State Department Begs Clinton to Switch to Firefox
State Department Begs Clinton to Switch to Firefox
Posted 07/16/2009 at 6:50am
| by Paul Lilly
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Mozilla's Firefox browser has at least one proponent in the Department of State, and likely many more, according to a recent question-and-answer session hosted by Secretary Hillary Clinton and Under Secretary Patrick Kennedy last week. New State Department employee Jim Finkle brought the matter to attention, saying he was surprised the State Department doesn't yet allow the use of Firefox, while the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (Finkle's previous place of employment) does.
Clinton admitted "there's a lot of support" for Finkle's suggestion, but according to Kennedy, the issue comes down to cost. Finkle pointed out that Firefox is free-- which drew laughter from the room -- but that's not the kind of cost Kennedy was referring to.
"It's a question of the resources to manage multiple systems," Kennedy explained. "It has to be administered, the patches have to be loaded. It may seem small, but when you're running a worldwide operation and trying to push, as the secretary rightly said, out fobs and other devices, you're caught in the terrible bind of triage trying to get the most out that you can, but knowing you can't do everything at once.."
But it wasn't all bad news for Finkle and other Firefox fans. Kennedy noted that allowing Firefox is something the State Department is looking at, while also acknowledging "a significant increase in the 2010 budget request that's pending." Should the budget go through -- which would be used to fund information technology operations -- Kennedy said they would be able to add multiple programs.
Keep fighting the good fight, Finkle.
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tkid124
July 20, 2009 at 4:28am
Last time I checked you could, gasp, push out updates from 1 computer, it might not be as expensive as you think Mr. Under Secretary.
travispaul138
July 16, 2009 at 6:02pm
Conficker
On a related note as stated both browsers are equally vulnerable. I wonder how many government computers are presently running IE8 or how many of those that are running Firefox are using 3.5?
510Gamer
July 16, 2009 at 1:20pm
and plus theres millions of ppl who are enough tech savvy to crack any browser....dont be stupid and say "its closed source" so its wayyyy safer. You think the ppl in the fuckin state department dont realize this. Theres ppl advising them that are twice as smart as you and wud mention that. and if someone wanted to crack a government browser you'd think they wudnt be a dumbass.
510Gamer
July 16, 2009 at 1:15pm
Guys, everyone knows that no browser is perfect. i have used all. IE, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera. They all have problems. Opera freezes sometimes and doesnt wanna quit properly on a mac. Chrome is a bit plain and no customization. and on and on. everyone has their preferences cuz everyone has different needs. Everyone stop the shit and just state what browser you like and why and why it suits your needs best. Thats all anyone needs, not another stupid "which app is better" fight.
"Peace only comes with war or after it"
gatorXXX
July 16, 2009 at 7:21am
Yes, keep fighting the good fight!!! WOOHOO!! Switch to Firefox!! So you can get blasted with malware because of the "critical" vulnerability of its java platform!!!! I guess with all the problems FF is having would go hand in hand with this admistration. So keep up the good fight!! WOOHOO!!
ETNPNYS
July 16, 2009 at 8:37am
Great. Now that the entire world knows that our government is using an open-source browser it's only a matter of time before every defense system we have is aimed at us. All through FireFox and their little Java hole.
No really though, I agree. I really don't believe that anything that requires a high level of security should be using a web browser that has its code open to the world.
No browser is perfect, but at least if you have closed-source code you provide some additional layer of difficulty in breaking it.
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BaggerX
July 16, 2009 at 7:31am
Must you be so obnoxious? You think IE never has critical flaws like this? You need a recent history lesson very badly. It's something that needs to be fixed, and will be fixed by the time they could switch to it anyway. Definitely not a reason to stick with IE, which often has problems of its own.
gatorXXX
July 16, 2009 at 8:00am
Yes, I have to be obnoxious especially when I keep hearing from people on here how GREAT FF IS!! It's not. Neither is IE. IE isn't perfect but I read alot more about how FF has all these problems and how they will get fixed. So I will stick to IE....oh and......I also use FF 3.5 and have many, many more problems than I do with IE.
horzo
July 16, 2009 at 9:32am
Probably because Mozilla is open about security problems whereas M$ covers up known issues.
To me, FF is just better. Better functionality, add ons, better layout, etc. It's been awhile since I ran into a site that demanded IE.
cardfan
July 31, 2009 at 3:46am
One of these companies was fully aware of but chose to wait 18 months before patching the vulnerability.
Guess who?
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=118943
Case closed.
I agree with your post.
I didn't want to attach my reply to some of the others that were full of flame & fail.
gatorXXX
July 16, 2009 at 8:14am
You can either agree or disagree with me, either way I don't care. But I don't and never will, act like a 10 year old and call people names. So go read doctor suess instead of MPC.
cardfan
July 16, 2009 at 8:54am
Firefox, IE, and Chrome.
But 90% of my casual surfing is great with Firefox & NoScript. Chrome is a great backup when sites won't render properly with my Firefox extensions. And IE I only use for Windows Update. My system is fully patched and up-to-date. I'm still waiting on the Firefox 3.5 hotfix for the recent bug but already did the workaround settings in about:config.
I used to be a big fan of Opera years ago. Because IE was crash-prone back in those days, same with Netscape in my experience. Even on systems with "DeepFreeze" installed that kept it in pristine settings. What converted me from Opera to Firefox were the custom extensions.
LVmonkey
July 19, 2009 at 7:47am
With a government as corrupt as the US government, you guys are worried that a piece of malware will slip through an officials internet browser and kill everyone? Jeez, Americans are lost if thats the case. I hope these comments are left in the place as the 'obama thumbdrive is forcing us to go communist' area of the magazine...
Never did understand Americans... and i have some in my family. Comments like these make me wanna poke em with a stick to see if we are still in the same species. Hit a more international site like slashdot and see what i mean, some time.
No offense to the normal peeps that happen to live south of me, btw. we can still be happy neighbours. We;re still cool. Your likely the ones that avod leaving comments, or gave up reading the comments at some point. :)
cardfan
July 31, 2009 at 3:11am
You completely went non sequitur.
I'm talking about web browsers.
How much are you getting paid to post this nonsense on random forums?
LVmonkey
July 19, 2009 at 7:49am
With a government as corrupt as the US government, you guys are worried that a piece of malware will slip through an officials internet browser ...and kill everyone?
Jeez, Americans are lost, if thats the case. I hope these comments are left in the place as the 'obama thumbdrive is forcing us to go communist' area of the magazine...
Never did understand these American rants... and i have some in my family that like to rant, as well. Comments like these make me wanna poke em with a stick to see if we are still in the same species. Hit a more international site, like slashdot and see what i mean, some time. You'd think the international nature of the internet would bring us tech savy on to the same page or something ...at least closer as a group...
No offense to the normal peeps that happen to live south of me, btw. we can still be happy neighbours. We're still cool. No stick poking for you. Your likely the ones that avoid leaving comments, or gave up reading the comments at some point. :)
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