chrisseaton

> they can't tell defence what to do

The Prime Minister can only exercise control over the military by policy? They have no input to operations at all? Seems extraordinary. Wikipedia says that ministers exercise authority.

> The money you pay for tuition really isn't going into a better education, it's maintaining the illusion that draws big names as both students and professors, and all the networking opportunities that then manifest as better outcomes for graduates.

Good professors, students, and networking makes a good education though, so yes it is really going to a better education.

Ever seen someone shift a gear in a movie?

The rest of the civil service seems almost entirely unable to get anything done in computing though. Signals intelligence in the UK and US seem to ship quite a lot of success, from all the history, leaks, and things you can physically see like Bumblehive. Definitely something they’re doing differently than the rest of the civil service.

> So the broader question would be: what makes governments apparently unable to get big IT projects done right?

Signals intelligence people must be building some of the most powerful computer systems in the world. They also historically have innovated and led the industry in areas like crypto. How come they get it right but the rest of the civil service can’t?

That's what I said about pressing the clutch isn't it? Just like pressing the brake in many automatic cars.

You just turn the ignition. You may have to push the clutch in for some cars, just like you have to push the break in for some automatic cars. Manual cars aren't as different as you think they are.

There's really no magic to it - there's an extra pedal you depress when changing gear, and you bring up to re-engage the engine. Anyone can figure it out when presented with the pedal and the gear lever. People with no no education do it all around the world every day - I'm sure an American can figure it out.

I don't get why people thinking driving a manual gearbox is such a mystery - it's not much different to automatic driving I've never met anyone who wasn't able to do it well enough.

> Corporate media produces nothing of intellectual value.

Never seen any intellectual value in a BBC drama, comedy, or nature documentary?

How to install some machine code bytes. What machine code bytes do you want to install though? That's the interesting bit!