While I agree with the general sentiment regarding the ADTI paper, it does bring up one interesting and valid point in governmental adoption of open source software. While it is true that there is much to be gained from using software that is developed and improved by a large development community, there is much to be lost if the community dissolves.
The government (at this point) is not in a position to support their own software - they don't have the personnel (either in numbers or skill) for it. If the open source community continues to support government-adopted open source projects and provide the required feature sets and bug fixes, that's great. But if they are not, it is very difficult for the government to meet those needs internally. One valuable aspect (from the government's perspective) in using proprietary software is that it is very easy to offer to pay the company whose software needs improvements to do that work and ensure that government requirements are met. This is not nearly as easy for open source projects.
Note that this argument does not apply to software development projects funded by the government that are released under an open source license.
I guess that depends on whose desktop you're referring to. Linux is already popular on geek desktops. Getting Linux on the desktops of your average Joe (or Jane) is entirely different.
I would be mightily impressed if a distribution of Linux was released that my mother could use easily.
Ok, I'm a little confused. Your logic is: All jobs suck sometimes, therefore all jobs suck. The reason all jobs suck sometimes is because you've given up the power to make certain decisions in return for a paycheck.
By the same logic, wouldn't every single person's life suck, since everyone has non-ideal things happen to them from time to time? Or do we have power over everything in life except what we take a paycheck for?
I can see it now: All relationships suck because sometimes you have to placate your girl by seeing one of those chick flicks (which obviously sucks).
I don't think the fact that occasionally having to do something you wouldn't choose to do on your own qualifies as making your job 'suck'. If that were true, wouldn't the fact that your job is great sometimes make your job great?
Just as an FYI, a few years ago when I was in high school, I fell into the category of intelligent, technically minded, and interested in more than my hair, and guess what? Never could get a date. Girls like that are frequently much more obtainable than you might think.
I almost didn't go to senior prom, but a geek who sat in front of me in Calculus asked me and we went and had a great time. Mind you, when he called me I was shocked, but I said yes in a nanosecond.
Smart girls don't want idiot guys. Trust me. And high school is full of them. Unfortunately, too many of the interesting, geeky, talented guys don't have nearly enough sense of their own worth. So all the smart girls stay home and play Civ 3 on Friday night.
Ask her out. Worst thing that can happen is she'll say no. And incidently, I agree with the fellow who commented previously: chocolate is always a better idea.
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While I agree with the general sentiment regarding the ADTI paper, it does bring up one interesting and valid point in governmental adoption of open source software. While it is true that there is much to be gained from using software that is developed and improved by a large development community, there is much to be lost if the community dissolves.
The government (at this point) is not in a position to support their own software - they don't have the personnel (either in numbers or skill) for it. If the open source community continues to support government-adopted open source projects and provide the required feature sets and bug fixes, that's great. But if they are not, it is very difficult for the government to meet those needs internally. One valuable aspect (from the government's perspective) in using proprietary software is that it is very easy to offer to pay the company whose software needs improvements to do that work and ensure that government requirements are met. This is not nearly as easy for open source projects.
Note that this argument does not apply to software development projects funded by the government that are released under an open source license.
"The carbon nanotube...is the strongest fiber in nature and 10 times stronger than steel."
Faster, more powerful... in the next round of tests perhaps we'll find out it reacts poorly when in the vicinity of kryptonite.
The science fiction source of the rock-hurling strategy is Robert Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.
I guess that depends on whose desktop you're referring to. Linux is already popular on geek desktops. Getting Linux on the desktops of your average Joe (or Jane) is entirely different.
I would be mightily impressed if a distribution of Linux was released that my mother could use easily.
Ok, I'm a little confused. Your logic is: All jobs suck sometimes, therefore all jobs suck. The reason all jobs suck sometimes is because you've given up the power to make certain decisions in return for a paycheck.
By the same logic, wouldn't every single person's life suck, since everyone has non-ideal things happen to them from time to time? Or do we have power over everything in life except what we take a paycheck for?
I can see it now: All relationships suck because sometimes you have to placate your girl by seeing one of those chick flicks (which obviously sucks).
I don't think the fact that occasionally having to do something you wouldn't choose to do on your own qualifies as making your job 'suck'. If that were true, wouldn't the fact that your job is great sometimes make your job great?
Just as an FYI, a few years ago when I was in high school, I fell into the category of intelligent, technically minded, and interested in more than my hair, and guess what? Never could get a date. Girls like that are frequently much more obtainable than you might think.
I almost didn't go to senior prom, but a geek who sat in front of me in Calculus asked me and we went and had a great time. Mind you, when he called me I was shocked, but I said yes in a nanosecond.
Smart girls don't want idiot guys. Trust me. And high school is full of them. Unfortunately, too many of the interesting, geeky, talented guys don't have nearly enough sense of their own worth. So all the smart girls stay home and play Civ 3 on Friday night.
Ask her out. Worst thing that can happen is she'll say no. And incidently, I agree with the fellow who commented previously: chocolate is always a better idea.