Waldo Jaquith

@waldoj
4.4K Followers
239 Following
9.8K Posts
Thought follower. Male software developer. Alumnus of 18F, the Obama White House, Georgetown's Beeck Center, the Biden-Harris Transition Team, and the Biden administration. Speaks only for self. he/him
PlaceCharlottesville, VA, USA (Monacan land)
Websitehttps://waldo.jaquith.org/
Blueskyhttps://bsky.app/profile/waldo.net
PronouncedJAKE-with
Waldo Jaquith1d ago

New blog entry: “Capital funding poisons software projects."

Color of money shapes a lot of things about government in the U.S., and a big one is how we buy software. When agencies have to treat custom software development (an operational expense) as a capital expense, that has a cascading series of effects that lead to billions in wasted spending annually. If we can shift to opex, such as via an IT investment fund, we'll see better results. https://waldo.jaquith.org/blog/2026/03/opex-not-capex/

Capital funding poisons software projects.

Using capital funding instead of operational funding is one of the biggest causes of failures in government software projects.

Waldo Jaquith
Waldo Jaquith1d ago
Dan York1d ago

I truly love my job (seriously!) and love all the work I'm doing, but I have to admit that the 16yo boy buried decades deep inside me looks at this with a bit of envy:

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The concept is simple. “We put fuel in a rocket, blow it up in a remote location, and measure how big the boom is,” said Jason Hopper, deputy manager for the methalox assessment project at NASA’s Stennis Space Center.
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https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/03/nasa-is-blowing-stuff-up-to-study-the-explosive-potential-of-methalox-rockets/

#NASA #JobsNoOneToldUsAbout

NASA wants to know how the launch industry's chic new rocket fuel explodes

We put fuel in a rocket, blow it up in a remote location, and measure how big the boom is."

Ars Technica
Waldo Jaquith1d ago
In This Economy?1d ago
For All Debts Public AND Private? In this economy?
Waldo Jaquith2d ago
It me https://statescoop.com/intergovernmental-software-collaborative-joins-council-of-state-governments/
Intergovernmental Software Collaborative joins Council of State Governments, departing Georgetown’s Beeck Center

Relocation of the Intergovernmental Software Collaborative comes five years after it was founded at Georgetown University's Beeck Center.

StateScoop
Waldo Jaquith2d ago

RE: https://mastodon.social/@botgov/116296144837778111

EOP registered onlyfarms.gov.

Waldo Jaquith3d ago
In This Economy?3d ago
Hammer AND sickle? In this economy?
Waldo Jaquith3d ago
Nelson Minar3d ago
Fire any product manager who think changes like this are acceptable.
Waldo Jaquith3d ago
Jeremy Keith3d ago

It’s a real missed opportunity in Project Hail Mary that at no point does anyone look to the camera with a steely gaze and declare, “It’s daylight saving time.”

🔗 https://adactio.com/notes/22487

March 25th, 2026, 11:57am

It’s a real missed opportunity in Project Hail Mary that at no point does anyone look to the camera with a steely gaze and declare, “It’s daylight saving time.”

Waldo Jaquith4d ago

RE: https://mastodon.social/@botgov/116284820151085855

bebest.gov

Waldo Jaquith5d ago
Huh, I'd never seen this before. This was for a c7i.2xlarge, which I appreciate isn’t as ubiquitous as a t3.micro or something, but I'm still surprised.