Mostly unrelated, but I just met a guy last night who's working in state govt (NC). Is working in a dept and is being told he only has access to Windows servers, and is required to use IIS and SQL Server. They're already bought/paid/licensed, and he has no option. But... there's no budget to get him a licensed copy of Visual Studio. So he's been writing PHP with some free editor and cobbling it together on Windows/MSSQL.
He seemed to be unaware of Visual Studio Express options, so that's a little bit his fault (or more likely, the fault of whoever is overseeing his group).
Again, yes, unrelated to the Oracle thing, except yet one more anecdotal illustration of just how poorly run govt programs can be. I know private enterprise can be as well, but we're not having to fund those directly, and in many cases the market eventually sorts them out.
He seemed to be unaware of Visual Studio Express options, so that's a little bit his fault (or more likely, the fault of whoever is overseeing his group).
Again, yes, unrelated to the Oracle thing, except yet one more anecdotal illustration of just how poorly run govt programs can be. I know private enterprise can be as well, but we're not having to fund those directly, and in many cases the market eventually sorts them out.