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Comment by s1artibartfast | Hacker News Reader

That obviously depends on what excites you. I think it's cool that more free software gaining acceptance and traction

This is just a bureaucratic checkbox though. IT approvals are "an employee asked if they could use this" not some kind of broader endorsement.

Sure, I think that is clear. It is still better to be on the list with a check than not!

It's a good thing. So what if there is not also a parade?

I used to work there and was delighted they had Vim listed. I was allowed to install Vim on my workstation.

Emacs is not approved unfortunately. Not sure why. I wonder if it has to do with that exploitable bug from decades ago from Cliff Stoll's The Cuckoo's Egg. Rationale for other technology choices they make go back even farther in history.

At my corner, they license out Creative Suite and moan about the cost every year. So many folks using it for basic video cutting/transitions. I've recommended Blender - which is approved - over and over, but it falls on deaf ears. This is the same thing. Great open-source application that does what people want. We don't just need "enterprise support" for open-source applications, we also need enterprise training. I wish a part of the gov were dedicated to supporting open-source and acting as good sumaritan liaisons to these projects.

Yeah, also more to the point does the VA actually use any sort cad at all?

Any organization the size of the VA is going to have people using CAD as a matter of just maintaining their property.

Example: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/708941600

Every government org has a building, and any larger facility (20,000 sq ft) will have a "physical plant" with various machinery. Any large facility will have a machine shop of sorts to maintain HVAC equipment, utility vehicles, repair things.

The VA maintains something like 30 hospitals nationwide, in addition to various amphatheaters and storage depots, it's a huge org. Someone somewhere will be designing stuff with FreeCAD and 3D printing stuff within a week to solve some problem, even if it's something as simple as a shim to keep some HVAC flashing from vibrating.

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