Re: Software glitches leave Navy Smart Ship dead in the water

[Mitch Stone <mstone@vc.net>]

--- From a message sent by Steve Cohen on 7/22/98 5:11 AM ---

>  I tried to answer this question before and had Mitch come down hard on me,
>but I still think it's relevant.  The managerial elite would rather not
>think about technical issues and has probably resented for years the
>technical employees it has had to hire who know more than they do and have
>unjustifiable (in the minds of the managerial elite) powers over them.  They
>would rather deal with One Big Geek who will give them a point and click
>system that lets them do most of what they want then follow the advice of
>the little geeks they've hired.  Going with Microsoft at this point is a way
>to get revenge on the geeks you've hired - you can ignore their advice or
>maybe even fire them.  Reliability is a secondary concern.

I'll leave it to others to argue whether "point and click" had anything 
to do with the Navy's decision to sink or float with NT, though it seems 
to me that the urge to "standardize" is the strongest force at work here. 
That, together with the command structure inflexibility and the inability 
to admit mistakes detailed by Tom Kaighin seem like the requisite deadly 
combination. And we can mean that literally now that lives are at stake.

One other observation: the Navy is entirely capable of creating its own 
market for software and hardware, but for reasons peculiar chose instead, 
for mission-critical tasks, an off-the-shelf product with dubious 
credentials. Remember, this is the same branch of government that buys 
some of the most expensive hammers on earth.

This is precisely the sort of scandalous outcome that ought to be on the 
front pages of newspapers all across the country. A Congressional 
investigation is on order. But I didn't find the story in mine, and I 
doubt the Congress will ask any tough questions.

   Mitch Stone
   Editor, Boycott Microsoft
   http://www.vcnet.com/bms 
 +---
   We are not in the communications business in any way.
                                --- Bill Gates