5 ms·

Am I missing something particularly exciting about this?

by sco1 4y ago

Jtsummers 4y ago
Not really. It appears to be a database of approved (and disapproved) software people can use for various activities. The constraint on this one (and it seems to be on most of them, doing a brief browse through) is that you have to inform/get approval from the supervisor and others before downloading and perform a virus scan on it before executing. I guess the good thing is that it shows the VA has a central repository of approved and disapproved software instead of making every team go out and figure it out themselves.
s1artibartfast 4y ago
That obviously depends on what excites you. I think it's cool that more free software gaining acceptance and traction
- sco1 4y ago
  This is just a bureaucratic checkbox though. IT approvals are "an employee asked if they could use this" not some kind of broader endorsement.
  - s1artibartfast 4y ago
    Sure, I think that is clear. It is still better to be on the list with a check than not!
  - Brian_K_White 4y ago
    It's a good thing. So what if there is not also a parade?
  - 1MachineElf 4y ago
    I used to work there and was delighted they had Vim listed. I was allowed to install Vim on my workstation. Emacs is not approved unfortunately. Not sure why. I wonder if it has to do with that exploitable bug from decades ago from Cliff Stoll's The Cuckoo's Egg. Rationale for other technology choices they make go back even farther in history.
  - thrwawy74 4y ago
    At my corner, they license out Creative Suite and moan about the cost every year. So many folks using it for basic video cutting/transitions. I've recommended Blender - which is approved - over and over, but it falls on deaf ears. This is the same thing. Great open-source application that does what people want. We don't just need "enterprise support" for open-source applications, we also need enterprise training. I wish a part of the gov were dedicated to supporting open-source and acting as good sumaritan liaisons to these projects.
  - pxmpxm 4y ago
    Yeah, also more to the point does the VA actually use any sort cad at all?
    - kube-system 4y ago
      Any organization the size of the VA is going to have people using CAD as a matter of just maintaining their property. Example: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/708941600 https://www.usajobs.gov/job/708941600
    - hadlock 4y ago
      Every government org has a building, and any larger facility (20,000 sq ft) will have a "physical plant" with various machinery. Any large facility will have a machine shop of sorts to maintain HVAC equipment, utility vehicles, repair things. The VA maintains something like 30 hospitals nationwide, in addition to various amphatheaters and storage depots, it's a huge org. Someone somewhere will be designing stuff with FreeCAD and 3D printing stuff within a week to solve some problem, even if it's something as simple as a shim to keep some HVAC flashing from vibrating.
hadlock 4y ago
Government employees can design basic stuff (and some not-so-basic stuff) and 3d print it in their machine shop, or send the design to a machine shop to be made, rather than sending in a requisition for purchasing commercial CAD software, waiting 6-12 months for purchasing and legal approval etc. to design basic stuff. There are a million things that need pretty basic brackets or adapters that break or rust and you could get a machine up and running in a day or two by designing it yourself, rather than going through a bidding process, purchase order, invoice etc. Maybe the ABS 3D printed part will only last a week, but at least your million dollar machine is up and running while the metal part is on order. You can cut out a ton of bureaucracy. There are a lot of groups named "F*ck that, I'll just print it" showing how they fixed or modify one simple part that doesn't have a lot of stress (less than 100lbs) but they'd have to throw out or stop using otherwise.

Am I missing something particularly exciting about this?

by sco1 4y ago

Am I missing something particularly exciting about this?

Not really. It appears to be a database of approved (and disapproved) software people can use for various activities. The constraint on this one (and it seems to be on most of them, doing a brief browse through) is that you have to inform/get approval from the supervisor and others before downloading and perform a virus scan on it before executing. I guess the good thing is that it shows the VA has a central repository of approved and disapproved software instead of making every team go out and figure it out themselves.

s1artibartfast 4y ago

That obviously depends on what excites you. I think it's cool that more free software gaining acceptance and traction

sco1 4y ago
This is just a bureaucratic checkbox though. IT approvals are "an employee asked if they could use this" not some kind of broader endorsement.
- s1artibartfast 4y ago
  Sure, I think that is clear. It is still better to be on the list with a check than not!
- Brian_K_White 4y ago
  It's a good thing. So what if there is not also a parade?
- 1MachineElf 4y ago
  I used to work there and was delighted they had Vim listed. I was allowed to install Vim on my workstation. Emacs is not approved unfortunately. Not sure why. I wonder if it has to do with that exploitable bug from decades ago from Cliff Stoll's The Cuckoo's Egg. Rationale for other technology choices they make go back even farther in history.
- thrwawy74 4y ago
  At my corner, they license out Creative Suite and moan about the cost every year. So many folks using it for basic video cutting/transitions. I've recommended Blender - which is approved - over and over, but it falls on deaf ears. This is the same thing. Great open-source application that does what people want. We don't just need "enterprise support" for open-source applications, we also need enterprise training. I wish a part of the gov were dedicated to supporting open-source and acting as good sumaritan liaisons to these projects.
- pxmpxm 4y ago
  Yeah, also more to the point does the VA actually use any sort cad at all?
  - kube-system 4y ago
    Any organization the size of the VA is going to have people using CAD as a matter of just maintaining their property. Example: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/708941600 https://www.usajobs.gov/job/708941600
  - hadlock 4y ago
    Every government org has a building, and any larger facility (20,000 sq ft) will have a "physical plant" with various machinery. Any large facility will have a machine shop of sorts to maintain HVAC equipment, utility vehicles, repair things. The VA maintains something like 30 hospitals nationwide, in addition to various amphatheaters and storage depots, it's a huge org. Someone somewhere will be designing stuff with FreeCAD and 3D printing stuff within a week to solve some problem, even if it's something as simple as a shim to keep some HVAC flashing from vibrating.

hadlock 4y ago

Government employees can design basic stuff (and some not-so-basic stuff) and 3d print it in their machine shop, or send the design to a machine shop to be made, rather than sending in a requisition for purchasing commercial CAD software, waiting 6-12 months for purchasing and legal approval etc. to design basic stuff. There are a million things that need pretty basic brackets or adapters that break or rust and you could get a machine up and running in a day or two by designing it yourself, rather than going through a bidding process, purchase order, invoice etc. Maybe the ABS 3D printed part will only last a week, but at least your million dollar machine is up and running while the metal part is on order. You can cut out a ton of bureaucracy. There are a lot of groups named "F*ck that, I'll just print it" showing how they fixed or modify one simple part that doesn't have a lot of stress (less than 100lbs) but they'd have to throw out or stop using otherwise.