive.org] to have a really cool kids website.
I'm not sure why they killed the old site that had some really cool math puzzles. It was interesting even to adults like myself.
uh ya (Score:5, Funny)
Windows and the AF and Navy (Score:3, Interesting)
Gets better (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Windows and the AF and Navy (Score:3, Insightful)
write your congressman (Score:2, Interesting)
The difference between the Air Force and NMCI (Score:2, Informative)
Also Linux is not a good fit for applications such as Global Command and Control System (GCCS) which is a Unix/Windows product (Solaris servers, Windows clients and servers). This is of course if the AF chose to port the applications to another OS, which
Re:The difference between the Air Force and NMCI (Score:3, Informative)
Gilligan spoke... (Score:3, Interesting)
I wonder what changed his mind?
Poor Highlander II (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Poor Highlander II (Score:5, Funny)
There is no reason to forgive it. I am quite positive they never made any sequels to Highlander.
Please don't ruin my carefully crafted delusions.
Jedidiah.
Highlander II? There was no Highlander II (Score:5, Funny)
Just goes to prove what I say... (Score:3, Insightful)
NMCI Mystery (Score:3, Funny)
I was at a recent all-hands meeting of the Range personnel at a Navy base (Point Mugu) that I work at. The head of the group said that we all have to work more efficiently and he was open to any suggestions about anything except NMCI. This was because the Admiral (don't ask me which one because I don't remember) considers NMCI an incredible success!!
Now anybody that works on a Navy facility that already had PCs and was forced to use NMCI knows that NMCI is an impediment to progress. I'm sure the first suggestion someone was going to make was to get rid of NMCI. The PCs are slow, and crash often because of changes pushed onto them by the network. The service is slow (as in "months to get something done"), and of course, Windows 2000 isn't the solution to every problem.
So the question to anyone out there is "Why would the admirals think it's a success?".
Is some group of people in the Navy actually better off now that NMCI is here?
Is NMCI meeting some special need the Admiral has?
Did they get kick backs from EDS or Microsoft?
Have they been co-opted by foreign nationals or aliens intent on overthrowing the U.S.?
Please post a response if you know the answer
Re:NMCI Mystery (Score:3, Interesting)
#1 The Capt, Col, whoever, in charge of J6 or whatever dept heads up the IT scheme told him it was a success.
#2 CINPACFLT (or someone) told him it would be a success
#3 His C4I Dept heads or NCTAMSPAC told him it was a success, as it is always a good idea to tell the boss his idea is great
#4 NMCI was pitched to someone (Adm somebody) as the end all be all of information systems
Re:NMCI Mystery (Score:4, Interesting)
I also labor under the nmci network. I work at research lab were we are working on the next generation technology but the nmci contract requires us to use prior generation tools!
A little known fact about the navy's tansition is that they sold the entire network infrastructure to a private concern! EDS actually "owns" the navy's entire infrastucture including the cable plant, routers, and desktop computers. this decision is so astounding dumb for several different reasons. first, if the contract doesn't work out (which it does not) how do you divorce yourself from a company that owns your infrastructure! keep in mind the navy has to work within a year-to-year budget, so if they decided to take back the infrastructure they could not because of the expense.
second, do you think it as wise to trust all your important secrets to single source? we are small detachment, our local file storage was sensible local before. now our "lan" is a "wan" over 2000 miles away! which creates preformance and reliabilty problems and nicely concentrates information for a would be hacker.
Then there is the monoculture thing, the slow desktop thing and the inability to use the software that works best for us. last I checked the list of approved software we could use mozilla v1.1. I was looking into writing a command and control intraface using xul and moz and now have to resort to vb.
No MS for Critical Systems (Score:3, Insightful)
automated updates??? (Score:5, Funny)
*gibber*. the US military is happy for _microsoft_ to push automated updates onto 500,000 windows desktops???
what did i miss. is there something i haven't quite understood?
Windows and the Air Force (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:WTF? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:WTF? (Score:3, Insightful)
The first and FORMOST is users. Most people do more harm to their machines in 1 day than I do in a year.
The second is bad hardware. The leet dude down the block hooked you up with some sweet ram. Well guess what that ram is flakey. There is a reason he fopped it off on you. Low priced comodity hardware is in the words of my dad 'you get what you pay for'.
The third is bad drivers. In the linux world ever hear of a kernel
Re:WTF? (Score:3, Insightful)
Also get down off your horse called 'open source is better in memory' world. I have been using firefox for a few months now. It takes nearly 4X the amount of ram that IE did.
I call bullshit. B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T.
You only see the 1/4 memory space IE uses because the rest of it is incorporated into the OS. If core Firefox components were incorporated into Windows the way IE is, it would show less memory usage than IE does.
Now I wouldn't even say that I'm a linux user. I don't
Re:WTF? (Score:3)
Tough. You're wrong. Go search bugzilla, there is a bug there over 2 years old that basically says "Gecko does not release memory when you close windows or tabs". At all. That's one hell of a leak and it's never even been looked at.
Seriously, trust me on this one, I know the internals of Windows pretty well. Until you actually run IE there are no significant parts of it loaded into memory. No MSHTML, no BROWSEUI, no SHDOCVW etc. You can't see it because it's not there,
Re:WTF? (Score:3, Insightful)
Let me repeat that so you do in fact hear it.
Crap.
I had problems with my DVD drive a while back, had to hard boot a couple times.
Guess what? XP - WHICH I DON'T EVEN USE DAILY, it's just on the machine (along with 2000 and RH 7.3) - decides not to boot when I DO want to use it. Tells me the "hal.dll" is corrupt or missing.
WRONG! The stupid boot loader is messed up, so it decides to send me on a wild goose chase looking for a perfectly good hal.dll. I do a bootcfg
Re:WTF? (Score:3, Informative)
The key is being aware of your environment. Turn things off that you don't need, don't use, or are harmful. If you must use cookies, set them to only accept from the originating site (bye bye DoubleClick cookies). Turn off Javascript. If a website REQUIRES Javascript, don't use it. There are certainly alternatives out there. Browse only sites you know and trust (this goes back to my pornography
Re:WTF? (Score:5, Insightful)
That such problems can't be readily addressed by a nice locked down desktop distro (anything from Novell desktop 9 to Sun's Java Desktop) using OpenOffice and the like, well that's certainly up for debate. When the claim to be fed up with MS it is a little odd that they didn't even bother to evaluate the competition.
For all those out there who will say "But Linux isn't good enough on the desktop", or "OpenOffice is no replacement for MS Office", I would point out that both Linux and OpenOffice can be perfectly serviceable in some situations; Why didn't the Air Force at least evaluate these products to see if their situation was one in which they would work?
Jedidiah.
Re:WTF? (Score:2)
http://dot.kde.org/1101482981/
Or scroll down in
Cheers
Re:WTF? (Score:5, Insightful)
Second, I imagine that such decisionmaking processes take years to complete. If they started in 2001, those fairly recent Linux desktop distros were not available. Face it, Desktop Linux faces a long long haul among large shops, and hasn't proven shit yet.
Finally, the AirForce is doing exactly what 99% of corporate America has done -- standardize on Windows desktops. I'm always puzzled why slashdot feels that government should lead the way with speculative IT projects. It makes more sense to save the taxpayer's money and stick with the known factor.
Re:WTF? (Score:5, Insightful)
The trouble is (just like in corporate environments), people don't give a shit what sort of system is used, as long as in the end, it works.
Now, most of the people on slasdot do care, because this is the sort of shit we live for. I'm sure the government gets a similar deal to what the piraters get (close to, or free), only they don't have to download ISOs, but rather get CDs shipped to them. This fact removes the "Linux is cheaper" stigma that most people will shout whenever someone dares to consider Windows as a solution. Support contracs probably come cheap too, or whatever.
As you mentioned, they'll standardize on Windows, since chances are, the majority of outside contacts use this as well. Plus, it sounds like they already use Windows on their desktops, which means they are giving Microsoft the ultimatum: Give us a working system, or we walk. Even with all those potentially cheap licenses and support contracts, it's probably a very large chunk of change, something that ideall Microsoft wouldn't want to lose. The Air Force is probably banking on the idea that Microsoft will get it's shit together and deliever a wicked fucking system.
This also gives them a choice to see how alternatives have come along during this do or die period of time.
Re:WTF? (Score:5, Informative)
It's worth noting that massive amount of Air Force computing needs are not "critical shit". There are an awful lot of desktop machines running basic office apps to fill in reports in triplicate, make requisititons, do accounting, and all the other "needs" of any bureaucratic system.
Of course there are a lot of desktop apps too, but the Air Force does run a lot of critical shit. However, most of those servers run some form of Unix or a mainframe OS. Some run Windows, but those are not the big ones that need lots of speed and runs millions of database transactions per day.
The Air Force is Microsoft's single largest customer, according to the speech Ballmer gave to us about a year ago. It is no wonder that the only way not to have a Windows desktop is to be a developer for a Unix system. As a whole, the Air Force is dead set on having a single sign-on web-based portal system (ASP), using Active Directory to run all the communications.
Not only are they moving toward locking the whole Air Force into proprietary Microsoft technology, they are consolidating services into a single point of failure. If a terrorist could take out a single data center, they could essentially take out the whole Air Force. Yeah, the planes might be able to fly, but where would the generals get their information? How would mechanics keep track of what needs to be done to the thousands of fighter jets, making sure that routine maintenance is done on time? Military hardware takes a beating, and computers track all that stuff. One dirty bomb. One pickup truck full of fertilizer. It could disable "the greatest air force on earth."
No, I will not say which datacenter I am talking about, I do not want Ashcroft's goons to drag me away to Guantanamo ;-)
Re:Yet another uninformed piece of blather (Score:5, Informative)
Blah, blah, blah. You talk a good line of shit, but, alas, that's all it is: shit. You have no idea how the military's tactical computer systems work or you wouldn't have spewed that odiferous blather. Give your anti-Microsoft zealotry a break and quit making up stuff in order to sound like you know what you're talking about. I know that you don't and you know that you don't.
You may be a troll, but I'll bite. First of all, I am not anti-Microsoft, I am anti-monoculture. If the Air Force picked Red Hat as the desktop OS of choice, I would object. Same with MacOS, FreeBSD, Solaris, whatever. Diversity is key.
"The military" is a broad term. I have been working in Air Force IT for over four years now, developing database applications deployed world-wide for a variety of tasks from maintenance to intelligence. Notice I make no claims about the Army, Marines or Navy. Only the Air Force, where I know first hand how things work. I know how the pieces of the IT puzzle fit together, and I am upset by what I see. All of these critical database systems that handle the Air Force's data are consolidated in a few locations. Yes, a single truck bomb could severely cripple the Air Force. If you are so smart, you tell me where to detonate it.
Re:WTF? (Score:5, Informative)
The military plans so that there is no single point of failure.
Yes, in some ways, but in others they do not. I don't know about the other branches, but the Air Force is pushing for consolidated IT. For example, the application I currently work on runs on a server in a building with about 500 other applications. Not all are critical to day to day or combat operations, but enough are that a single terrorist incident could cause catastrophic loss of mission capability. Sure, we would be able to fix it, but it would take long enough that terrorists or foreign governments could attack in the window of opportunity and have better chances of succeeding.
Couple that with the fact that countries such as China are training teams of hackers to wage computer warfare, and maybe terrorists don't even need to detonate a car bomb to take our systems out.
The military have a joke that if someone took out the Pentagon they would be doing them a failure by eliminating a lot of red tape. They won't relly completely on anything. Datacenter get destroyed and they will work around it.
That is a different thing altogether. If the command and control was taken out, we have backup plans (e.g. NORAD) to take command. Besides, most mission critical systems are not located in Washington, D.C. There are a few data centers scattered around the nation, and any backup command center would still use the same data centers. That was my point, although I agree with what you said.
evaluation? (Score:3, Insightful)
two words: intense lobbying.
Re:WTF? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:WTF? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:WTF? (Score:3, Insightful)
Seriously, who really needs fancy, complicated formatting? Especially, who in the government needs it? I can't think of any use, other than a 13-year-old girl's art project, that could possibly need formatting complicated enough that RTF or HTML can't do it. Can you? Moreover, any document where formatting is that important ought to be made with TeX anyway!
Government documents ought t
Re:WTF? (Score:3, Insightful)
Remember, it's the government. Accessibility, even to those who don't have or can't use Word (or any other particular program), matters. Do you think they hypothetical blind person doing a FOIA request is going to be
You confuse "tool" with "format". (Score:3, Insightful)
Then, any company can build a word processor that handles that format.
Only then can the best "tool" be chosen for the job.
Otherwise, if MS Word doesn't have the capabilities you need, you don't have any options because you've locked yourself into a proprietary format.
Re:WTF? (Score:3, Insightful)
Have you ever heard of something called "paper?" It's an archaic file format that was government standard as recently as 20 years ago. Not only is it non-proprietary (except for coded (i.e., encrypted) documents, but that's different), but almost everybody already has the necessary hardware and software to read it. It's such a good format that it's still widely used even so long after it was deprecated!
If that's st
Re:WTF? (Score:2)
It's not hard for the Air Force to say: "We are sick of issues with MS, but even a provisional look at alternatives, significantly [list of alternatives considered here] were all considered, but were not viable."
That pretty much clears them, takes no effort whatsoever, and is rather surprising they didn't say as much if they did put any consideration into alternatives.
Jedidiah.
Re:WTF? (Score:2)
Jedidiah.
Re:WTF? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:WTF? (Score:2)
Re:Linux help? (Score:2)
btw, I still can't stop smiling over the decision of the Air Force...
Windows driven guided misiles, yummy...
Re:Well... (Score:2, Funny)
Did Netcraft confirm it yet?
In Soviet Russia operating systems buy the Air Force!
Re:Well... (Score:2)
You really think anybody in the military or the US govt gives a flying fuck about that? If so I have a bridge I would like to sell you.
Re:Eww gross! (Score:2)
Except that this is software, so I think it means a group of people whose way of life revolves around (a culture) getting mono [sourceforge.net] to work on Windows.
Which, of course is equally gross. Like the assumption that Christopher Lambert is a Scotsman, or that Sean Connery is Spanish.