View Full Version : [SOLVED] open source in the white house
DarinB
November 6th, 2008, 04:50 AM
I heard some where that the Obama white house will move toward all open source computing instead of having windows. i hope it will happen maybe they will go Ubuntu, think of the boost for Ubuntu.
zmjjmz
November 6th, 2008, 05:04 AM
I honestly don't know where you heard this...
Obama has indicated that he will do his best to keep the internet as open and free as possible, maybe you were confusing that with being OSS?
benny bronx
November 6th, 2008, 05:11 AM
I think that, in a past appearance, he said something like government websites and documents should be in a format that is accessible to everyone. Many on the net surmised that this meant using linux. I thought that he meant that the day of the universal .pdf has finally arrived. Go figure.
pytheas22
November 6th, 2008, 05:11 AM
Do you have a link to where you heard this? I know that there were some rumors a couple months back of the Obama campaign using Ubuntu in some of its offices, but they turned out to be impossible to verify and of dubious veracity--especially because all of the applications shown in screenshots of the supposed Obama desktop were for Windows.
It would be nice, though.
zmjjmz
November 6th, 2008, 05:13 AM
He did say that the government should use Open Standards, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll use Linux,\, because that isn't a standard or anything.
benny bronx
November 6th, 2008, 05:45 AM
http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/issues/technology/Fact_Sheet_Innovation_and_Technology.pdf
"Obama will integrate citizens into the actual
business of government by:
• Making government data available online in universally accessible formats to allow citizens to make use
of that data to comment, derive value, and take action in their own communities"
DarinB
November 7th, 2008, 11:38 PM
i am not sure where i heard it but a few states have gone open source i believe Mass did!!!
samjh
November 7th, 2008, 11:54 PM
"Universally accessible formats" can mean just about anything. MS Word's *.doc format is probably the most "universally accessible" document format, bar plain text and HTML.
Don't get your hopes up too high.
LaRoza
November 8th, 2008, 12:41 AM
"Universally accessible formats" can mean just about anything. MS Word's *.doc format is probably the most "universally accessible" document format, bar plain text and HTML.
Don't get your hopes up too high.
Actually: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenDocument#Worldwide_adoption
This has nothing to do with any candidate though.
Sealbhach
November 8th, 2008, 01:00 AM
Looking at Obama's photostream on Flickr someone is using a Mac.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3197/3009087034_e10780601a_o.jpg
.
LaRoza
November 8th, 2008, 01:04 AM
Looking at Obama's photostream on Flickr someone is using a Mac.
But what OS?
burnetbj
November 8th, 2008, 01:15 AM
Hello everyone
I dont mean to kill the mode or start any wars but I also heard Obama was going to save us all.....I wouldnt hold your breath, as for my opinion, if you think Obama might have some kind of push for open source, look at his VP pick. When you get a chance look up Joe Bidens voting record on tech issues, look at his bills he has created and pushed to have pass on the industry. You think Bill Gates is bad?.....just look up Joe Bidens voting record.
As for my finish statement .......do we really need our government to get involved in something like this? I surely hope not it will end up like everything else it touches.
Anyhow long live Open Source
days_of_ruin
November 8th, 2008, 01:18 AM
I heard some where that the Obama white house will move toward all open source computing instead of having windows. i hope it will happen maybe they will go Ubuntu, think of the boost for Ubuntu.
Linux is not perceived as hip or cool.
he will probably switch everything to macs and double the national debt lol.
urukrama
November 8th, 2008, 01:33 AM
See http://boredandblogging.com/2008/10/21/obama-ubuntu/
Pogeymanz
November 8th, 2008, 01:36 AM
Hello everyone
I dont mean to kill the mode or start any wars but I also heard Obama was going to save us all.....I wouldnt hold your breath, as for my opinion, if you think Obama might have some kind of push for open source, look at his VP pick. When you get a chance look up Joe Bidens voting record on tech issues, look at his bills he has created and pushed to have pass on the industry. You think Bill Gates is bad?.....just look up Joe Bidens voting record.
As for my finish statement .......do we really need our government to get involved in something like this? I surely hope not it will end up like everything else it touches.
Anyhow long live Open Source
Do you know where we could look this up?
chucky chuckaluck
November 8th, 2008, 01:41 AM
he's got a lot more important things to do than to worry about some niche software culture.
LaRoza
November 8th, 2008, 01:57 AM
he's got a lot more important things to do than to worry about some niche software culture.
Yes, but this niche software culture, on this forum, can't talk about that ;)
chucky chuckaluck
November 8th, 2008, 02:00 AM
Yes, but this niche software culture, on this forum, can't talk about that ;)
then they probably shouldn't talk about obama, either.
lancest
November 8th, 2008, 02:07 AM
I think if they are going to use Open Source desktops the first idea is to save taxpayer money. All of the German embassies and consulates are switching to Linux desktops at a huge cost savings. IMHO the US government is wasting money using MS. No security either- they were recently hacked.
LaRoza
November 8th, 2008, 02:09 AM
then they probably shouldn't talk about obama, either.
I know, I avoid names and stick to general government issues with open source.
Sealbhach
November 8th, 2008, 02:20 AM
Some more tech policy here:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WnL9HRLNxIA#t=2m07s
.
DarinB
November 8th, 2008, 05:08 AM
i find it interesting that a tid bit on a news cast that can advance our cause of open and free software can create such a rukus on the forums...several state and local gov'ts including foreign gov'ts have gone to linux in one flavor or another.... i think it is all good news for the good guys not politics
i think the <snip> that think this post was political need to chill
DirtDawg
November 8th, 2008, 07:21 AM
Another perspective to consider: Here in Portland, we had a Multnomah county commissioner who wanted to switch the entire county system (including the city of Portland) to Linux after he was elected.
However, when his staff looked into the plan, there were some real logistical problems. Aside from the fact that many county employees would find the transition difficult, there were also many pieces of highly specialized software, written specifically for county use, that would most likely not work on Linux. Rewriting existing software, even the process of weeding out the "bad" software, would, unfortunately, cost more than the county would save avoiding Windows licenses. So, in the end, the plan sounded good on paper, but would make little economic sense.
I'm sure any federal system would likely run into similar issues. But with any luck, politicians will start seriously considering investing in cross-platform software that, in the long run, will save taxpayers' money.
DarinB
November 8th, 2008, 04:26 PM
that is a very valid point, The economics of a migration and the difficulty with programs written for windows. I hope that a transition strategy will eventually be found.
tdrusk
November 8th, 2008, 04:52 PM
I honestly hope this is not something he is working on doing. There are bigger problems out there.
FiremothPilot
November 8th, 2008, 05:22 PM
I heard some where that the Obama white house will move toward all open source computing instead of having windows. i hope it will happen maybe they will go Ubuntu, think of the boost for Ubuntu.
If this happens, there's no way its Obama's idea. Or I guess we could all pretend that a politician like him is as computer-savvy as his campaign advertised, or that he's even heard of Linux.
Either way, if government moves to FOSS, the president won't likely care very much...
handy
November 8th, 2008, 11:57 PM
Obama may see the need to store in OpenDocument format, which certainly shows good sence.
Sam3280
November 9th, 2008, 10:45 AM
Dont know if this answers anything http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/technology/5133362/obama-preside-white-house-20/
K.Mandla
November 9th, 2008, 11:50 AM
This thread is starting to smell like politics.
handy
November 12th, 2008, 05:36 AM
This thread is starting to smell like politics.
Looks like you have a strong deodorant there K.Mandla. :lolflag:
zmjjmz
November 12th, 2008, 06:05 AM
See http://boredandblogging.com/2008/10/21/obama-ubuntu/
Very interesting article. The comments averring it outnumber the comments saying it isn't true.
On the other hand, some of the comments claim that Fox News and McCain also use Ubuntu.
DirtDawg
November 12th, 2008, 07:48 AM
Very interesting article. The comments averring it outnumber the comments saying it isn't true.
On the other hand, some of the comments claim that Fox News and McCain also use Ubuntu.
I can say from first hand experience, the Obama campaign absolutely used Ubuntu. The database and campaign software I saw were web-based applications. It was all very slick.
tdrusk
November 13th, 2008, 01:43 PM
Very interesting article. The comments averring it outnumber the comments saying it isn't true.
On the other hand, some of the comments claim that Fox News and McCain also use Ubuntu.
Fox News does use/used Ubuntu.
http://pcworld.about.com/od/onlinesecurity/Fox-News-server-found-unsecure.htm
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