Obama says Microsoft at Fault

yustr · 05-29-2009, 05:56 PM

LINK

Well yustr does anyway. The government (and a lot of companies) made a cost/risk decision to use commercial-off-the-shelf software (Microsoft XP) for most of their applications. The gov't certainly could have contracted with IBM,MS, INTEL, etc to develop a gov't only operating system that would (could) have been much more robust. They chose not to. Now its a "national security" issue.

**wrench97** · 05-29-2009, 06:04 PM

More robust? if the government had a OS developed it would probably make Windows look secure

PS I heard Steve Ballmer is up for the Cybersecurity Czar position

**Drew1369** · 05-29-2009, 06:30 PM

You gove the government far too much credit yustr...

Microsofts systems are constantly under attack because no one uses anything else...

If everyone in the world went to use Apple junk then Apples systems would be constantly under attack...

**djaburg** · 06-03-2009, 11:04 AM

Yup, why try to compromise something that nobody uses when you could pick on the giant used by more than 80% of the computers. But to blame MS for everything? Just like many things, if you don't like it, there are other OS's out there, just try to ween yourself from the MS programs you use. You could EASILY migrate to any one of the hundreds of Linux distros, you could use open office for your document/spreadsheet/presentation needs, you could use Thunderbird for your email, and Firefox for your browser. What else do MOST computer users need? Games?

**40sondacurb** · 06-03-2009, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djaburg

Yup, why try to compromise something that nobody uses when you could pick on the giant used by more than 80% of the computers. But to blame MS for everything? Just like many things, if you don't like it, there are other OS's out there, just try to ween yourself from the MS programs you use. You could EASILY migrate to any one of the hundreds of Linux distros, you could use open office for your document/spreadsheet/presentation needs, you could use Thunderbird for your email, and Firefox for your browser. What else do MOST computer users need? Games?

some government sites don't let you use firefox

Why didn't MS just use the same brand, but a different code for government computers.

**djaburg** · 06-03-2009, 06:25 PM

Because it was the government that adopted MS, not MS adopting the government. The GOVERNMENT made the choice of what OS to adopt and if there's any fault, it's the governments fault. You don't think they have enough IT folks on staff to secure their own computers? And if not, how the hell are they supposed to secure a nation?

abbyroadkill · 06-30-2009, 11:42 PM

haha obama should have come here for his new czar, then he'd be safe

firefox rules!!!

05-29-2009, 05:56 PM	#1 (permalink)
yustr Asst. Manager, The Conversation Pit Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Connecticut shore Posts: 5,980 OS: XP Pro My System	Obama says Microsoft at Fault LINK Well yustr does anyway. The government (and a lot of companies) made a cost/risk decision to use commercial-off-the-shelf software (Microsoft XP) for most of their applications. The gov't certainly could have contracted with IBM,MS, INTEL, etc to develop a gov't only operating system that would (could) have been much more robust. They chose not to. Now its a "national security" issue. __________________ If there are lawyers or politicians involved, logic may be a very poor tool for reaching a conclusion.

05-29-2009, 06:04 PM	#2 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 17,919 OS: Win7	Re: Obama says Microsoft at Fault More robust? if the government had a OS developed it would probably make Windows look secure PS I heard Steve Ballmer is up for the Cybersecurity Czar position __________________ Power Supply and Selection

05-29-2009, 06:30 PM	#3 (permalink)
Drew1369 TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Seattle, WA, USA Posts: 3,366 OS: Win7 Ultimate	Re: Obama says Microsoft at Fault You gove the government far too much credit yustr... Microsofts systems are constantly under attack because no one uses anything else... If everyone in the world went to use Apple junk then Apples systems would be constantly under attack... __________________ We humans have a primal urge to kill because, thanks to natural selection, all the homo sapiens who didn't have a primal urge to kill, were themselves killed. http://obamaclock.org/

06-03-2009, 11:04 AM	#4 (permalink)
djaburg TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 1,147 OS: XP SP3/Vista/7 Server 2K/2K3/2K8	Re: Obama says Microsoft at Fault Yup, why try to compromise something that nobody uses when you could pick on the giant used by more than 80% of the computers. But to blame MS for everything? Just like many things, if you don't like it, there are other OS's out there, just try to ween yourself from the MS programs you use. You could EASILY migrate to any one of the hundreds of Linux distros, you could use open office for your document/spreadsheet/presentation needs, you could use Thunderbird for your email, and Firefox for your browser. What else do MOST computer users need? Games? __________________ Computers make it easier to do a lot of things, but most of the things they make it easier to do don't need to be done. The inherent vice of capitalism is the uneven division of blessings, while the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal division of misery.

06-03-2009, 06:25 PM	#6 (permalink)
djaburg TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 1,147 OS: XP SP3/Vista/7 Server 2K/2K3/2K8	Re: Obama says Microsoft at Fault Because it was the government that adopted MS, not MS adopting the government. The GOVERNMENT made the choice of what OS to adopt and if there's any fault, it's the governments fault. You don't think they have enough IT folks on staff to secure their own computers? And if not, how the hell are they supposed to secure a nation? __________________ Computers make it easier to do a lot of things, but most of the things they make it easier to do don't need to be done. The inherent vice of capitalism is the uneven division of blessings, while the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal division of misery.

06-30-2009, 11:42 PM	#7 (permalink)
abbyroadkill Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Location: Canada Posts: 6 OS: xp sp2	Re: Obama says Microsoft at Fault haha obama should have come here for his new czar, then he'd be safe firefox rules!!! __________________ Forever a Canuck Last edited by abbyroadkill; 06-30-2009 at 11:45 PM.