This brings back some very unpleasant memories:

I would characterize the people involved in these type of organizations as nasty bureaucrats. I have never met one of them who cared about the people they serve. The ones I have met only care about their careers. They would cut the heart out of the person in the next office in a minute.

From LXer: Why I Stopped Promoting Linux in Government
Referenced Fri Mar 31 2006 19:56:26 GMT-0700 (MST)

Read the whole thing, especially the comments. He talks about the only way to survive in government IT being to lower your expectations. Wow.

Update: As I've reflected on Tom's powerful article over the past day, I have had a few thoughts. First, I'm not as pessimistic as Tom seems to be about government infotech. I do agree with him that there are people who will do anything to keep or advance their career at the expense of anyone or anything--this attitude is very prevalent. They can be very nasty about it and management seems to be powerless to rein them in. There is also another, larger group that simply give up and try to survive. There are, however, a few people who seem to be able to accomplish great things. I have great admiration for them. I frankly don't know how they put up with the crap, but they do and they know the secrets of making progress in government infotech.