Google Sues US Gov't For Only Considering Microsoft 407
An anonymous reader writes "Late last week, Google sued the US government for putting out a Request For Quotation for the messaging needs of the Department of the Interior that specified only Microsoft solutions would be considered. Google apparently had spent plenty of time talking to DOI officials to understand their needs and make sure they had a solution ready to go — and were promised that there wasn't a deal already in place with Microsoft. And then the RFQ came out. Google protested, but the protest was dismissed, with the claim that Google was 'not an interested party.'"
Re:Interested party (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm pretty sure that's not what "interested party" means legally in this context. But that being said...
Wasn't there an article on /. last week to the effect that they were now an Irish or whatever non-US country it was corporation for tax purposes?
Re:Smart Move? (Score:4, Interesting)
Government contract work is INSANE. One of my wife's relatives works in the field (writing up contracts between the US government and other companies), and based on the little I've talked to him about it, it sounds crazy complicated. I'd rather learn about the tax code instead of government contracts.
Yes, the Dept. of Interior is corrupt (Score:5, Interesting)
Thanks to years of being "open for business"... probably not starting with, but vastly increasing during the Bush W Administration (and not being brought back under control with Obama admin), the Department of the Interior has been almost thoroughly corrupted and captured [hcn.org].
It's not surprising that they are the target of lawsuit... what's sad is that they aren't sued by regular citizens for abdication of their purpose in search of bribes and kickbacks from Industry.
I wish Google best of luck in turning the stone on this cockroach-infested den of iniquity.
The Most Corrupt Department (Score:5, Interesting)
The Interior Department was the most corrupt department (that we know of) during the Bush/Cheney administration. It was the main feeding grounds for Jack Abramoff [wikipedia.org], centered on using Indian tribes to grab casino industry money. It was the Interior Department's MMS [denverpost.com] office that traded favors to oil corps for coke and hookers, then let BP drill the Gulf despite its obvious contempt for safety, and let it slide through the resulting Macondo Well blowout through this Summer.
"Most corrupt department" was the hardest fought competition this whole decade, and it's clearly continued even after Bush/Cheney left. I am not at all surprised that the Interior Department is in bed with another monopoly disserving the people it's supposed to protect.
Re:Smart Move? (Score:3, Interesting)
you can list about a thousand things Office does that GD doesn't.
They did list things:
The DOI justified limiting its offerings to Microsoft, by saying that Microsoft had two things that other solution providers did not: unified/consolidated email and "enhanced security."
And Google responded to those:
Google disputes this (not surprisingly) and notes various problems with Microsoft solutions -- including well reported downtime issues.
Good! (Score:4, Interesting)
Been there, done that. One of my former employers essentially bet the company on a federal RFP that was seeking POSIX compliance on diskless workstations. We worked our butts off to develop a solution using SCO Unix (back in the days before SCO decided to go into litigation as a business model), but even though it met all the requirements, the contract was awarded to the incumbent, who bid Windows NT -- with some kind of POSIX plug-in. We protested (the loser always protests), but we lost. Maybe it'll turn out better for a deep-pocketed company like Google.
Did anyone actually read the complaint? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Yes, the Dept. of Interior is corrupt (Score:3, Interesting)
All bureaucracies are inherently corrupt, which is why you need regular change. A bureaucrat's first and primary goal is to keep their job and benefits. There is no requirement or reward to be efficient, effective, considerate or frugal. After all, it isn't their money they are spending.
All kinds of people enjoy waste and freewheeling. Government money is the largest source. But boss, compnay, NGO and even family money gets abused all the time too. There is really only one place for decency or lack thereof. In minds are hearts. And only one way to really reduce it from there, education. Prosecution makes people think twice sometimes, but doesn't really change who they are. Legislation and lawsuits and punishment just create even more social confusion, just visit some courts and lawsuits and you will see it offerts no real decency and solutions to society.
Re:Eheh (Score:4, Interesting)
Google Apps may not work in their environment? So, they don't have web browsers?
Re:Eheh (Score:1, Interesting)
Google is betting on its own corruption [biggovernment.com] and greed [washingtonexaminer.com] canceling out Microsoft's.
Re:Smart Move? (Score:4, Interesting)
You would be correct in that assumption. The very existence of AMD in its present *Intel Competitor* form was born of the requirement of the government to be able to select among at least two providers. At the moment, there isn't a *Windows competitor" in the sense that it is compatible... there was, but OS/2 was killed through underhanded bundling deals and the like.
It is beyond time that the government is called to task on the way it follows its own rules.
Re:Smart Move? (Score:3, Interesting)
Google Docs is horrendous. Vanilla plain features, horrible display and formatting, poorly thought out UI... Google needs to invest some time and innovation into Google Docs, it really makes them look bad.
Mod parent up, exponentially. I'm so sick of hearing on Slashdot how great Google Apps/Docs and Gmail is. I can only imagine that the people who think Google Apps is a suitable office suite for business use must have been using vi or notepad.exe all their lives. Google Apps is great for a goofy little spreadsheet with minimal functionality or writing a letter to Aunt Sally, but it's incredibly painful to run a real business on it. Gmail is fine for personal email, but it doesn't come close to Exchange and Outlook (warts and all) with its integrated scheduling and groupware functionality. Believe me, I'd love for Google Apps to overtake Microsoft. The problem is Google needs to think like Microsoft and how real businesses are run, not Google where you get one day a week to goof off and organizing data is throwing it all in one big bucket and letting search sort it all out.
Re:The Most Corrupt Department (Score:4, Interesting)
All of Utah's territory was taken from the nations who lived there before, largely by the Federal government. So Utahans' claim to the land isn't really compelling.
Besides, that Federal land is given to Utah corporations for free or cheap ranching and mining/drilling, without paying taxes on owning it.
Corrupt is in the eye of the one paying the bill. Since I pay for Utah to get back 7% more than it pays [taxfoundation.org] (and as much as 45% more, in 1987) from Federal spending in the state, as my state loses 21% net, I can see where the real corruption lands.
Re:Smart Move? (Score:3, Interesting)
Fortunately for everyone working in all shops and labs everywhere, STP, standard temperature and pressure, is room temperature and the sea level air pressure of a sunny day. Heat/cool the shop to 20C or 68F and you won't have any problems. A couple of degrees either way doesn't make much difference unless you get into really large pieces. And any small shop worth its salt will have an inspection room that is climate controlled to plus or minus a degree. If you do have a problem with the climate control, you can look up the temperature coefficient of the material you're using and adjust accordingly. But that's bogus. Close off a room, stick an HVAC unit on it with a good thermostat and you're good to go.
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BMO
Re:Smart Move? (Score:3, Interesting)
I was just having difficulty wrapping my head around how to finish a 5-meter-long dimension to half a millimeter. Even finding a reference length to compare against would be difficult. I was just having difficulty wrapping my head around how to finish a 5-meter-long dimension to half a millimeter.
It's not difficult if you have the right measuring equipment. Nikon has a laser measurer that does very large volumes (aircraft sized) and is pretty darn accurate over large distances. It's expensive, but if the guys in the shop measure stuff like this on a regular basis, it's a big time saver.
In the old days, there were other methods that weren't nearly as convenient for such large distances.
You should ask them what they did.
Hexagon AB makes CMMs you can drive cars into.
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BMO