Thank you John; I think "reliable" was the wrong adjective chosen by the rep. I find the "who do we sue?" [when something goes wrong] question problematic on many levels. I suppose the idea is that they could get in a courtroom with Bill Gates and/or his legal team, and any issue would get sorted. Sort of like, if you ever have a problem with your cereal, you could sue Captain Crunch. A figurehead seems to be important, so that people do not ask who they can sue when something goes wrong. Maybe there needs to be a face under the Red Hat? If so, I propose it look like Carmen Sandiego :) Sincerely, Katie ________________________________ From: J C Nash <profjcnash [ at ] gmail [ dot ] com> Sent: 03 July 2022 17:56 To: Katherine Mcmillan <kmcmi046 [ at ] uottawa [ dot ] ca>; Linux-Ottawa <linux [ at ] linux-ottawa [ dot ] org> Subject: Re: [linux] Meeting Announcement Attention : courriel externe | external email It is definitely relevant. And it is likely a good time to revisit the trash-speak that talks of some of the proprietary vendors as being "reliable" when it is clear that they are not. There are issues with open source software, and they are different from those in the proprietary world. Mostly, if my understanding is correct, it is that the proprietary types sell the idea that you'll have someone to sue when things go wrong -- like RTG for the Ottawa LRT. Wanna take on Microsoft? Same sort of idea. So I'll welcome such a contribution. JN On 2022-07-03 17:41, Katherine Mcmillan wrote: > John and James (and everyone), > > I have a topic that I might want to present but I am honestly not sure it's appropriate. It's about a specific incident > which occurred recently during an IT Security seminar being given by a well-known healthcare organization in Ontario. > Essentially, I had asked whether we could look at using Linux distros or *BSDs for clinic OSes with the EMRs, > considering the ongoing Microsoft/Windows source code leaks, and I was basically told that, due to the distributed > nature of the support (sorry, they called it "a less centralized support infrastructure, eg. linux") for open source > tools, we can/should go ahead and trust "reliable" commercial software, such as the tools from Microsoft. Which seems > like complete BS, but there might be a bigger conversation to be had. At very least, I feel the comment reflects a deep > ignorance about open source operating systems and software, and particularly tools like RHEL, and I personally wouldn't > mind revisiting the whole idea of advocacy again. > > Would such a topic be appropriate? The exchange occurred during what I understand to have been, a fully public seminar, > but very much directed towards physicians. > > Sincerely, > Katie > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > *From:* J C Nash <profjcnash [ at ] gmail [ dot ] com> > *Sent:* 03 July 2022 17:24 > *To:* Katherine Mcmillan <kmcmi046 [ at ] uottawa [ dot ] ca>; Linux-Ottawa <linux [ at ] linux-ottawa [ dot ] org> > *Subject:* Re: [linux] Meeting Announcement > Attention : courriel externe | external email > > Excellent. Let's try to work on something. > > Do get in touch in about a week and we'll arrange phone or else online. > > Best, JN > > > On 2022-07-03 17:22, Katherine Mcmillan wrote: >> Hi John and All, >> >> I would like to help organize an in-person meeting - maybe we could plan for the August meeting to be in-person/hybrid? >> >> Sincerely, >> Katie >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> *From:* J C Nash <profjcnash [ at ] gmail [ dot ] com> >> *Sent:* 03 July 2022 17:10 >> *To:* Linux-Ottawa <linux [ at ] linux-ottawa [ dot ] org> >> *Subject:* [linux] Meeting Announcement >> Attention : courriel externe | external email >> >> Meeting Announcement >> >> Linux-Ottawa July 2022 Meeting CANCELLED >> >> We have had no offers to speak or help out, and the organizers either have been or will be away this week. >> >> John Nash will attempt to set up something for August. If anyone has a topic for which they can present some ideas or >> lead a conversation, let us know. >> >> Your depleted Board. >> >> To unsubscribe send a blank message to linux+unsubscribe [ at ] linux-ottawa [ dot ] org >> To get help send a blank message to linux+help [ at ] linux-ottawa [ dot ] org >> To visit the archives: https://lists.linux-ottawa.org <https://lists.linux-ottawa.org> <https://lists.linux-ottawa.org > <https://lists.linux-ottawa.org>> >>