Filed under: Mozilla, Browsers
US State Department employees ask Hillary clinton for Firefox - Video
You can see the Q&A by skipping to the 26:32 point in the video above.
The request was met with a round of applause from the audience. But Clinton didn't have a ready answer, so she called another official who explained that while Firefox was available for free, it would cost money for the IT staff to begin supporting it. And while the state department is seeking additional funds for IT, it's not a done deal.
In other words, it might happen, but don't hold your breath. That might sound familiar to a number of workers in corporate offices too.
[via Mozilla Links]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
216 said 2:19PM on 7-14-2009
I work in the government myself, and we're allowed to use Firefox (as of a matter of fact that's what im using now)
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Sojourner said 11:31PM on 7-14-2009
Get back to work slacker! Stop wasting my taxpayer dollars.
Crazy Serb said 2:52PM on 7-14-2009
Since when does anyone take Hillary Clinton seriously?
Enough with these puppets...
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kingabraham3 said 2:53PM on 7-14-2009
why is changing from firefox -- and dropping all cost for using internet explorer -- MORE expensive, net net.
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sodapop said 3:35PM on 7-14-2009
yeah - kinda wondering what the IT costs are, myself.
Jamus said 2:58PM on 7-14-2009
I would say they need to point out how many support issues actually came about because of users having IE. Base that vs the amount of time it would take to install it and there you go!
Seriously though, the amount of malware/spyware junk I have had on my user base of machines has dropped almost off the map since I requested they switch from IE. Right now IE is only being used for some of the antique web apps that are so activeX-based they just don't work on FF. Other than that, it has been very little support headache with the switch.
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Platinum_Skeet said 4:42PM on 7-14-2009
That guy just didn't know what he was talking about and pulled a bs excuse out his ass. Honestly with Firefox and IE Tabs there's no reason you shouldn't be using Firefox. Almost everyone I know in DoD or active military uses Firefox, IE's just a drain on resources...
Mike said 3:31PM on 7-14-2009
Really? I mean after they sued Microsoft for being a monopoly? I find this hilarious.
Combine the security problems of IE with the idiots that work in the government and it's surprising that any of their computers work.
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Gav said 3:46PM on 7-14-2009
IE updates can be installed using Windows Update, and can be rolled out easier than Firefox.
I don't know if there's any way to centrally download Firefox updates so that Firefox goes to a local server rather than the web.
Imagine 1000 Firefox clients all going out for a 15MB update at the same time.
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rcarm said 4:24PM on 7-14-2009
15MB? Updates are usually around 1 - 3 MB.
Gav said 4:26PM on 7-14-2009
Regardless, Mozilla need to make Firefox more corporate orientated before it can be easily deployed on a large scale.
Peter said 5:40PM on 7-14-2009
"it would cost money for the IT staff to begin supporting it" - Let them use it and say it's unsupported. Anyone who voluntarily asks to use Firefox isn't going to be calling support to ask how to close a tab. Users will still have IE on the machine so if something doesn't work right in FF, they can always use IE. There I just saved the taxpayers millions of dollars.
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Xanthonus said 7:13PM on 7-14-2009
Having used all the 4 most used browsers (IE, FF, Chrome, and Safari) I find IE8 to be my browser of choice. It's by far the best browser for internet security because of the way it updates, how it handles downloads, and it being able to get to the console quickly just to name a few. I found Safari 4 to be the fastest browser overall especially in flash situations. For FF at least for me IE8 and FF3.5 are so close in speed that I would rather have IE8 for better security. I believe the outcry for the FF browser is really the IT's fault and the way Microsoft handles new editions of IE. I will take a guess and say the government is still using IE7 or IE6 which well I would even use FF over that because its slow. To have better security Microsoft makes IT's roll out new editions of IE on their own which no IT likes to do. Plus why not just use FF portable in the mean time till IT's can roll out the new update of IE8.
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blaszta said 12:22AM on 7-15-2009
I don't think they use IE8, at least for now.
Deploying a new version of browser also takes many thing to consider, almost like new browser (i.e. check whether corporate intranet support the new version of the browser, compatibility issues, etc.).
I believe they're still stuck in IE6 or IE7, and FF (even 3.0) still far better than both browser.
Robert said 11:29AM on 7-15-2009
"...I would rather have IE8 for better security."
Was that a joke?
Xanthonus said 12:04PM on 7-15-2009
No that was not a joke Robert IE8 does have better security built in if you learn how to use it. It's not like Microsoft does not know how to do security they are actually one of the best at it (Microsoft Security Essentials ring a bell). Not only has IE been targeted for years because it's the most used browser, but firewall and other back door hardware and programs know how to look for inconsistencies better using IE. Look if you have no idea on how to use features to your befit get a noobie browser like Chrome and look up your sites with that.
iubyont said 2:08AM on 7-15-2009
firefox will not save your business money just because it is free. last time i checked internet explorer was also free and it is already preloaded on your systems if your running windows, which is most likely the case in a business environment. ie8 is as fast if not faster then ff3.5 (its slightly faster in win7 according to tom'shardware). i also give a slight nod to ie8 in terms of security. the only reason i use ff3.5 is because of the addons but if youre at work youre probably not going to be installing many of those. ff3.5 is also not targeted as much for viruses/malware/adware/etc, but if a good number of large corporations and businesses switch over to ff3.5 then ff3.5 will be targeted more. i dont really see the benefits of switching.
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