[KLUG Advocacy] Secretary of State computer problems

[Robert G. Brown]

I do know the Sec. of State's Office people know they have an old computer system,
and they were starting to cast around earlier this year for replacement strat-
egies. I was even in touch with some folks who wanted to put something together to 
propose a replacement. Nothing came of it, but there it is, in any case.

Of course, I'm sure all the big players will be in there, and some of them will
include Linux, since it is a tool of choice this time 'round.

On Thu, 21 Aug 2003 12:54:21 -0400, Adam Williams <awilliam@whitemice.org> wrote:

>> > Does anybody know the nature of teh S of S's computer problems
>> > yesterday?  I'm hearing about them on the radio and I wonder if they
>> > have anything to do with the blaster worm.
>> I hadn't heard about it although last time I was in there they announced to the room that
 they had a state wide SOS computer outage. That was last month.
>
>Last time I was there they were having computer problems, hmmmm... I'm
>noticing a pattern.  Now I just use the drop box on the front door -
>always get my stuff in the mail within 48 hours.
>
>> > Maybe the state of Michigan will get mad like Ernie Ball and start
>> > busting on the Linux.
>> The one thing that stuck out on my last visit to the SOS was that they had 14 flat 
>> screen monitors on the counter - and 4 employees behind the counter.
>
>Yep.
>
>> On a recent trip to NYC I asked a friend of mine, who works for an investment house
>> out there, about dropping MS and looking at alternatives. Her response was that MS
>> was such a small fraction of their overall IT budget that it wasn't worth looking at.
>
>I've heard that from people too.  Of course, I then wonder if they are
>actually licensed properly.  Or discover they have a UNIX or mainframe
>system on the backend (which they often don't know they do - yes, even
>IT people).
>
>> My guess is that the State of Michigan is in a similar position.
>
>I'd guess that are just to lost, steerless, and confused to know what to
>look into.
>
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