Amazon asks court to halt Microsoft's work on Pentagon 'war cloud' • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon asks court to halt Microsoft's work on Pentagon 'war cloud'

#31

Post by freepor » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 4:10 PM UTC

outside1234 wrote: post #28

crazygringo wrote: post #19

Normally this might seem like a case of sore loser. But here's the thing: in government it's very important that contracts are awarded on objective merit, because otherwise there's shockingly large opportunity for corruption and favoritism. Billions and billions of dollars of opportunity. And also in this case, Trump's deep antipathy towards Bezos is well-documented, as well as his willingness to use government means…

I mean, if you piss off a customer on a personal level, it should not surprise anyone if you lose the contract. This is reality the world wide.

Sure, but Donald John Trump is not the customer. The customer is the United States.

Re: Amazon asks court to halt Microsoft's work on Pentagon 'war cloud'

#32

Post by castlecrasher2 » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 4:10 PM UTC

rahuldottech wrote: post #14

lagadu wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, they get things done because they're a totalitarian, completely opaque regime. I'll take western governments with all their faults and inneficiencies, thank you.

Plenty of western governments get lots done efficiently. Parent comment was about US practices.

Did you even read the last sentence of the parent comment?

Re: Amazon asks court to halt Microsoft's work on Pentagon 'war cloud'

#33

Post by flatline » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 4:13 PM UTC

kick wrote: post #27

This thread is kind of chilling, because everyone within is treating it like it's just chat software or something. With quotes from this thread like "in the meantime the work doesn't get done," and "bid for contracts that [enable] government to make some real progress," you'd never guess this stuff is going to be used to and to enable murder. So many people were focusing on how Microsoft Ɛ> Linux or Open Source or wh…

Is all defense-related work complicit in murder?

Do we not need a military?

Nothing is perfect, but we are trapped on a planet with a bunch of violent, highly intelligent apes. Certainly the military does things I disagree with, and things could always be improved, but generally what is the alternative?

Re: Amazon asks court to halt Microsoft's work on Pentagon 'war cloud'

#34

Post by djsumdog » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 4:13 PM UTC

kick wrote: post #27

This thread is kind of chilling, because everyone within is treating it like it's just chat software or something. With quotes from this thread like "in the meantime the work doesn't get done," and "bid for contracts that [enable] government to make some real progress," you'd never guess this stuff is going to be used to and to enable murder. So many people were focusing on how Microsoft Ɛ> Linux or Open Source or wh…

Yes, there is harm that will happen, but harm will happen whether it's Microsoft or Amazon. Amazon is throwing their weight around because they didn't get the multi-billion contract. It has nothing to do with Amazon or Microsoft being better stewards of ... anything. They're both massive companies with horrid business practices, led by boards who don't give a shit about war or human suffering or the poor or anything outside growth and economic goals and shutting out their competitors.

Re: Amazon asks court to halt Microsoft's work on Pentagon 'war cloud'

#35

Post by slumdev » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 4:14 PM UTC

> Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure contract – or JEDI

I've been living under a rock, apparently.

Is there some requirement that when a right-wing celebrity gets elected President, they have to use Star Wars codenames?

Re: Amazon asks court to halt Microsoft's work on Pentagon 'war cloud'

#36

Post by koheripbal » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 4:15 PM UTC

kick wrote: post #27

This thread is kind of chilling, because everyone within is treating it like it's just chat software or something. With quotes from this thread like "in the meantime the work doesn't get done," and "bid for contracts that [enable] government to make some real progress," you'd never guess this stuff is going to be used to and to enable murder. So many people were focusing on how Microsoft Ɛ> Linux or Open Source or wh…

Is all war considered murder?

Re: Amazon asks court to halt Microsoft's work on Pentagon 'war cloud'

#37

Post by crazygringo » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 4:16 PM UTC

outside1234 wrote: post #28

crazygringo wrote: post #19

Normally this might seem like a case of sore loser. But here's the thing: in government it's very important that contracts are awarded on objective merit, because otherwise there's shockingly large opportunity for corruption and favoritism. Billions and billions of dollars of opportunity. And also in this case, Trump's deep antipathy towards Bezos is well-documented, as well as his willingness to use government means…

I mean, if you piss off a customer on a personal level, it should not surprise anyone if you lose the contract. This is reality the world wide.

Nope. There's this great concept called the "rule of law". Also "free speech" which allows you to criticize the government without retaliation. These are absolute bedrock principles of liberal democracy.

I'll admit it's the reality in countries with less developed governments, sure. But it's a reality we ought to fight against for the benefit of all, not to blindly and meekly accept. And historically, court cases are one of the primary tools in waging this fight.

Re: Amazon asks court to halt Microsoft's work on Pentagon 'war cloud'

#38

Post by psv1 » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 4:16 PM UTC

hart_russell wrote: post #26

robbyt wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but in this case, the choice of Azure over AWS was due to government corruption, rather than actual technical diligence.

Now cite your sources...

The original post is a good first source.

Re: Amazon asks court to halt Microsoft's work on Pentagon 'war cloud'

#39

Post by koheripbal » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 4:17 PM UTC

flatline wrote: post #33

kick wrote: post #27

This thread is kind of chilling, because everyone within is treating it like it's just chat software or something. With quotes from this thread like "in the meantime the work doesn't get done," and "bid for contracts that [enable] government to make some real progress," you'd never guess this stuff is going to be used to and to enable murder. So many people were focusing on how Microsoft Ɛ> Linux or Open Source or wh…

Is all defense-related work complicit in murder? Do we not need a military? Nothing is perfect, but we are trapped on a planet with a bunch of violent, highly intelligent apes. Certainly the military does things I disagree with, and things could always be improved, but generally what is the alternative?

kick's comment above is absolutely delusional. It's like something a teenager would write.

Im starting to wonder if hackernews is turning into Reddit.

Re: Amazon asks court to halt Microsoft's work on Pentagon 'war cloud'

#40

Post by psv1 » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 4:17 PM UTC

reallydontask wrote: post #16

robbyt wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but in this case, the choice of Azure over AWS was due to government corruption, rather than actual technical diligence.

is there any evidence backing this?

There's enough evidence for Amazon to take legal action. Then the courts decide if it's good enough.