Posts by grizzlybaz

Re: @AC and @ Author Thank god

"And I'd be willing to bet there was a clause in the AWS service agreement that would negate the 30 day notice requirement if Parler was doing something "bad" like violating the law."

And you would win that bet - such a clause does exist in AWS' customer agreement. Clause 7.2(b)(ii) includes:

"We may also terminate this Agreement immediately upon notice to you for cause if we have the right to suspend under Section 6"

AWS used section 6 to suspend service to Parler under clause 6.1(b):

"you are, or any End User is, in breach of this Agreement"

The customer agreement also includes AWS' Acceptable Use Policy, which you'll be astounded to learn includes:

"You may not use, or encourage, promote, facilitate or instruct others to use, the Services or AWS Site for any illegal, harmful, fraudulent, infringing or offensive use"

Needless to say, "illegal, harmful...offensive use" definitions include pretty much everything Parler was allowing its end users to post. So, in a nutshell, AWS have terminated the contract within their rights and Parler are just fishing in the wind....unless they can prove the anti-trust portion of their claim, which is unlikely.

Re: Avoid Oracle and SAP

Simply untrue, I'm afraid. There are still many vendors who audit and some who are even more aggressive then SAP and Oracle. Micro Focus, in particular, are quite active at the moment. Whilst there are many alternative options to software from some of the big vendors (and I, like you, advocate that companies get off SAP and Oracle if they can), in enterprise estates, it's never that easy. There are still not that many large organisations willing to take the plunge with open source software. That said, open source software is still subject to license. The chances of you being punished for misusing it though are minimal.

Re: "Now, we are calling on all parties to [..] halt the 2020 roll-out"

To be fair, the IPSE have been campaigning long and hard about this issue. The government just haven't listened because it's more fun to paint contractors as "tax dodgers".

Re: Wrong!

HIT. NAIL. ON. HEAD.

One of the big problems with the NHS, as with most of the public sector, is cultural. Not the medical staff but the administrators and management. Every time any politician talks about giving more money to the NHS, I grown inwardly, because they don't efficiently spend what they're already getting. Every NHS trust has its own IT, procurement, management, administrative functions. How much money could be saved if functions like these were centralised? But, of course, the senior civil servants resist change like this because if you take away some of their money, you take away some of their power.

Re: "HMRC settled the tribunal case immediately before it was due to start"

If there were penalties for incompetence, great swathes of the civil service would be out of work.

Couldn't agree more. I've been (un)fortunate enough to observe multiple public sector organisations at close quarters through various engagements and it's always the same. The issue is, as ever, one of mindset. The real skills are in the contractors, and we all know what's happening to them in the public sector at the moment, whilst the civil servants can comfortably cruise through their careers, not taking accountability, not really learning any valuable skills, and generally under no threat of termination if they fuck something up. I spent 18 months contracting at said Home Office a good few years ago and the permies there spent more time taking umbrage over the fact they were losing their day off for the Queen's birthday (the union discourse over that one was a joy to behold) and bitching about their pensions, than actually doing the jobs they were supposedly employed for in the first place. Nothing in this article surprises me because it's always the same. "Home Office receives red alert from NAO for <insert project name here>."

Re: Corporate logo update...

To be fair, that would better fit the mindset of the some of the management working there...

I do. I used to operate through a limited company but would it up and moved to an LLP model with a business partner. Probably the reason HMRC leave them alone is that they get a reasonable tax take. Each partner takes their share of profits as defined in the partnership agreement then pays income tax and NI through the self assessment, as if you are a self employed sole trader. I do pay a bit more tax overall now but it's a hell of a lot simpler to manage. You are still subject to company law, so we still have to submit accounts to Companies House but it's the best of both worlds in my view.

Re: Look on the bright side...

Microsoft contracts are tame by comparison to Oracle and SAP, and they even help you to understand their licensing rules by providing free training. That said, software licensing is a complex beast and vendors like SAP know full well that the majority of customers will never read the contracts before they actually sign them, which is how they get away with so many sharp practices.

What actually then makes things worse is that Oracle and SAP both have oppressive support and maintenance agreements, which prevent customers from partially terminating support on a subset of licences purchased through a particular order form. You either cancel support for the whole order form or you're stuck with it for everything. That's why 3rd party software support companies are starting to do well in the marketplace.