211 new computers not needed
by Dale Tyler

On March 6 the City Council approved the purchase of 211 new computers, averaging more than $1,000 each. One-hundred and nineteen of these computers will be installed in city business offices, 80 at the library and the rest at rec centers. While the information technology group at city hall claims that we need to upgrade almost all of the computers the city now uses, I have a hard time believing this is correct.

Many of the computers that are being replaced are five or more years old. However, age alone is not a predictor of usefulness. Some components such as hard drives wear out, but I have seen companies refurbish computers and get years more use out of them for less than $300 per system, including parts and labor.

In industry, as some on the council should be aware, businesses rarely perform wholesale replacement, even though Dell, Microsoft and Intel and AMD might like them to. Instead, they set up a hand-me-down policy, where computers used by executives, artists and engineers are passed down to clerical staff and other less intensive users when the high-function workstations are replaced with the latest technology. Mission Viejo's information technology department claims to do this, but if you examine their request carefully, you will see that the 80 units designated for the library could easily be served with the P3 and older P4 units. In fact, I question why we need 100 new units for city hall, given there are rarely 100 people there at any one time, and most part-time staff members do not need a dedicated computer.

Since at least 50 of these $1,000 computers will be placed in public spaces at the library, I wonder why we need 1 GB, 3.2Ghz dual core systems? These systems are used for browsing the Internet and running word processing applications. Of course, in Mission Viejo, money grows on taxpayers, and the city does not need to consider any actual need when spending our money.

Then, there is the matter of operating system upgrades. Instead of claiming that computer upgrades are needed to upgrade to Windows XP, why not begin using free open-source platforms like Linux, which will work fine for the library and most clerical staff and is provably more secure than Windows XP.

I volunteered my time to help migrate all of the existing public computers at the library to Linux as a demonstration of what can be done. In response, Frank Ury, claiming that “Geek is spelled with EE,'” an apparent reference to his engineering background, stated that we would never use free software in Mission Viejo because “there are all those problems with Linux and Windows XP.” I would expect a self-proclaimed geek to be aware of office suites like Open Office that completely replace all of the functions needed on the public computers in the library. Of course, Ury could have been engaging in the time-honored practice of spreading FUD, also known as Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. Perhaps our so-called geek on the council should study the offerings of companies like IBM and Sun Microsystems, which are heavily investing in Linux, and then reconsider his claim of incompatibility. I know of several people who share documents and other data between Linux and Windows XP with less difficulty than sharing documents between Windows XP and Windows 95.

Many municipal and larger governments have switched to open source systems because they are more reliable and more secure, as well as less costly. Many governments believe in not forcing their citizens to use special, costly programs to view public records and, thus, insist on open document formats. Examples of this conversion are the state of Massachusetts, the California ARB and Largo, Florida. Garden Grove runs many of its servers and its web site on Linux. Yet our IT staff seems incapable of advancing as technology changes and has instead opted for a much more expensive solution.

The citizens deserve more from our council and staff than spending money blindly, just for the sake of having the newest and shiniest computers.