A few weeks ago some cueball sent me an anonymous e-mail in response to my article about the ATO dipping its toes into Linux. The article uncovered the fact that Tax is indeed using Debian, no less, and a variety of open source software for analytics work.
The message began along the lines of…
Subject: Thanks for the laugh
Hi There,
I read your article and wondered what the real linux community thought about yor article so here is but one comment….
Oh God, before this descends into the online version of the Paris Riots I think most sensible people in the Linux community would thank me for publicising Tax’s use of Linux and open source which may have otherwise gone unnoticed. *Sigh*. The message continues…
From the article:
‘Even with the early successes, open source is still strictly limited to a stand-alone system and is not allowed on the main network “because of some issues involved in using open source”.
‘”For example, if something goes wrong, where is your fallback?” Hamilton said.
This had me rolling on the floor in fits of laughter. 🙂
Maybe so but that’s what the interviewee said so it gets reported. Can’t people even try to understand that? Without such insight you may never know why people refrain from deploying open source software and be clueless as how to change that direction.
Perception is everything I guess, but I have to wonder what sort of results he’s had calling on commercial technical support where you don’t have ready access source code let alone permission to make your own changes and corrections. It must have been considerably better than my personal experience even when working for larger organisations like Telstra.
Very valid points, I agree wholeheartedly. End-users are now seriously questioning the value of software support and maintenance contracts. That’s why alternatives, including open source, are being actively deployed in business today. Just because Tax is late to the party that doesn’t mean other government departments were.
And this from a manager of an organisation which employs many people with the requisite skills, even with a full blown R&D department, which is probably cause of them running Linux at all.
Perhaps, but just because you know and trust Linux and open source that doesn’t mean everyone else does. If so-called “management” are uncertain if Linux has a place in their organisation then give them positive reasons to consider it and don’t just write them off as being ignorant.
The availability of the source code and the ability to change it as you wish is the ultimate “fallback”, its the next best thing to having the software author him/herself present.
Again, a very valid point. But as I said, open source people are quite comfortable with that idea but others might not be for a variety of reasons. For example, Centrelink is making a firm commitment to Linux in a manner reminiscent of commercial software. It is making a conscious decision to ‘buy’ Linux out of the box from Novell. Why? It doesn’t feel the desire to be part of the community. It’s taking the “why hire Linux developers if we don’t have to” approach. Fair enough, I think that’s still a win for Linux. The fact that Novell is selling Linux may be the reason Centrlink is using it at all.
But then, I guess this “fallback” isn’t butt-shaped enough and that’s what many managers seem to look for first.
Not necessarily. Only when you fully understand the organisation’s policies and procedures will such a claim have any merit. Remeber, in the wider economy IT is a slave to the business but for us techies IT is our business. There is an appreciable difference.
This type of feedback is classic for a Linux and open source journalist to receive after a story that has even the slightest negativity about it (even within a positive take). It would have been nicer to get the same message along the lines of…
Hi Rodney,
Read your article about the ATO’s use of Debian GNU/Linux and other open source software for data analytics. I’ve been using Linux for a while now and I had no idea that Tax is using it too. Thanks for the insight! It must have taken you a while to source the story as I doubt Tax would ever advertise this. I noticed the story was linked to a few international Web sites as well so hopefully people from other enterprises around the world doing similar things will be inspired by it and give Linux and open source a go for their work.
I look forward to reading your next case study – keep up the good work.
Regards
Who am I kidding… that would involve at least a little rational thought and an ability to see the forest for the trees. And hey, if you don’t like the message then shoot the messenger…
Rodney
What do you expect. When any article is published the extremes of the specturm are the one who are driven to reply. The middle ground typically doesn’t step out this way (unless you hit a specific nerve). I read columns and articles both for and against open source, linux in particular and the diverse responses are stupid journo you don’t know but linux is king, or stupid journo selling out to Microsoft. Unfortunately there is very little middle ground or logic but almost a fanatic’s rant in many ways. Keep it up, keep it balanced and report the truth.