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75 Comments
- benitojuarez, on 10/12/2007, -4/+36Theyre just saying this to get a lower price out of microsoft when they go negotiate with them in the mentioned trip later this month.
- C1aran, on 10/12/2007, -1/+18Not having to apply security updates? Obviously you haven't used any linux desktop eg. ubuntu, which also pushes you security updates constantly. Not that this is a bad thing, just pointing out that Microsoft aren't the only ones to push security updates.
- OBKenobi, on 10/12/2007, -10/+27"It's a different sort of computing strategy," he said. "It takes the desktop out of the way so you're running a very thin client. From a security and management standpoint that would have some advantages."
You're seeing Google's lobbyists in action.
They should stick with Linux and Open Office, or some other desktop app. - TokenUser, on 10/12/2007, -3/+18"It's a different sort of computing strategy," he said. "It takes the desktop out of the way so you're running a very thin client. From a security and management standpoint that would have some advantages."
What a crock. A "different sort of computing strategy"?? Computer systems have gone full circle. This is a return to the central computer / remote terminal model that IBM built its reputation on. Instead of green screens, there is a thin client. Granted, the thin client can process the incoming data to make the display a little prettier, and the user experience a LOT better, but all the processing is done on the back end. - GMorgan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12It is a different sort of computing strategy though. It's like me telling a world with guns that a crossbow is a different sort of weapon, it would be true even if the crossbow is ancient.
The computing world always goes in circles. Not only are we seeing a return to a thin client system but also with Java computers are running things that look suspiciously like the old microcode computers used to have to make different platforms equal.
30 years from now people will be talking about dumping inefficient generic platforms and moving back to computers with their own power. - cquinnd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12Finding the most appropriate tools for the job, would be much better.
Being able to evaluate many different options can lead to a more informed choice in the long run, barring the usual problems of internal bias, user preference and questions of deployment and management. - Yazilliclick, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11Bingo!
- championchap, on 10/12/2007, -5/+14I'd digging you down for signing your post, even though your nae is clearly displayed
- GMorgan, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10The most appropriate tool is the cheapest option that is good enough for 99% of people.
- killdashnine, on 10/12/2007, -5/+13Vista and Office 2007 have their advantages, but I have to admit that from what I've experienced, Vista doesn't really offer an upgrade that's worth the hefty price. What's happening here is that businesses are starting to realize, "What the hell am I getting out of this other than some pretty pictures and a couple gadgets that Google Desktop already puts on my screen for free?" They're smart enough to push back. Go FAA!
- gotamd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7They're not "ditching" Windows Vista if they don't even have it yet. The title is very misleading.
- Shananra, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Notice how the article states that they're going to Microsoft to discuss the possibility of sticking with Windows. Does no one else think this whole announcement is being used as a bargaining tool? I don't think they're really planning on switching.
- NinjaBoy, on 10/12/2007, -5/+12Since i switched my company to Linux I have had way less calls. The only problem is training. The spreadsheet functuions are different from that of excel so people have to redo their formulas
- SirBotchness, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Yea but wait until the day the internet dies in the office and they can't use those Google aps. I like the idea of moving to Linux. Windows licensing costs way too much, and its a yearly investment. I would personally suggest open office in this case. More functionality, more programs, free, and it’s on the local machines rather than on the internet where it is less secure.
- h2d2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"Bowen, however, said he has not definitely ruled out an FAA-wide upgrade to Windows Vista and related software -- if Microsoft can satisfy his concerns over compatibility with the agency's existing applications and demonstrate why such a move would make financial sense given Google Apps's low price. "We have a trip to Microsoft scheduled for later this month," said Bowen."
Microsoft will greatly lower the Price of Vista and Office 2007 for the FAA and offer extended technical support on all it's app... thus luring the FAA away from Linux and Google.
*** OR ***
FAA will do a test run of the new Linux/Google setup and when most of the employees would complain about not being able to find the "start button", FAA will say it is reconsidering... - noseeme, on 10/12/2007, -8/+12Notice how we always hear about people considering switching to Linux, but never seeing it happen.
Yes, that's right, it's not coincidence, it's digg sensationalism. - Dumbledorito, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Could we replace the flight controller computers first? I never did hear how the debacle over those ancient machines turned out...
- MioTheGreat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Sandbox means semi-detached testing environment. Seriously. You should have to pass some sort of computer literacy test to be allowed to post on digg....
- betasp, on 10/12/2007, -7/+11They are talking about running Linux as a locked-down client. It won't require any maintenance, and if a machine fails just re-image it and move on. I have worked in thin client environments most of my career and many have been Linux based. After a short period, all you really worry about is the server. If a machine is not working right, swap it out and re-image... total down time is less than 5 minutes.
...dugg you down for being ignorant. - Doghound, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@shrewduser
They haven't decided to use Linux yet: "Bowen, however, said he has not definitely ruled out an FAA-wide upgrade to Windows Vista and related software -- if Microsoft can satisfy his concerns over compatibility with the agency's existing applications and demonstrate why such a move would make financial sense given Google Apps's low price."
What I don't understand is why DOT & FAA are being so quick to upgrade. I don't see the software that they use, but I do fly on a weekly basis and have seen delays only due to weather and other stupid problems, not with the FAA failing to coordinate the launch and landing of planes. If it isn't broke, why fix it? Besides, they could incure even greater costs having to retrain all of their employees regardless of what solution they use. - Yazilliclick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@Invid
Yeah spam works wonders. I hear it's a big industry and gets product names out there...
Fact of the matter is that when upgrades come up any IT department worth a damn looks at all the options regardless of how unlikely they are. It's not a story until something changes, at least not to anybody who's not all caught up in the Linux love triangle. - Yazilliclick, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5haha gotta love the comparisons between a completely un-administered windows environment where the user has all the rights to do whatever they want to the desktop and some other OS that actually has an administrator that locks things down. Sorry but that's not a comparison of features, that's a comparison of IT management policies.
- qmeister, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8They're getting an IT workforce filled with certified administrators. You forget that administering Linux over a large scale means searching for employees in a very thin pool.
Chances of survival of a large change like this for a federal agency....MINIMAL.
I guarantee the FAA doesn't go to Google Apps or Linux at the desktop. - biggbrother, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I had difficulties checking your sources for that statement.
- eyeTguy, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7I call BS on this part "the Department of Transportation has placed a moratorium on upgrades to Windows Vista, Office 2007, and Internet Explorer 7"... I work for one of the States Central DOT office and we are currently testing these products now. Deployment of Office 2007 is not far off... should happen within the next 6 months.
- Quix, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7"Windows is too "user friendly" for them to throw it away."
Really?
"The average state/gov employee would not be able to operate a Linux-based OS!"
From personal experience, the average state/gov employee is not able to effectively operate Windows either (and that's not a knock on civil servants - a know a lot of privately-employed or self-employed people that continue to fumble around in Windows like it's the first time they've touched a computer, despite YEARS of Windows use). So you're going from a state of ineptitude in a commercial ($$$) OS environment to a state of ineptitude in an open-source OS environment. Seems like the free solution would have the edge. - bradleyland, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Some time in the 1960's, computers fill a room, and the practicality of a thin client (terminal) is the only reasonable solution.
1981, IBM announces the "PC" and everyone proclaims the death of the thin client.
2003, "Web 2.0" (puke) arrives and thin clients are in again.
Ever get the feeling you're going in circles? - baalzebub, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3lets just wait & see, sometimes GNU/Linux is used as a bargaining chip, other times they are serous...
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4This is complete BS. I know for a fact that DOL, DOE, CDC, MSHA, and NIOSH are all testing Longhorn Server, Vista, and Office 2007 in their sandboxes. None of these entities are currently migrating to any of the listed products, and currently do not use them en masse as per their policy but I guarantee you that they will, and since the bulk of the US Gov is heavily entrenched in Active Directory and Exchange, I highly doubt a mass exodus to an entirely different platform will happen anytime soon.
- Yazilliclick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@Crazyz
Actually most government departments I've found deal largely with office products and a couple of custom built business programs for filling in form data. It's by far the minority of government employees that will be dealing with advanced programs like autocad, mathcad or sql and a VERY minute amount would have anything to do with audio or video engineering. And yes I have worked in the government, in support actually. - omegajb, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Yawn, another xxx is thinking about switching to Linux. Until they take in account retraining the end users and additional headaches. This will be news if they do switch but just another useless story till then.
- shrewduser, on 10/12/2007, -11/+13i'm sure eventually openoffice (or other productivity suites) will dawn on them.... its good that they're using linux :)
- biggbrother, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Yes, your arguments are so strong, you have persuaded them not to switch.
Oh wait, someone else posted that Vista is not so easy. Now they're going back in the other direction. - ajifans, on 10/12/2007, -8/+10Unfriendly?
The users won't have to install Gentoo on a daily basis.
Depending on the Desktop Environment used, for the vast majority of the user's daily tasks the only real difference would be in the logo's used.
The lack of viruses, spyware, and continuous MS security patches, would free up the IT staff's time to implement improvements instead of putting out fires. - benitojuarez, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Fine look at it objectively, the FAAs main concern is compatibility of the applications they currently use, surely they use custom made inhouse software in some areas. Yah like that ***** going to work out of the box on linux. So far every application I use has worked fine on vista with the exception of games (nvidias fault) only netlimiter required me to disable UAC in order to install it. Troll my ass.
- biggbrother, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@Doghound
Large agencies like the FAA don't usually upgrade every computer at one time. The article reads to me that as they replace old computers running XP, they will decide which direction to go. They probably have a small percentage of computers being replaced every quarter. - RoflMyWaffle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1my dad works for em and said he hasn't heard anything, so i can't help verify this
- schestowitz, on 10/12/2007, -17/+18Clearly they just choose a big brand name. OpenOffice or other Open Source suites would serve them much better.
- diggnationdevon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This title is inaccurate. They are still using Windows XP, not Windows Vista.
- selrahc, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Really? It seems to me that windows asks me to reboot about 50% of the time when it updates(rough estimate, sometimes I don't notice when it is updating either).
- eyeTguy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Quix.... Like I said, the State and Government agencies will not leave Microsoft for a Linux OS. The state/gov doesn't give a ***** about open source or how much something costs. They have the money to purchase whatever they want, from whomever they want.
This whole thing is about moving to Vista anyway. Just b/c they aren't moving to Vista right now doesn't mean they aren't going to in the future. And it certainly doesn't mean they are looking at another OS, because they aren't. The whole deal is with Vista's incompatibility issues with the software we are currently running (which happens to be older than dirt anyway). MS will fix the issues and the state/gov will continue to use Microsoft products jus like they have since the beginning!
P.S.
I bet half of you fools bashing MS and saying "yea, go linux, woohoo" can't even install linux. I, on the other hand,
have years of experience with many different flavors of Linux, as well as Windows. Don't sit there and talk *****
about how vehicles suck, then hop in one and drive off.... - flaakmonkey, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Google apps are really nice, cause they are accessible from anywhere. And Linux is always good no matter what flavor you use.
- Neiby, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Yeah. Go download PCLinuxOS. You'll be much happier in the long run.
- andycr512, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Try IRC, there are a lot of helpful people on ##linux on freenode that can probably help with your printer. In my case, it was a matter of taking the printer out of the box, clicking System->Administration->Printing, clicking new printer, selecting the model, and it just worked, no driver installation or anything. The hardest part of installing the new printer was putting in the ink cartridges :) Chances are yours isn't automatically detected and you just need to install a driver.
- ajifans, on 10/12/2007, -5/+5Microsoft security patches require you to reboot, linux ones do not. You do not get the same down time with Linux.
I use Ubuntu, however I doubt an organisation would. They would use older but more stable packages, which require less security packages. - yossarian24, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1they talked about trying to use a non Microsoft browser... why not use Firefox?
Would it still be free for use by groups such as the FAA? - Patranus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I think that this idea is kinda stupid. Hear me out first and then pass judgment.
First of all, the government does NOT need to buy more computers. The computers they have server their purpose - text editing, spread sheets, power point, CTA, ect. Why do they need new computers for the end user? I could understand new back-end systems but not front-end systems.
Since the government owns licenses for Windows XP and office, why do they need to upgrade them? It is a waste of money.
Now I am not a windows fan boy at all, I use my Linux and OS X computers 90% of the time but it just does not make since. If you are going to roll out new computers it might make since as the only license (google office) is relatively inexpensive.
I do think however that deploying a product less than a year old is a mistake. I do think that in the future google office will hold its own, but it a new and needs time to mature.
There is really no reason for any company to upgrade to Vista or the new office if they own licenses for both. What do these products offer a corporate user that are not offered in XP? (Maybe some management and deployment features but that is a streach)
I just do not understand the governments need to spend money on "stuff" that does not need to be replaced. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1This is an "industry win" situation.
Meaning: The FAA is bending both MS and Google over hardcore to get what they want. I suspect they will stay with MS...and they will get a HELL of a deal from them. - sadatoni, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Hey, I know, lets go back to the "Green Screen". Anyone have any extra VT100's laying around?q
- OBKenobi, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Microsoft troll attack detected.
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