05.27.10
US State Department and the Redefining of LAMP
Summary: How LAMP (Linux, GNU, Apache, MySQL, and Perl/PHP/Python) is being bent by those who want to insert proprietary software at the very foundation’s layer
SUN had attempted to redefine LAMP by putting Solaris where the "L" goes and still calling it "LAMP". That was before the Linux Foundation responded.
We found it curious that despite the White House moving to GNU/Linux on the server, the State Department in the Bush years had a bizarre GNU/Linux phobia, as revealed in the following new report from Ars Technica.
“The notion of deploying Linux, an open source operating system, was considered deeply problematic” in late 2005. “The State Department had minimal experience with Linux, and its information security officers knew that certifying a new operating system for enterprise use would be a monumental task.”
The team worked within its constraints, ultimately deciding to run atop Windows Server and IIS. “Although ‘L’ and ‘A’ were out of the mix,” note the authors when talking about the LAMP stack, “‘M’ and ‘P’ were acceptable” when running on Windows.
GNU/Linux distributions such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux have received certifications that Windows never managed to receive. So what is this bizarre superstition/intuition that made the State Department so reluctant?
It continues to seem as though ignorance is one of the main market forces that drive Windows sales, the other one being lack of choice (OEMs virtually force people to buy Windows along with any computer and ignorance makes it tolerable).
Let us acknowledge that Windows — to put it quite bluntly — is a piece of junk. Here is a new story about why someone threw away Windows for good and is now moving to GNU/Linux exclusively.
Ok, I’m officially mad. Steaming. Furious. I simply can’t believe how awful Windows is, and (unfortunately) how gullible I am.
[...]
You have sunk to new lows. You are even worse that I had considered you to be. You, and the so-called operating system that you sell, are the lowest form of scum on the earth. Oh yes, I know, Microsoft and all of their apologists will be happy to tell me that it was my fault, I did something wrong (I didn’t), I didn’t have anti-virus installed (I did), I must have gotten a virus (I didn’t), or a rootkit (I didn’t), or I screwed up by rebooting at the wrong time when an update was installing (I didn’t, and this isn’t “patch Tuesday” week anyway, is it? Or is it ‘patch everyday” with Microsoft now, considering all the out-of-cycle emergency patches they have been sending out). It’s simple. Windows is unreliable garbage, it always has been, it always will be, and if you use it you should be willing to accept that risk.
I am no longer willing to accept that risk, even part-time as a secondary operating system on this laptop. Windows is gone, it has puked all over its disk for the last time here, and I will not reload it. I am in the process of transferring the data to one of the Linux partitions – yes, Linux is quite happy to read the partition that Windows says is hopelessly corrupted. When that is done, I will reformat that partition and load something reliable and useful on it. Perhaps CP/M, that would be infinitely better.
A very, very angry…
Vista 7 is already being rejected by some massive companies like HP [1, 2, 3]. They do not opt for GNU/Linux just because they are “fans” of the platform. They are in the business of selling products that will not embarrass them. █
“Steve [Ballmer], I’m sure you’re aware of this. Our call lines are being overrun. [by Vista complaints]“
–Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Mark Hurd
“I am going to continue to elevate these issues, our customers and HP’s reputation is getting hurt by poor execution and we need more aggressive action on your part.”
–Todd Bradley, Executive Vice President of HP’s Personal System Group
twitter said,
May 27, 2010 at 6:52 pm
Thanks for the update on Vista. I have added a note about it to my Vista Failure Log and Windows 7 Failure Log. It is not surprising that Vista is still junk, three and a half years after release, or than another reporter has joined the long line of tech reporters who dumped Vista publically. What’s interesting is that he fell for the recent wave of “Vista is stable/better than Windows 7″ hype but it backfired badly. Let’s hope others learn the lesson he did and just move to GNU/Linux instead of wasting time and effort on either Vista or Windows 7 when their current Windows computer fails them.