Throwaway account because I still work this job.

> Don't underestimate the absolutely jaw-dropping incompetence from even senior "tech" folks employed by governments.

100% agree. Except each agency can significantly change on this. Some agencies (DEA, USCIS) can and are completely competent. I've seen then turn around on certain moderately complex tasks within hours.

Then you have the idiots at HISN and VA that takes a year for even basic one-way integration. Or, they will argue with you how SAML works (or doesnt) for weeks at a time.

> 1) complain about Git and wonder aloud why we weren't using Visual Source Safe;

Ah so you were talking with their developers. Sounds DoD'ish as that's what they use, along with Firebird.

> 2) insist that rotating through a list of 12 hard-coded passwords, in code, checked into Git, was totally fine;

Ive dealt with network infrastructure entities that did similar for the commercial side of things. I wish it were the "OMG" exception. There's more terrible out there than this, admittedly.

> 3) refuse to believe that automated deployments were possible (not hard, or against norms, but physically impossible);

Well, they ARE impossible by policy. FedRAMP and FISMA requires manual and intentional deployments. Of course we all know that this is the norm for a software SaaS company - but its not the norm when you have to go through a VPN with a CAC or PIV card, and then another VPN to either the testnet or prodnet... And the only software support for both are Windows. (And the VPNs will also kick you out if you're not running windows.)

> 4) try to explain to another so-called technical gov't employee the difference between CSS and JavaScript, and get it wrong;

I've had screaming fights break out in calls when technical issues came up like this. And usually its the single real employee screaming at the legions of 3rd party contractors. And also, Snowden was correct in that 95% of the "government employees" aren't. They are contractors working for Accenture or the host of other Gino (govt in name only) employees. They don't get govt benefits, nor do they have whistleblower protections. Snowden in Hawaii was such a 3rd party govt employee.

I have only ran across 1 fed employee (contractor or real) that was in any way and shape competent.

> 5) stand up in the middle of a conversation and walk out the door because it's 2:30 PM and their day is over;

I get your point. But it's usually 4p. Ive also seen government employees (employed by the local/state/fed) get in trouble for working non-critical issues outside their hours.

> 6) even more nonsense you wouldn't believe if I showed you a video of it.

One thing I've learned is that there is almost always a reason (and a decent one too) of why there is a rule. It's because someone previously abused something, or did something that broke stuff, and the new rule is the usual overcompensation so that anybody in power can claim "They didnt follow our rules, which protect against that." And remember, it's not far up the foodchain to an elected official.

But yeah, there's absolutely crazy shit out there, especially in the fed side of things. And much of it is for complete show. One such tempest in a teacup issue is the new (as of 2017) NIST password guidelines: not a single fed has implemented them. They still enforce the old and terrible ruleset.