Have you been trying to get your corporate IT staff to let you use Firefox or another web browser instead of Internet Explorer? Then you apparently know how a fair number of folks at the US State Deparment feel. At a recent town hall meeting with staff, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton received a question from one government employee who wanted to know if they could “please” use Firefox instead of Internet Explorer.
You can see the Q&A by skipping to the 26:32 point in the video above.
The request was meeting with a round of applause from the audience. But Clinton didn’t have a ready answer, so she called another official who explained that while Firefox was available for free, it would cost money for the IT staff to begin supporting it. And while the state department is seeking additional funds for IT, it’s not a done deal.
In other words, it might happen, but don’t hold your breath. That might sound familiar to a number of workers in corporate offices too.
Re: US State Department employees ask Hillary clinton for Firefox - Video
I'm sure if they were to do a feasibility analysis, it would be lesser money to include FF in the overall portfolio - users who switch to FF and take care of their own issues because now they're able to... won't be calling tech support as often for minor things. So support cost will actually decrease even if they're going to be supporting two browsers.
I usually don't like Hillary's answers but I liked her point about not being productive with tools that are intended to make you productive.
Wow, that’s an interesting bit of news.
