Jim Karlock wrote: > from: http://bojack.org/2010/05/portland_city_hall_computers_e.html > > > Portland City Hall + computers = endless fun > > <http://cityofportland.ebidsystems.com/public/solicitationdetail.asp?solicitation=OMF059>Here's > > <http://cityofportland.ebidsystems.com/public/solicitationdetail.asp?solicitation=OMF059> > > an odd one out of the Portland fire bureau. They're going on a > fishing expedition to see if they can find somebody to convert the > bureau computer system from some homegrown products created using a > now-obsolete Microsoft program to open source software. But they're > not even offering a contract at this point -- they just want some > free advice in the form of "information" to be submitted by potential > future contract bidders. You, of course, never go into Sears or Fry's, look at their stuff, talk to their sales people, use their restrooms, then go buy something from someone else entirely.
Of course they're fishing for info! They probably have absolutely no clue about how hard the job is, or where they can find someone who knows Visual Basic (eugh!) well enough to convert it to Python or whatever is appropriate, or what the rough magnitude of the task is, or anything. Whenever I'm in that situation the first thing I do is call up salespeople and consume their valuable time looking for rough order of magnitude estimates (which can be hard to get: "gimme a ballpark estimate" "I'm sorry sir, but we have to come out and look at your house and..." "tell me if it's going to be $1000, $3000, $10000, etc." "Oh! you can expect it to be between X and Y, then"). I wish them well. I wonder how ugly the code is? -- Tim Wescott Wescott Design Services Voice: 503-631-7815 Cell: 503-349-8432 http://www.wescottdesign.com _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
