[balug-talk] Linux computers for the police! With Link

[jim stockford]

amen. it's gonna have to happen someday.

On Oct 10, 2006, at 12:26 AM, Thomas Leavitt wrote:

> Greg Herlein wrote:
>>> It would indeed be a major task to retool a police department with 
>>> Linux--
>>>
>>
>> The cost actually would have little to do with Linux - and a lot more
>> to do with the applications any legacy organization has in place.  To
>> port/rewrite/modernize those applications for linux is a MAJOR amount
>> of work - not to mention the training costs associated with the
>> smallest change (for the cops as well as the support staff).
>>
>> This thread is interesting but ultimately I fear nothing will come of
>> it.  The cost of re-tooling an organization has so little to do with
>> the OS and so much more to do with the work flow, the custom
>> applications, the support infrastructure, and the momentum of
>> sloooooooowwwwww changes...  and frankly, all of the current
>> infrastructure is already paid for.
>>
>> Is linux better? Obviously.  Would it make fiduciary sense to change
>> the City PD to Linux?  Probably not.
>>
> But isn't this all work that is likely to have to be done, anyway? How
> compatible with Windows Vista are custom applications written for
> Windows 95 likely to be... which isn't really even the question. The
> real question is, how likely are applications written for Windows 95,
> and likely written nearly a decade ago (or more, possibly), how likely
> are they to be appropriate for use in a modernized SFPD IT 
> architecture...
>
> Really, what we're asking here is not Linux or Vista, but what is the
> opportunity cost of not modernizing their IT architecture... what could
> they be doing, now, that they can't do, because they're handicapped by
> having to cope with a 1995 era IT architecture and operating system 
> (and
> associated hardware)? What risks are they exposed to, at a tactical, 
> and
> operational level? I would presume these machines, for instance, aren't
> being allowed to connect to the Internet, given the vast number of
> unpatched security holes and issues in Windows 95 and associated
> applications... as someone mentioned, what are the ongoing maintenance
> costs of being restricted to hardware that supports Windows 95... are
> there operational integration issues with the rest of the city's
> systems? With other law enforcement agencies? With newer systems inside
> the SFPD?
>
> There are questions every organization faces as it evaluates its IT
> architecture and asset base, and evaluates whether or not it is time to
> upgrade (of course, some organizations "solve" the question by simply
> upgrading everything, automatically, every three years - but I don't
> think public institutions have that luxury)...
>
> I'm pretty sure that a rational evaluation would lead just about anyone
> looking at the situation to conclude that change is appropriate - and
> given that, we shouldn't be talking about the costs of converting to
> Linux from Windows 95, but the comparative costs and advantages of
> converting to Linux vs. Windows XP / Server 2003 or Windows Vista /
> "Longhorn"... and Office 2007 vs. OpenOffice 2.x, etc.
>
> But really, that's not the way to approach it either - what really
> should be done is a full scale evaluation of needs, goals, etc., and
> then an evaluation of what solutions are available on each platform, 
> and
> open source vs. proprietary systems, etc. The end result could very 
> well
> be that a heterogenous network, mixing Windows and Linux, on the 
> desktop
> and server, is appropriate... open source applications on Linux and
> Windows, and proprietary applications on Windows (and maybe Linux as
> well). Who knows? I doubt any of us are in a position to speak to the
> issues facing the SFPD.
>
> What I am certain of that a compelling case could be made for an 
> orderly
> transition off a Windows 95 based IT architecture to something
> reasonably modern... as long as such a migration is driven by specified
> needs and thoughtful process (re)engineering. Simply pulling out their
> existing systems, and doing a drop in replacement with Linux or Windows
> whatever, might save some money, but would qualify as a huge missed
> opportunity, and probably not be terribly economically or
> organizationally beneficial (other than perhaps, after the bugs are
> ironed out, resulting in less work for the IT department).
>
> Thomas
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