1. First, that's only a default install: you can easily package up a custom 7/8 install disc that gets down to 10-15 GBs. And if you compare that with a distro that installs a Windows-like window manager but default (say, stock Ubuntu, which takes up 5 GBs of space[1]), that gap narrows by a lot. Furthermore, it's just an irrelevant point. What's 10-20 GBs on modern desktops? Sure, the initial install will take a bit longer, but I sincerely doubt that a limiting variable for anyone right now is having a 40GB HDD instead of an 80GB HDD.
2. You are severely overestimating the ability of the government to hire a "small dev team" competent enough to build a custom Linux fork. The bulk of cost, no matter if they go Windows or Linux, is support. That's because it's really, really hard to manage software entirely through internal means, even if the product is completely open-source.
Furthermore, who's to say that the feds don't already have access to Windows source? At this point, it's impossible to know, but the idea that MS could be "bought off" by China is absurd. They're an American company whose operations and finances are largely based in the United States. You would have to have a high-ranking executive (or collection of executives) commit blatant treason, high the bribery money in some other country, AND convince a large number of MS developers to be completely quiet about an exploit placed in Windows source code on purpose. And not an exploit placed there under the threat of criminal punishment by the "legitimate" American government but an exploit that would send hundreds of employees to federal prison. I'm paranoid enough to admit that it is theoretically possible, but waaaaaay less likely than waaaaaaay more things that we should be legitimately worried about.
3. You say there's "no package management" and then you go on to explain how there is package management but that it's not setup correctly. The IRS is not a small business. Microsoft provides high-end support to them so that they can properly setup Active Directory and WSUS. And if they went Debian or Ubuntu, they'd pay the same money to properly setup those package managers.
Not to mention all the sheer costs of deploying and transitioning to a completely new infrastructure, as well as training thousands of relatively low-skill workers to use a completely foreign system. Oh, and rebuilding tons of custom software that wouldn't be in any public package repository anyway.
Anyway, OP's original point was that Windows 7 and 8 are garbage compared to XP, which is blatantly wrong. They're both very stable operating systems, and while it's fine to debate WHEN MS should cut off support for XP, it's an inevitable fact that they eventually MUST. The IRS has to upgrade eventually, and they've had a heads up for a while. It should've been done already.
2. You are severely overestimating the ability of the government to hire a "small dev team" competent enough to build a custom Linux fork. The bulk of cost, no matter if they go Windows or Linux, is support. That's because it's really, really hard to manage software entirely through internal means, even if the product is completely open-source.
Furthermore, who's to say that the feds don't already have access to Windows source? At this point, it's impossible to know, but the idea that MS could be "bought off" by China is absurd. They're an American company whose operations and finances are largely based in the United States. You would have to have a high-ranking executive (or collection of executives) commit blatant treason, high the bribery money in some other country, AND convince a large number of MS developers to be completely quiet about an exploit placed in Windows source code on purpose. And not an exploit placed there under the threat of criminal punishment by the "legitimate" American government but an exploit that would send hundreds of employees to federal prison. I'm paranoid enough to admit that it is theoretically possible, but waaaaaay less likely than waaaaaaay more things that we should be legitimately worried about.
3. You say there's "no package management" and then you go on to explain how there is package management but that it's not setup correctly. The IRS is not a small business. Microsoft provides high-end support to them so that they can properly setup Active Directory and WSUS. And if they went Debian or Ubuntu, they'd pay the same money to properly setup those package managers.
Not to mention all the sheer costs of deploying and transitioning to a completely new infrastructure, as well as training thousands of relatively low-skill workers to use a completely foreign system. Oh, and rebuilding tons of custom software that wouldn't be in any public package repository anyway.
Anyway, OP's original point was that Windows 7 and 8 are garbage compared to XP, which is blatantly wrong. They're both very stable operating systems, and while it's fine to debate WHEN MS should cut off support for XP, it's an inevitable fact that they eventually MUST. The IRS has to upgrade eventually, and they've had a heads up for a while. It should've been done already.
[1] https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/SystemRequire...