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What Happened To Obama's Open Source Adviser?
gov_coder writes "Back in January of 2009, various news articles announced that former Sun CEO Scott McNealy was to become the Obama administration's Open Source Technology adviser. Currently, however, a search for Scott on the whitehouse.gov website yields zero results. Searching a bit more, I found that Scott is currently working on CurriWiki, a kind of Wikipedia for school curriculum. So my question is, what happened? Did some lobbyist block the appointment? Did Scott decide his other activities were more important? Scott, if you are out there — please tell us what happened. There are many people working in government IT, such as myself, who were really excited about the possibilities of an expanded role for open source software in government, and are now wondering what went wrong."
What Happened To Obama's Open Source Adviser?
He was invited to One Microsoft Way in Redmond, WA and while there discussing standards had a very unfortunate ... shall we say ... "accident?" Which left his voice sounding very metallic and his movements very jerky and unnatural. It was shortly after this that he stood up at the next White House IT meeting and declared, "Whitehouse.gov should be running on Silverlight and Silverlight only let's set so double the killer delete select all blue blue blue blue blue blue ... " At which point the administration decided that it just wasn't working out and removed the position quietly altogether and unexisted Mr. McNealy (or what was left of him anyway).
My work here is dung.
It was just another lie from the WH. More broken promises.
...with a small shell script.
Dr. Evil
Yours In Vladivostok,
Nick Haflinger
A lobbyist cannot block an appointment. A lobbyist is someone that beseaches an appointed or elected official on behalf of someone else, usually a special interest group or corporation. Look it up.
Who wants to know?
The same goes for: Gates, Jobs, Ellison, and every other Silicon Valley entrepreneur.
RIP America
July 4, 1776 - September 11, 2001
Just a guess, but typically that's how things roll in politics...
He's still got a page at Sourceforge, but he hasn't been updated in months and his developer stopped answering emails.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
the single fat colored mammy sitting at home pregnant with her fourth child waiting for her next welfare check?
Sure, because only 'colored' mammys do this.
Reply to That ||
I would not be surprised if McNealy's appointment is stuck in confirmation hell. He probably requires confirmation by the Senate (see Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution). The Obama administration has been very slow in getting their people confirmed, in part because of the concentration on the Supreme Court vacancies, in part because of Republican intransigence (continuing the Democratic intransigence during the Bush administration, which harks back to the conflicts with Clinton, and back and forth it goes ...).
Fantastic! The Open Source model make even more sense for education than it does for software. I'd like to urge all you nerds out there contribute content to this site -- Java Apps, coding tutorials, etc. In a few years, School Districts should be able to "Just Say No" to expensive textbooks!
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
Am I the only one here who never really bought-in to Sun's latter-day 'open' evangelism?
To me Sun's 'open' efforts always seemed to me to fall into one of the following categories:
1. "Fsuk M$!" - e.g. Open Office
2. Forced to do it by their own guys - e.g. Java
3. Desperate attempt to stay alive/relevant (too late) - e.g. 'open' Solaris, (a bit of a FOSS joke, since most of the work was done by Sun employees)
I'll admit that I'm not fan of Scott McNealy, who - in my opinion - failed to navigate the dotcom bust, and subsequent massive fall in hardware revenues, and then presided over the gradual, sad demise of a formerly pretty good company.
Putting aside my bias, I'll still advance that there are plenty of other people better qualified to be a FOSS tzar.
Your nominations?
It's even more obvious than you think. He's open-sourced the advisory position so anyone can fill the position and make changes.
He just has other things he is working on as well. He is likely still in contact with the White House, they may just have forgotten to add him to their registry on whitehouse.gov.
This was before SUN was sold to Oracle I believe. Back then SUN was trying hard to be know as the "Open Source" company and I believe this was simply a marketing ploy by McNealy to get SUN more business in gov. I don't doubt that he spoke to Obama but I think the whole thing was over hyped by SUN.
Scott appointed: 1.2009....
William Gates visits WH: 10.2009
Scott MIA: 1.2010
Gates goes on college tour: 4.2010
Gates applauds Indian rich guy for sharing wealth: 4.2010 - saying that the norm in the US is 20% and that US benefactors need to give more along the lines of 40% ~ 50% while not mentioning that he & Melinda give along the lines of 1% ~ 2%.
They work remotely from Elbonia....
"You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it."
didn't help.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
According to this article, he was merely asked to write a paper. That hardly sounds like it was a full-time position as an advisor to the administration.
I live ze unknown. I love ze unknown. I am ze unknown.
They have to complete sequencing and publication before he can be released.
Maybe there is a option not listed - Obama lied in order to help him get votes.
I know it's shocking that a career politician that rapidly rose through the ranks of Chicago in one of the the most corrupt districts there would somehow not be totally truthful. After all he talks nice and chanted "Yes we can" over and over and over. I'm certain, absolutely certain, that if you could just get a message through to him he would realize the enormous accident that occurred and go have a nice long talk with his advisers and other appointees (whom he had *no* idea were doing all these bad things) and fix everything right up.
Really, even if you think everything he has done so far is peachy keen and figure the guy is mostly honest - he is still a politician. At best I would say an open source advisory is so down the priority list that it will likely never happen. Lets face it - he promised to nix the "do not ask do not tell" policy regarding gays in the military, that one simply takes him to write out an official statement and it has been over a year (and promised more than once, basically every time that segments polling numbers really start dropping) and still not done.
In his own auto-biography he points out that people will necessarily be disappointed in him as he presents himself as a blank slate and allows people to write whatever they want on it. He isn't a blank slate - the Obama you are looking for only existed in your mind, not in reality. He never went anyway as he didn't exist. Man many many others are slowly coming to realize this, sadly Obama the idealist (whichever one you wanted to see) doesn't really exist, Obama the politician is the only one that does. He will continue to milk the blank slate and hope that the person you once saw will "return" for as long as he can too - that is the nature of a politician. Some groups have learned how to manipulate a politician and treat him as such (assuming they have enough money and or votes), others sit around confused.
But if it makes you feel better - I'll leave this one generic as it is currently the answer given for all of them: Obama has WAY too much to worry with on his plate. What with all these global crises, economic downtime, and the seditious Tea Partiers blocking real reform it is no wonder he hasn't got to yet. Since he inherited such a mess it will most likely take longer than his Presidency to fix it and get on with the real work that America needs and address your issue.
And as long as that boiler plate works with his core group he will run with it too.
------- Sorry about the spelling, I suffer from two problems. Dyslexia makes it difficult to spell well, lazy makes it
Open source would require transparency...it the Obama administration...dah
They arent the sole sponsor, but generously provided a meeting room every month. Several of their employees attend these meetings. I dont recall any of them giving a presentation there. But I havent been attending very long.
That may not be a bad idea.
He is also working with Greenplum and spoke at the gartner/greenplum convention earlier this month.
Scott McNealy is ineligible for a czar position in the Obama administration as he is current on all his tax liabilities.
Why would Obama want Scott McNealy? Take my advice Obama! Put Al Gore in charge, he invented the Internet and Al Gore Rhythms.
Actually, the one news article linked from the text "various news articles" in the summary, as well as every other web source I can find, indicates McNealy was asked to write one position paper on the use of open source software by the administration, and that was apparently presented to the Administration shortly after the request was made (this article from late February discusses some actions that occurred after the paper was presented.)
The issue was never about McNealy being hired as for the position of "Open Source Adviser", it was about McNealy providing one-time advice on the use of open source software.
the guy who tries to do good and sometimes fails... or the guy who tries to do bad and often succeeds?
the preceding post was not spell checked... suck it.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Dave Cole, Deputy Director for Technology at the White House Office of New Media, @ DrupalCon SF this month:
Open Source in Government Keynote
bah. now it surely will stop. let's hope that doesn't involve flying***BAM***
Rich
How come he's richer than when he started then? If it hadn't been for the collapse of the dollar, he would have been richer than when he started "giving". 'cos the funny thing is his contributions are deductible and they go to enlarging the coffers of Microsoft, which he gets money from.
Just sayin'
here Obama hate.
It could just be their turn at the cycle, but have you watched? jeez, they literally say one thing, then say the exact opposite an hour later.
That sounds just like Democrats, as does the rest.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
Are there any news on the plan to put OpenOffice.org in Federal offices?
(Remember: http://blogs.pcworld.com/communityvoices/archives/2008/06/your_second_eco.html)
Very true. It is too bad the rotten million spoil it for the good few.
You've got your facts wrong. Scott McNealy was never slated to become the Obama administration's Open Source Technology adviser. According to the articles you referenced, all he was going to do was write a paper:
Scott McNealy "revealed he has been asked to prepare a paper on the subject (open source technologies and products) for the new administration."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7841486.stm
"According to BBC News, the Obama administration has asked Sun chairman McNealy for a position statement justifying the administration's use of open source software. The BBC wasn't clear on who specifically asked him, but McNealy's spokesperson, on a query by the Linux community, acknowledged that McNealy had been meeting over the last year with members of the administration's new technology initiative, which apparently led to this request."
http://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/News/Sun-s-McNealy-Advises-Obama-Administration-on-Open-Source
I don't know if Scott ever got around to writing that paper. Searching the White House website for papers on Open Source, the only one I found was here:
Open Source Software and Cyber Defense
A White Paper provided to the National Security Council and Homeland Security Council as input to the White House Review of Communications and Information Infrastructure.
Bob Gourley, Chief Technology Officer, Crucial Point LLC
http://www.whitehouse.gov/files/documents/cyber/Gourley_Bob_Open_Source_Software_and_Cyber_Defense_01_April_2009.pdf
Obama and open source? Wouldn't that like buying tires from KFC? Yet, I'll bet they would have interesting tread patterns.
Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
Both parties do it, it simply has now gotten obnoxious enough for all to see. If you go back to Lincoln's era, the politics was just as nasty. Politicians do it when they have nothing to contribute but are afraid their opposition does.
Actually the nastiness goes back further, it goes back to the 1780s-90s at least. Some so called Christians campaigned negatively about Thomas Jefferson before he was elected President. A Reverend Jonn Mason[.doc] said Jefferson was "a profane philosopher and an infidel." "Christians!" he exclaimed, "it is thus that a man, whom you are expected to elevate to the chief magistracy, insults yourselves and your Bible!" During the campaign of 1800 TJ and John Adams, who were lifelong friends before the campaign, each camp accused the other of ugly stuff. In 1828 Andrew Jackson's wife Rachel Jackson was called a slut, adulteress, or bigamous. She ended up dying before he won, some say the scandal caused her to have a heart attack. Jackson blamed the press on her death.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filibuster_(United_States_Senate)
Just glance at the graph on that page. You are delusional if you think Democrats have EVER done anything like this to Republicans. Democrats have NEVER used filibuster the way Republicans are using it now. Hell, Republicans have never used it like this. No one has, ever. Republicans have been beating their own records for obstructionism since Obama was elected. No one has ever used rhetoric so violent and divisive. When Republicans use such rhetoric as 'treasonous' and 'communist', they are then beholden to fight such evil with no mercy and no compromise, or admit that their rhetoric was false and misleading. At this point, any compromise would undermine the message they have been drilling into their base: Obama is an evil communist Muslim fascist dictator who is worse than Hitler multiplied by Pol Pot and raised to the power of Stalin. You can't compromise with that. You can't practice bipartisanship with that. You can only fight it with every weapon in your arsenal.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Until Open Source(TM) starts making major campaign contributions, this is how it's going to be.
"I don't care about the Constitution!" --Bill O'Reilly, November 17, 2009
Whatever happened to "Dissent is patriotic"?
Hold on, something a politician said would happen didn't? Truly, I'm shocked and amazed.
What's next, Death? Taxation?
What Happened To Obama's Open Source Adviser?
He was invited to One Microsoft Way in Redmond, WA and while there discussing standards had a very unfortunate ... shall we say ... "accident?"
IP Czar takes Open Source Adviser. Check mate!
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
Uh...so where IS the article? The summary just has a bunch of links to random, related websites.
Disclaimer: The opinions and actions of the US Gov't are in no way representative of those held by this author or its ci
It was determined that no money would be coming the Democrats way, so on to more lucrative projects like CCX...
There used to be one which would have been advising YOU. But I heard it doesn't exist anymore so you should be safe...
Actually, one could argue reasonably about whether he was, indeed, a christian, but I tend to give him the benefit of the doubt, and suppose that he was, at worst, a Deist, and more probably either a Gnostic or an Agnostic.
Thomas Jefferson was a Diest, however by 1 definition he was also a Christian. Being a Diest he didn't believe Jesus was the "Son of God" but he did believe Jesus was a great teacher. TJ took the Bible and cut out all the stuff about miracles, the supernatural, and such and published his own Jefferson's Bible.
Agnostic: One who is not certain that such a truth exists.)
"Agnostic" is used in another way, a, without and gnosis, knowledge, so "without knowledge". That's how I use it myself, I am agnostic or without knowledge.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
he's still alive.
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/04/15/scott-mcnealy-can-still-dish/
no mention of obama or his administration.
It will probably elicit a few chuckles, but Microsoft actually has its own employee-run LUG.
Both parties have gotten to the point where they don't have a coherent platform anymore.
Right. SInce they can't even manage themselves, why should they be allowed to ride herd over us?
That's why the only answer that will really start fixing things is smaller federal government. Smaller government means they control less money which means they get smaller donations which means less corruption.
Don't just move the power slider from one side to the other every few years. Seek to adjust the volume itself...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
People always say this. So, where's the list of all Congressmen with net worth of more than a billion dollars?
Ah, reminds me of the old joke about the priest who skives his responsibilities to play a secret game of golf, then God punishes him with a hole-in-one, on the grounds "who can he tell?"
A congressman selling influence isn't going to be paying tax on the transaction. He might be rich as stink offshore, but who can he tell?
This is why society develops secret societies with secret handshakes, so that old men can gather together and speak in veiled and cryptic phrases about how to best invest funds that don't exist.
I'm not saying there are any billionaire congressmen out there, but I am saying that your standard of evidence has a Marcos-sized hole.
... I read "shill script".
Time for coffee.
Win Nobel Peace Prize.
Commit 30,000 new troops to war.
A lobbyist can not block an appointee. Sure a lobyist could have a Senator in his/her pocket but that's sorta an implicit blocking not an explicit. Please learn a bit about our system, eh?
it's the Chicago way
Scott McNealy did a lot to hurt open source when he sold out his company to Orcale. You can't even get a support contract on Solaris unless it is running on their hardware. No more "Free to Use" either. A great Identity Management system and email system (Java Messaging) thrown in the trash and relpaced by pieces of properitry shit. (See Beehive)
Through an unimpeachable source I prefer not to reveal (to protect his job) I understand that the Securities and Exchange Commission is absolutely forbidden from using Open Source Software under any circumstances. Among other problems, this means that many simple everyday IT solutions normally performed by a quick Linux installation cannot be easily done. In some instances this has put them in the ridiculous situation of having to research, locate and purchase a commercial product to do something routinely done with a free Linux application. Despite an apparently sincere commitment to the use of Open Source on the part of U.S. CIO Vivek Kundra, the message does not seem to be percolating down to lower levels of the government very well. The kicker is that any software written by U.S. government employees is one step better that Open source: it's actually in the public domain by Title 17 U.S.C. 101.
You see, when I hear people say things like "The Republicans want Obama, and our country, to fail", it immediately reminds me of my old Soviet days (born and raised in the USSR): "the dissidents want the Party and our county to fail". The Party, yes, the county -- no.
Equating the leader or party with the country is the staple of totalitarian thinking. This thinking is *exactly* why I want Obama to fail -- and the country to flourish. No country flourished thanks to totalitarians, be they ever so well-meaning, "progressive", and "democratic".