I did RTFA and the linked one and the RFC... You are correct in that the test will fall back, and in fact will not run if you aren't already using one of the chosen DNS providers - but there is no provision for turning it off at a network level. The only option it appears is to run your own DoH server. Even then good luck with that since it just looks like ordinary TLS on port 443. I forsee large networks and ISPs commonly decrypting TLS to get around this. This will be a cluster.

For those of us that run large networks and do split DNS (internal intranet addresses as well as the public versions for a given domain depending on what network the user is connected to) - this will be a disaster. As soon as this is attemted at a DOD site or a fortune 500 it will see huge pushback.

The ones I can think of...
-Zoneminder (security cams)
-Open Media Vault (Media server)
-Octopi (3d Printer)
-An SSH gateway to enable control for a remote ham radio site
-A digital radio (ham) gateway
-Several as squeeze server clients (music)
-An artificial window (webcam view) for my windowless office.
-About 4 in various stages of new projects - like a badge for Defcon etc...

This was the problem with Ubuntu Touch. I had the tablet and would have loved it except it's a different processor architecture and the software you are used to is not available. They did provide LibreOffice and a couple other minor things but other than that there is only so much that can be done in HTML 5. Maybe if a major manufacturer like Samsung does this and provides a relatively easy IDE or even starts / funds a project to compile software for the architecture it will take off.

These arguments on both sides are absurd.

Meet the Apple: Solar panels. (PV) are a consumer product for a very narrow market. They primarily make fiscal sense only in non-grid tied rural homes where the cost of connecting to the said grid approaches that of the panels themselves. And remote low amperage power situations like traffic signals, radio/cellular sites, well pumps, and satellites.

Meet the Orange: Commercial generation (from any source) is mass market only. Lends itself well to the interests of large industry and their supporting industry, and of course their lobbyists and the politicians they support/feed/coddle.

There is no comparison. PV panel subsidies and tax breaks are - as said previously - simply a political stunt. If you must argue about the merits of renewable energy vs fossil fuel (which is the apparent elephant in the room) then it's really down to nuclear, coal, and natural gas VS hydro, wind, and the one technology that actually has the potential to replace our current mass generation system- solar thermal. (yes Virginia, solar thermal works when it's dark too)

What we should be asking is why none of our politicians are working to subsidise a mass generation technology that would work. Not pointing fingers (ok - I am) but the money and lobbyists belong to the current, and disgustingly profitable fossil fuel industry. The solar thermal plants belong to startups, universities and a couple of local governments. Who do you think will win?

When I was the IT manager - definitely. Stress 24/7. Sucked ass.

Becoming a "grunt" again was the best move I ever made. "Not my problem" is my new mantra. I take care of my systems. Make recommendations. Sleep well knowing that as long as I do my job with due diligence - well, its not my problem.

Very good advice above but one thing was missed. You said that you have allot of internal media. If the NGO is office based vs everyone working remotely - due to the bandwidth needed - I'd recommend going with a media server on your local net and the cloud for everything else. Netgear makes a nice line (ReadyNAS) of inexpensive networked attached storage units with hardware RAID that include pretty much every kind of media services out of the box. Plus you get a brand name to provide support / repair for all the reasons mentioned above. Back it up to the cloud.

Regarding all the comments about not trusting the cloud: I work hospital IT and we take every precaution you can imagine to protect our data - multiple off-site backups, generators, rooms full of batteries, extreme physical security, redundant fiber and network cores etc... Over the 20 years I've done this I have still witnessed several circumstances that hosed us despite all of these efforts.

The companies that host true cloud solutions have deeper pockets than my employer and spread data around the country or even the planet. Their entire business model depends on taking care of your data. If someone digs up your fiber then call another provider or jump in the car and go to the next town over. There are always "what if" naysayers about any strategy and they are correct. Shit happens - Nothing is perfect. For a company of 20 however the cloud puts the kind of precautions my employer goes to within your reach.

I guess Skynet hasn't learned it's lesson about Windows Vista yet... Wrong way, Wooton er Mr. 1000...

Sounds like you are using GNUmed where the patient schedule is done in your standard calendar app.

In this case I'm afraid you need to shift paradigms. Most modern smartphone OS's actually have no native PIM applications that you can sync to - unlike the older Palm and WinCE devices. Everything is designed to talk to and display information stored in the cloud or on a server.

In this case for the short term I'd get a large screened device like a DroidX or even a Dell Streak and either use web browser based display (via SSL of course) or setup a VPN (built into Android) and use VNC to view your desktop.

Long term - develop an Android app to do the above in a pleasing / useful way.

Also - Google's cloud recently won security certification for government use. I'm sure HIPPA isn't far behind. Maybe just hang on to the Palm devices a little longer and then a move to standard Android will become feasible.

BTW Kudos for being careful and doing your Due Diligence. I happen to work in health care IT and see jaw dropping breaches of confidentiality - especially by small offices - all the time.

Most people that think of syncing really don't need that much and what you need is almost never confidential. For example you probably really just need your contacts and your schedule.

Unless you are a criminal, neither would be subject to questions of ethics - and unless you are a high ranking politician would not even rank as sensitive information. For those - go with the cloud. Evolution will sync your contacts to Google and google calendar is great - especially for small groups or individuals. Both are native on Android. For email - just setup your own server or use the hosted email you have now with the built in mail client. Turn on SSL (TLS) encryption and Bob's your uncle.

If you need to sync and carry documents / spreadsheets or the like, just use android and do an rsync with a directory on your sever or workstation. You can transfer files via bluetooth, USB or WiFi.

Coming from Palm it's a little weird getting used to cutting the cord but it really is great and does work.

I've been in IT for more than 20 years and very very rarely have I seen automation be a money saver. No matter the industry.

Automation does enable other things however. Many businesses would not be possible without automation. For example global overnight shipping...and large hospitals. I work for an average size metropolitan hospital and I can tell you - even at our modest size - the business of tracking patients, all their meds, tests and even what room they are in would not be possible. At least not without a staff that would dwarf what we currently have. Processing the mess that is the medical "reimbursement" system in the US is a whole other topic. Even WITH automation that requires a staff of about a third as many individuals as we have inpatients.

Health care IT is finally starting to get to the point where there is a definite direct benefit to the patient too. For example - medical imaging has reached a point where it's virtually all digital. The patients studies are pushed back and forth between providers (hospitals). In our case we recieve patient transfers from a very wide rural area. The smaller hospitals and clinics send us the patients scans digitally and most of the time the surgeons at our hospital have been able to plan treatment before the patient even arrives.

We also have IV pumps that know the safe levels of the drugs they are putting into the patients. If a nurse makes a mistake - say not moving a decimal appropriately when she is setting up the infusion rate (very common error) - the pump will not allow her to put 10x the drug into your vein... We can also get the infusion information pulled back to the patient record and even locate where the pumps physically are thanks to their wireless connection.

Saving money is truly the last thing that should be considered for hospital automation.

Put a hosts file on your workers systems. Done.

And stop advertising or using outside DNS for your internal network. That's like putting a map in your yard to where you keep all of your valuables in your house.