# Depending on the Kraken // 19-04-20
slugmax over at the republic has a [post][1] citing various examples
of modern online stuff breaking without Google services.
I can add another one, from my workplace.
They set up a new network admin tool, and people with higher permission levels
(like adding new users to the network etc) will have to use two-factor-
authentication based on some Google app/tool. This is a strong damper
element to my enthusiasm of applying to get these permissions. Seems my
colleague has them, but he's actually not much into IT stuff from an
admin viewpoint, so as the official IT responsible for our lab, it would
probably be my duty. But wtf...
I already complained some months ago that the former tool did not want to
run at all unless it could download some JavaScrap stuff from Google, and
I pointed out they'd perhaps reconsider making their internal network
safety tools dependant on opaque Google code. Looked like they halfway
listened to me, because now the tool works, it just would like to download
some Google fonts, the snitch!
Now it seems to be even worse. I might need to bite the poisoned apple
to see whether the new tool really depends on Google, but I will of course
loudly complain. Without much hope, though.. I mean, I'm working at *the*
Swiss top notch research institution, and they're already totally and
happily depending on Microsoft and Adobe for all the office and web stuff.
Google Authenticator might be replaceable by some other time-based one-time
password tool, but most people will probably just download it from Google
Play and add another crumb to the data gathered by the No-Evil-Doers.
And why the hell do I even have to think about these issues,
instead of the institution's informatics people doing it for me?
*sigh*
:.
[1]:
gopher://republic.circumlunar.space:70/0/~slugmax/phlog/2019-04-20-various-responses-sol-oldfolio-jynx
