Obama Looking At Open Source?

An anonymous reader writes "'The secret to a more secure and cost effective government is through Open Source technologies and products.' The claim comes from one of Silicon Valley's most respected business leaders Scott McNealy, a co-founder of Sun Microsystems. He revealed he has been asked to prepare a paper on the subject for the new administration."

Comments

Re:McNealy?

[Anonymous Coward]

You really can't think Obama will suck compared to what we just went through.

Bush was a black hole of suckage, the likes of which we won't see for a long time, he sucked in an exceptional way.

Re:McNealy?

[Reality Master 101]

You really can't think Obama will suck compared to what we just went through.

If you think "things can't get any worse", then you are very, very wrong. There's a lot of talk about the Great Depression lately in a romantic "woe is me" way, but few people understand just how bad it really was.

Bush sucked, but it's entirely possible Obama will suck in fantastically enormous ways (e.g., spending us into bankruptcy), all with an optimistic belief of doing the "right" thing. Good intentions count for nothing. Obama is brimming over with good intentions, but the only thing I care about is results. If he fails, then he's a failure.

Re:Terrible idea.

[k1e0x]

Ahh I see.. such logic.

Man has always ruled other men.. so men *must* rule other men, right? Great scholars such as yourself had made similar statements before. "Man has never flown.. so man will never fly.. right?" They way you think I'm surprised we do not have a king or tribal chieftain.

I can't try it. The state wont allow me to ignore it.. such as ignore my taxes.. or ignore their courts.. they will kill me if I don't bow to them. However.. there are those that are trying.. http://freestateproject.org/

If you believe it is an issue with complexity then why do you support a centrally controlled system? How can a leader or government more accurately gauge the needs and desires of a large number of people better than those people themselves operating independently? They can't.. it's not about complexity and any child should know bureaucracy only *adds* complexity.. it's about force, plain as day. Forcing people to do what you, or the majority, or the king believes is best. I am opposed to this system because I believe it's wrong to instigate force on others. Force is at the root of all of the wars, murder, death, theft and rape man has ever known.. and it's the only tool a government has to use upon you. You asked me to.. so try saying no to government and see how far you get.. they will beat you, steal your property, throw you in a cage, ruin your life, and eventually kill you if you continue to resist them.. go on.. tell a cop no next time one asks you to do something.. test it out..

You say it "Can not work, because it has never worked.".. but how many have actually tried it? With the hundred of thousands of tyrannical governments created in all of history.. there are less than a dozen that have been truly free. Various forms of tyranny and oppression are ancient but still a popular idea.. freedom is the new untested idea. Some nations have actually done better under anarchy then otherwise. http://www.mises.org/story/2066 but you know.. you believe in magic and expect me to present you with a perfect utopia.. and such a thing will never exist.

The battle is not a battle of force.. it's a battle of education and it's a battle of philosophy.. Some day, in some future age, I hope all men will look back on this age and see the barbaric ways we control others just as we today look back on former societies and their similar barbaric ways.

Now I have a philosophical question for you.

What would you say a state is? (As in "The State of California".)

It's a simple question.. but the answer is not so simple. Is it the ground? If "The State of California" is a geographic location, can you tell me where "The State of California" was located before September 9, 1850? Perhaps we are getting ahead of ourselves.. lets try looking at the "facts" they teach us in school. The "states" and the "United States of America" were somehow "created" by men and women and pieces of paper and ink called "constitutions.". Now being nothing more than paper and ink, "constitutions" are only obligatory on men and women as contracts, a form of agreement, this is called a "body corporate (or politic)" in legal language, however those people who formed such agreements are now dead. Hmm.. Going back to the basics just brings up more questions such as.. "If contracts are always voluntary.. how does this agreement formed by now dead men extend to you?" Well never mind that.. we want to focus on this question.

You see.. The truth is.. "The State of California" is not much more diffrent than "The Pepsi Corporation" .. it's a figment of our imagination, a type of mass religion, it exists.. only because we believe it exists. It's a lot like the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus, the only problem is there are a lot of people who believe in that Tooth Fairy and they will kick your head in you you don't follow what they believe to be the "rules" the Tooth Fairy decided on. If there is anything at all that is actually tangible for a state.. it is nothing other than a piece of paper lying in some file cabinet somewhere..