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Re: Open source and governmentby Tanktalus (Canon) |
on Apr 04, 2006 at 18:54 UTC ( [id://541209]=note: print w/replies, xml ) | Need Help?? |
I worked for an 8-month co-op stint with a branch of the federal government of Canada, specifically, in the branch commonly known as "Environment Canada." This is the branch that does not only predictive weather forecasting, but also pulls together historical climatology to do research on. It was the latter group I was working with. What I saw was both enlightening and disillusioning for a student of only 20 who barely knew Fortran (the old language we were porting from) and C (the desired new language). My key points were:
I met some really interesting people, including one of the senior IT folks with very very severe MS (the disease, not the company ;->) who was difficult to understand, but an absolute and utter delight to work with. I also met a number of people who couldn't be bothered to give anyone the time of day if it didn't further their career. Getting into private industry (both my next co-op job and my post-grad job I'm in now), I find similar people. Just that in the private industry, there is often a performance bonus that is tied to the corporation's business results - we do well, you do well type of thing. It helps blunt the pure aggression that some people naturally tend towards. But they're still there - just better hidden.
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