Re: Kicking around an idea

barsalou wrote:
> As some of you know, I used to work for the State at AIDEA. This gave
> me an inside view of how the State of Alaska runs some of its IT.
>
> I've been throwing around the idea of sending an e-mail to the Governor
> that would talk about Open Source and how the State may be able to
> leverage existing infrastructure. Approximately 10 years ago, they
> embarked on a campaign to unify all the desktops to one operating
> system. This is a laudable goal.
>
> Unfortunately, the choices were slim. Yes, I know, Linux was available
> then, but don't think it had the polish of the Linux desktop of today.
>
> With Gartner and other organizations suggesting a wait and see approach
> for Vista
> (http://news.com.com/Gartner+Ignore+Vista+until+2008/2100-1016_3-5947521.html)
> and with the "radical" change in the Office 2007 interface (according
> to Walt Mossberg of WSJ), this is the right time to introduce Linux on
> the desktop.
>
> Anyone have any feelings/discussion about me representing AKLUG when
> writing such a letter?
>
> Look forward to the feedback.

It can't hurt, but there are a number of firmly entrenched Microsoft
patsies pretty high in the food chain. They're old, cranky and don't
want to learn anything new and they are used to the hassles that MS puts
them through and unwilling to trade them for the hassles Linux puts you
through.

I would be surprised if it gains much traction, but on the other hand,
it raises awareness of options and that's a vital first step.

I used to be on the state WAN Users list and when NIMDA & some other
worms were making the rounds it was amazing to see an email each morning
listing hundreds of subnets that had been quarantined because there was
either an unpatched or infected box on it. It took them weeks to get
that mess laid to rest. Talk about TCO! Or should I call it TKO? <g>

S'later...

...Kevin

-- 
Kevin Miller
Juneau, Alaska
http://www.alaska.net/~atftb
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