[ale] Rant[ish]: government and states requiring proprietary software

[Jay Lozier]

On 09/14/2012 12:37 PM, mike at trausch.us wrote:
> To start:  Why, exactly, is this even allowed or lawful?
>
> Up until I started a formal business entity, I really hadn't noticed
> except when I did my GA taxes each year.  Now that I am running a formal
> business entity, though, I'm finding more and more situations where
> people in other businesses and (particularly) government are making
> stupid decisions that inhibit me from being able to use secure software,
> free software, or in the worst cases, BOTH.
>
> This should be punishable.  It should be illegal.  It is absolutely
> unethical, IMNSHO.
>
> Example: GA and OH have PDF documents that REFUSE to render unless the
> PDF reader software has JavaScript enabled, and half of those don't work
> properly in Adobe's Linux version of Adobe Reader, meaning that I have
> to resort to booting up Windows in order to perform certain functions in
> either GA or OH.  Such as getting setup to hire people, filing taxes,
> and so forth.
>
> Of course, we're mostly talking government here, which means that it's
> entirely likely that it's not going to change any time soon, if ever.
> (Well, that's not entirely true: change is at least possible in Ohio,
> but it isn't here in Georgia.)  Point being, though, how can these
> entities not have even the most basic of knowledge in what they're
> doing?  Where are their technical experts?
>
> And most of all:  WHY DOES A STUPID FILL-IN-THE-PAPER-FORM REQUIRE
> JAVASCRIPT IN THE FIRST BLOODY PLACE?
>
> 	--- Mike
>
>
>
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What is even worse is the money that could be saved by using FOSS
instead proprietary.

Also, as far as the forms, why not use web form and send the information
directly to the database? I know clueless uncivil misservants stuck in
the 1880's; they just got a new office tool - a typewriter
</snark>

-- 
Jay Lozier
jslozier at gmail.com

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