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‘Fix My Computer’ Cry Echos on Social Media; Air Force CIO Responds

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Re: ‘Fix My Computer’ Cry Echos on Social Media; Air Force CIO Responds

#191

Post by vel0city »

sidpatil wrote: post #135
easton wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked at a internship one time where by the end of the two month stint my machine would take upwards of 45 minutes to login because there was something that was running on login that had to timeout (because it was broken). Sometimes IT pushes policies that conflict with other stuff and rarely do they check every configuration (or setup alerting for these bad cases). There's lots of reasons it can happen though (es…

> GPOs I didn't know what this meant, so I looked it up on DuckDuckGo. The first relevant result was from... a DoD website. https://public.cyber.mil/stigs/gpo/

They're definitely not something special about the DoD. They're core parts of configuration and policy enforcement on Windows systems. Any organization managing Windows systems will use Group Policy Objects.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_Policy

Re: ‘Fix My Computer’ Cry Echos on Social Media; Air Force CIO Responds

#192

Post by rasengan0 »

I wonder about IT woes in the other branches, Army, Navy... Space Force?

Maybe they could share notes on best practices/trade equipment

On Sundays, Space Force gets to login on the "good computers", Navy on Tuesdays

Seriously, this sounds like a national security risk or consultant's wet dream.

Do other countries run Microsoft too?

:-((

Re: ‘Fix My Computer’ Cry Echos on Social Media; Air Force CIO Responds

#193

Post by thinkmassive »

praash wrote: post #163
omni wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Try booting a 2 GB RAM machine to some RAM-preloading Linux thumbdrive and you'll see why the problem is not "spinning rust HDDs" and "only 4 GB RAM" They're absolutely running some sort of modern Windows so I don't see how this is relevant at all. MS-DOS2.0 would also work like a dream on those specs, who cares?

Yes, they're running Windows, and Windows is also software, contributing to the bloat. My point is that the resource overhead of just running an idle OS doesn't need to be humongous compared to the actual workload.

Seriously, they could be running on thin clients like a chromebook. No need to give everyone top-end machines to run MS Office and some webapps. It's mind boggling this is even a debate on HN.

Re: ‘Fix My Computer’ Cry Echos on Social Media; Air Force CIO Responds

#194

Post by spamizbad »

908B64B197 wrote: post #185
spamizbad wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Part of this is that IT is viewed as a cost center (well, because it is), and often "owns" the expense of issuing laptops. IT's objective is to ship you a laptop that will adequately run the software you need to perform your job duties. How efficiently you perform them becomes a problem for you and your manager.

> well, because it is Is it? Without IT can a business even run? > and often "owns" the expense of issuing laptops. That's just accounting done wrong. The correct way to do accounting around internal IT is to have IT bill projects/departments for their use.

You're right but sadly neither of us really shape business culture.

Re: ‘Fix My Computer’ Cry Echos on Social Media; Air Force CIO Responds

#195

Post by spamizbad »

joshstrange wrote: post #97
spamizbad wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Part of this is that IT is viewed as a cost center (well, because it is), and often "owns" the expense of issuing laptops. IT's objective is to ship you a laptop that will adequately run the software you need to perform your job duties. How efficiently you perform them becomes a problem for you and your manager.

I understand the basic reasons why but anyone who actually examines this has to come to the conclusion that it's a good idea to issue sub-par tech is penny wise and pound foolish. Heck, for developer satisfaction alone I think it's good idea to upgrade them yearly or every 2 years at most. Cycle those machines through your org or resell them. The depreciation lost in resale is tiny compared to increased efficiency an…

In this case we aren't even talking about developers who are struggling with slow computers: Even generic office workers struggle with slow machines and it impacts their productivity.

I'm not defending the practice and I am firmly in the "High performance orgs require people to have the best tools you can reasonably buy"

Re: ‘Fix My Computer’ Cry Echos on Social Media; Air Force CIO Responds

#196

Post by snowwrestler »

dsr_ wrote: post #176

It's not the hardware, it's the crap that runs on it. You want a system which is secure and usable? Time for the DoD to commission their own OS. "Nobody will know how to use it!" is an objection which can be overcome by training, which is a thing that the armed forces understand. "It won't be compatible with the COTS!" is an advantage, not a disadvantage. "It will take too long and cost too much!" means that they are…

OS does not matter anymore, it is a commodity. That’s why copies of any OS cost almost nothing at retail.

What matters is the configuration of the OS and the network, and most importantly the selection and configuration of applications, whether hosted or client (or both). That is where DoD should focus their resources.

Re: ‘Fix My Computer’ Cry Echos on Social Media; Air Force CIO Responds

#197

Post by jabroni_salad »

sidpatil wrote: post #135
easton wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked at a internship one time where by the end of the two month stint my machine would take upwards of 45 minutes to login because there was something that was running on login that had to timeout (because it was broken). Sometimes IT pushes policies that conflict with other stuff and rarely do they check every configuration (or setup alerting for these bad cases). There's lots of reasons it can happen though (es…

> GPOs I didn't know what this meant, so I looked it up on DuckDuckGo. The first relevant result was from... a DoD website. https://public.cyber.mil/stigs/gpo/

that's just config management for the windows desktop and has been around for ages. They mostly just flip a corresponding registry key and are idempotent, so the impact is minimal aside from the first time policies are processed. The reason that DoD site appears in search is because their STIGs (security technical implementation guides) are a freely available best practice reference for any windows administrator to use.

You do not want to apply all of their reccomendations to any computer, but I will say that fully STIG'd computer will actually not take that long to boot up, aside from the first application of the policies. Login performance usually comes down to drive maps, printer maps, and startup programs.

Re: ‘Fix My Computer’ Cry Echos on Social Media; Air Force CIO Responds

#198

Post by sandworm101 »

For perspective: I work in a difference armed force but with basically the same issue. We once had a problem with soldiers stealing memory sticks from workstations (unclassified systems). Take only one stick and the machine still works. The theft problem goes unnoticed long enough that we cannot nail down who stole what when. Answer: Give the computers only one memory stick. Thefts will then be noticed quickly. Now, almost two decades later, we are still stuck with that bonehead decision. I requested an upgrade, an extra 4gb of ram on a "new" windows workstation. "Sorry sir, but we don't have any 8gb sticks and are not allowed to give you 2x4gb."

I know of a military computer (simulation display, 4x4K screens) running off a single 64gb stick because they couldn't bring themselves to install 4x16 or even 2x32.

Re: ‘Fix My Computer’ Cry Echos on Social Media; Air Force CIO Responds

#199

Post by encryptluks2 »

HideousKojima wrote: post #127
alexpotato wrote: post #119

“It has been the absolute most frustrating thing in the world since the [Department of the Air Force] … made OWA crazy locked down,” said Oliver Parsons, chief of esports and virtual fitness for the Department of the Air Force The above made me stop and ask "The Air Force has an esports group??"

It's part of their recruitment efforts IIRC. Kind of like the America's Army video game

Sort of how coaches and educational staff will get a nice vacation to let the Army recruiters come in and try to convince a teenager to donate thier life to the military.

Re: ‘Fix My Computer’ Cry Echos on Social Media; Air Force CIO Responds

#200

Post by slingnow »

pc86 wrote: post #76
johnklos wrote: post #71

Why aren't aircraft made as simple to fly as cars are to drive? Why aren't regular people allowed to just get in an aircraft and start flying after a couple of hours of practice? We see no problem in assuming that people need the lowest-common-denominator operating system in computer to suit the people instead of the people learning how to use a proper computer, though. If something is mission critical, then it shoul…

> Why aren't regular people allowed to just get in an aircraft and start flying after a couple of hours of practice? I mean, they are. Student pilots often solo at 8-10 hours total flight time.

First of all, that's on the low end of the spectrum, so "often" is a stretch.

Second, that only takes into account seat time, not all of the other study required to understand the instruments and other assorted knowledge.

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