Senior Navy Official Slams Microsoft

Here is a short article which indicates that the Navy is not happy with Microsoft. One paragraph: "There are shareware products that have better groupware features than those of Microsoft products, he said, drawing applause from the audience." ("He" is Undersecretary of the Navy Jerry MacArthur Hultin.)

Some thoughts on this...

Linux companies, and companies deploying Linux (such as IBM and SGI) should be queueing up outside the Navy's office, about now, to tell them about this extremely robust system they know of, that DOES support the groupware the Navy needs, at a fraction of the cost, and without any risk of catastrophic failures or public relations disasters.

IMHO, the Navy needs Linux. Linux doesn't particularly need any of the military, but they DO need it, or at least some Open Source system. I imagine FreeBSD and OpenBSD would be two good alternatives to Linux. (NetBSD is, from what I've heard, a hotbed of politics, which might make the more discerning customers a little nervous.)

Open Source solutions provide the stability AND SECURITY that the Navy needs, both from a military and legal stand-point. There is also, as the gentleman pointed out (though mis-naming it "shareware"), the Groupware that he needs to operate an efficient service.

In my books, I'd say that Linux and the *BSD's would be hot-favourites, right now, to win a contract with the Navy. And, once they see the sheer quality, I suspect they'll stick with it.

Re:Not to turn this into a productive conversation

The Department of Defense has already made a large commitment to using an Open Source groupware package called CVW [mitre.org], that was developed as an internal research project by MITRE [mitre.org]. There's an article in the latest Linux Journal [linuxjournal.com] about it.

The Emperor has no clothes

I think the anti-trust suit may have finally stripped M$ of its aura of invincibility in the public eye. For a long time, Joe Random Public thought that the world's largest software company must be just the greatest, particulary if J.R.P. never had the opportunity to see software from any other company. This is still true of a lot of people today, but I think that the general public is finally catching on to the astonishing idea that M$ may actually suck.

Many of those in charge of procurement in the military may have known this for a long time. But it may have only recently become possible for someone like this guy to say so in public.

So, what Linux groupware products can we turn the Navy on to?