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Obama staffers find no Mac love among White House computers

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zridling:
I'm not sure how I feel about this story:

Two years after launching the most technologically savvy presidential campaign in history, Obama officials ran smack into the constraints of the federal bureaucracy yesterday, encountering a jumble of disconnected phone lines, old computer software, and security regulations forbidding outside e-mail accounts.... What does that mean in 21st-century terms? No Facebook to communicate with supporters. No outside e-mail log-ins. No instant messaging. Hard adjustments for a staff that helped sweep Obama to power through, among other things, relentless online social networking....

One member of the White House new-media team came to work on Tuesday, right after the swearing-in ceremony, only to discover that it was impossible to know which programs could be updated, or even which computers could be used for which purposes. The team members, accustomed to working on Macintoshes, found computers outfitted with six-year-old versions of Microsoft software. Laptops were scarce, assigned to only a few people in the West Wing. The team was left struggling to put closed captions on online videos.




* First, this is the way the rest of us work in the real world. Companies generally do not let employees surf and play freely on their computers. One person where I work recently took down an entire room of networked computers because she had to have her iPod fix and installed a bunch of Apple software on Windows computers.

* Second, well over 50% of the workforce uses XP (an 8-year old OS now). Most businesses have skipped Vista as we know. And they still can't afford Macs in the workplace.

* Third, most companies do not allow outside log-ins to external email, social website, or IM software. Those are time sinks that no one is going to pay you to do at work. Get caught and you're sacked.

* Fourth, at this point in our economic climate, I personally don't think taxpayers should be paying Microsoft for any software, period. Use free, open source software or pay for it yourself. I'm not advocating for Linux; I just don't want my taxes to be used for something it doesn't need.
Are the Obama staffers spoiled, or should they have Win7 and Macs?

fenixproductions:
My :two: :
Is it my stupid assumption or they really think that government employees should have houndreds ways of sending classified data outside? Or maybe White House should seed torrents on their machines? ;)

Deozaan:
The team members, accustomed to working on Macintoshes, found computers outfitted with six-year-old versions of Microsoft software.
--- End quote ---

I'm guessing this means Microsoft Office 2003.

As for Obama officials having to suffer with PCs instead of their elite, fancy-pants Macs, let's please not bring the Messiah into the whole PC vs. Mac issue. It's already bad enough as it is. It's no fair when God is on your side. :P

tinjaw:
If I was the U.S. CTO I would mandate use of FOSS. I would mandate the use of Linux. I would then take (most likely the vast majority of) the money formerly spent on proprietary operating systems and software and create a federally funded program for open source developers that work on FOSS to fill the government's needs. I would then work with the EU and the United Nations to coordinate with other such organizations throughout the world.

I also think that access to things like personal email accounts and social media sights should be allowed *but monitored*. If certain flags are raised, like certain bandwidth limits on social network usage or such similar metrics, then there should be process whereby the user must justify that usage to their boss. If it turns out that it isn't harmful to doing their job or harmful to the government department, then it should be allowed. If it turns out to be somebody abusing the privilege, then their usage should be limited.

As with any job, IMNSHO, you should be judged by your ability to complete your assigned tasks in the time allotted. If you can do that while also spending time on Facebook, so be it.

fenixproductions:
As with any job, IMNSHO, you should be judged by your ability to complete your assigned tasks in the time allotted. If you can do that while also spending time on Facebook, so be it.-tinjaw (January 22, 2009, 03:24 PM)
--- End quote ---
I can agree with that but whole article sounds to me like "complaints of spoiled kids" who prioritize playing instead of working.

They were chosen by people to fix USA problems. Will they do that while chatting or what? "Wait, Obama. I will fix the crisis but allow me to get few frags first" ;)

We should also remember that they have government positions. If something leaks out in private company, you risk loosing the money. If the same occurs in WH, you risk the security of whole country. This is the biggest issue IMHO.

EOT from my side - too much politics involved...

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