We spend a lot of our energy (in the form of oil) on trucking where a lot of that could go by rail, if it were competitive. I live in Germany and it's pretty much the same here. The German Rail System, which used to be the envy of the world, now seems mismanaged and many of the same causes are found in both countries. Moving as much cargo as possible to rail would not only save huge amounts of energy, it would also get a lot of the heavy trucks off the interstate system and save on maintenance costs. It's estimated that an 18-wheeler causes 40 times the damage than a family sedan. But no one in the US (or Germany) seems to have the political will to drive that change.
Thanks, my words exactly. Most of our users are non-technical. They turn on the computer (actually they turn on automatically via bios timer), they start the application by clicking on a icon on the desktop and use the application. That process is the same for Linux and Windows.
The biggest problem we have are Windows Die-hards who truly believe that you can't write a document in open office and that you have to have Windows to run a program. Our Windows users are the most stubborn and typically older. The only complaint we get from the Linux users is that they can't run some cool screensaver they brought from home.
We have about 100 PC's now. The main application is in Java and most of the PC's (about 70) run Ubuntu Linux. The others run various versions of Windows. We have one guy who manages the Windows boxes and it's a full time job. We spend several thousand in license fees for MS Office, basically for simple spreadsheets and documents).
The Linux boxes require virtually no administration once they are setup, a process which takes between 15 and 20 minutes. Some of them have been running unchanged since 2002. I write the application and "manage" the linux boxes.
The administrative effort required to manage the Windows boxes is a large part of our costs.
The people using open office read and produce the same spreadsheets as those using MS Office. Basically, the feeling is that the MS Office people are those who have a Windows PC at home and refuse to use anything else. They are also the least productive.
A little off-topic, perhaps, but how are some of the other *nix's doing in this respect, such as FreeBSD? Is FreeBSD even valid option for a laptop or a netbook?
I'm assuming that the ticket (and the taking of the pictures) is based on a radar gun hooked up to the camera.
Nope. From what I read, there are laser sensors to fire the pictures and the time between the two is used to calculate the speed. The "evidence" is in the form of the two pictures. I found one example: http://sportcarbuzz.com/search/maryland-speed-heights-cameras-forest which shows that the math is just plain wrong. Using the length of the truck and adding another three feet the truck was traveling 35mph, not the 76 mph cited.
Believe me, it is broke, at least in the sense of being hard to use and convert. I grew up in the states but I live in Germany now and the metric system is just so much easier to use and calculate. You don't realize how difficult the imperial system is until you start seeing the consistency of the metric system. It's just that in the States we're used to it and we just figure life was designed to be that hard.
The other thing, IMHO, is that there are tremendous benefits to international standardization. The US could sell a lot more of it's goods, and I think there would be demand for them, if they were more compatible. Cars come to mind. Who's going to buy an American car in Europe or Asia when the mechanics would have to have a completely new set of tools to work on it?
So, you're one of those managers. Your black and white response is too simple. It depends on the application. For some things, NoSQL (key-value stores) are simpler, faster and more scalable. For the typical business application SQL solutions are probably better. What is your application?
Why do I have to be moderated troll just because I like Microsoft products?
Because you make complete unsubstantiated claims that contradict all reality. There are a lot of Windows supporters here, too./. is a technical crowd. Just because your PC came delivered with Windows on it does not make it a better OS. And just because you know C# does not make it better than Java. Java used to be slow... about 10 years ago.
I used WP7 and found it to be complete unintuitve. You have to tap on a different symbol to enter text, you can't just tap on the field you want to enter text in. It also tool the liberty of posting a facebook message in my name that i was now a Windows 7 user. Microsoft generally thinks it owns your PC so why should that be different with WP7?
I'm not a big Apple fan but when I tried out a IPhone 3, it was intuitive and easy to use. I needed no help from the owner, it was that intuitive.
If MS wasn't a monopoly in the PC business, no one would buy WP7. Microsoft had to pay Nolia over a billion for them to commit to it. that alone tells you how bad it is.
IIRC, during the campaign Obama's average contribution was a small fraction of McCain's, but he got so many of those $25 contributions that he fully blew by McCain. Once it was clear that Obama was going to be the winner, Corporations started sending in contributions in larger amounts.
I did and it is just not in the same league as the IPhone. I haven't use Android yet, but I hear it is better in some ways and worse in others than the IPhone.
I was able to pick up an iphone and use it without instruction. Nothing seemed to work on Wp7. To enter text into a field you need to tap a separate button. In typical MS fashion, it also took the liberty, without my permission and without telling me, to tell all my fb friends that I was now using Wp7.
I used it (WP7) once. It was completely frustrating and unintuitive. All I can say to those who are considering it is to try it out first. MS is big on marketing.
You can't just tap a field to bring up a keyboard. I used its facebook app and it posted a message without asking me, complete with a typing error telling all my friends that I was now using Windows 7. You wouldn't believe the amount of disgusted responses I got. Wanna lose friends? Be a Microsoft supporter.
You seem to misunderstand what anti-virus software does and does not do. Anti-virus software only works for known viruses and virus patterns. It does not work for unknown patterns.
If you use an insecure operating system you are more vulnerable than if you use an operating system designed from the ground up with security in mind. Anti-virus software on an insecure OS is not as effective as a secure OS.
I find it funny that they write that there were no "immediate" increased costs, which probably means that they have a moratorium on license fees for a year or two after which the costs will skyrocket. The article also says that security issues were independent of whether or not open source was used. That completely contradicts every unbiased assessment ever made.
And, of course, the results of the actual studies performed in 2009 and 2010 came to a different conclusion (my translation) "Both studies referenced in the unpublished reports come to the conclusion that the open source strategy for the foreign ministry has worked correctly and that Linux desktops are a viable route. However, there are issues with interoperability and acceptance issues which need to be addressed. McKinsey warned that a return to Windows would cause significant middle-term license and migration costs, even though this route might seem attractive to users with less linux acceptance."
Original: http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Linux-im-Auswaertigen-Amt-Rueckmigration-auf-Windows-nicht-zwingend-1192284.html Beide Male, wird aus den nicht öffentlichen Ergebnisberichten zitiert, kommen die Unternehmensberater zu dem Schluss, dass die Open-Source-Strategie im AA funktioniert und dass Linux-Desktops ein "gangbarer Weg" seien; allerdings müssten die Interoperabilitätsprobleme angegangen und gegen die vorhandenen Nutzervorurteile angekämpt werden. Für den Fall einer Rückmigration auf Windows warnt McKinsey vor mittelfristig erheblichen Lizenz- und Migrationskosten, auch wenn dieser Weg angesichts der geringen Linux-Akzeptanz bei den Mitarbeitern aus Nutzersicht attraktiv sei.
Usually the argument for Windows is missing drivers for your devices, so it sounds plausible if they tout that party line. I personally think there may have been secret dealings going on and someone is driving a new Mercedes and retiring early who is in the decision making process.
In RTFA, it is clear that they are not providing any actual figures on money saved, something they have been easily providing up until 2010 on the money saved using open source. Secret deals with MS?
Microsoft has has had a lot of bad press lately as linux and java seem to be eating its lunch in the new world (high-performance, web base computing, small form factor and mobile computing). I suspect these issues are true but exaggerated.
Remember that the LSE had serious problems using the MS-based system before. Remember the curious wording of the recent problems with the.NET-based system. Somehow, they tried to link this to the fact that the Linux-based system was being tested (of course it had nothing to with that).
Windows Phone 7 is seriously buggy (many basic functions still don't work). Android (java) and IPhone (freebsd) have a lock on the smartphone market and MS's feeble attempt is too little, too late. Selling low-quality crap only works if you have a monopoly and it must be hard for them to see that they can't compete in the new emerging markets.
Even Microsoft has to provide its updates via Akamai linux-based servers. It's hotmail servers couldn't handle the load when switched to Windows Server and had to be switched back.
All high-end Web-based services (facebook, twitter, google, yahoo, etc) are all run on linux or freebsd systems.
Does it surprise anyone that an issue with a high-profile linux system is going to be big news for the Windows world?
Had this been a Windows based system and it stopped for only 42 seconds it would have been hailed as high reliability. But you've got the Windows fanbois who can't wait to find an issue, any issue, please, with a Linux system.
Remember the article a couple of weeks ago where there was an outage on the LSE while still running on the C# system? The article's title was something like LSE Outage during Linux test. Of course, the Linux test had nothing to do with it, but they had to find something.
Slashdot Mirror
We spend a lot of our energy (in the form of oil) on trucking where a lot of that could go by rail, if it were competitive. I live in Germany and it's pretty much the same here. The German Rail System, which used to be the envy of the world, now seems mismanaged and many of the same causes are found in both countries. Moving as much cargo as possible to rail would not only save huge amounts of energy, it would also get a lot of the heavy trucks off the interstate system and save on maintenance costs. It's estimated that an 18-wheeler causes 40 times the damage than a family sedan. But no one in the US (or Germany) seems to have the political will to drive that change.
Thanks, my words exactly. Most of our users are non-technical. They turn on the computer (actually they turn on automatically via bios timer), they start the application by clicking on a icon on the desktop and use the application. That process is the same for Linux and Windows.
The biggest problem we have are Windows Die-hards who truly believe that you can't write a document in open office and that you have to have Windows to run a program. Our Windows users are the most stubborn and typically older. The only complaint we get from the Linux users is that they can't run some cool screensaver they brought from home.
We have about 100 PC's now. The main application is in Java and most of the PC's (about 70) run Ubuntu Linux. The others run various versions of Windows. We have one guy who manages the Windows boxes and it's a full time job. We spend several thousand in license fees for MS Office, basically for simple spreadsheets and documents).
The Linux boxes require virtually no administration once they are setup, a process which takes between 15 and 20 minutes. Some of them have been running unchanged since 2002. I write the application and "manage" the linux boxes.
The administrative effort required to manage the Windows boxes is a large part of our costs.
The people using open office read and produce the same spreadsheets as those using MS Office. Basically, the feeling is that the MS Office people are those who have a Windows PC at home and refuse to use anything else. They are also the least productive.
YMMV.
A little off-topic, perhaps, but how are some of the other *nix's doing in this respect, such as FreeBSD? Is FreeBSD even valid option for a laptop or a netbook?
I'm assuming that the ticket (and the taking of the pictures) is based on a radar gun hooked up to the camera.
Nope. From what I read, there are laser sensors to fire the pictures and the time between the two is used to calculate the speed. The "evidence" is in the form of the two pictures. I found one example: http://sportcarbuzz.com/search/maryland-speed-heights-cameras-forest which shows that the math is just plain wrong. Using the length of the truck and adding another three feet the truck was traveling 35mph, not the 76 mph cited.
Google and MS together are hiring 6200 this quarter.
Next sentence...
Google will hire 6200 for this year.
Believe me, it is broke, at least in the sense of being hard to use and convert. I grew up in the states but I live in Germany now and the metric system is just so much easier to use and calculate. You don't realize how difficult the imperial system is until you start seeing the consistency of the metric system. It's just that in the States we're used to it and we just figure life was designed to be that hard.
The other thing, IMHO, is that there are tremendous benefits to international standardization. The US could sell a lot more of it's goods, and I think there would be demand for them, if they were more compatible. Cars come to mind. Who's going to buy an American car in Europe or Asia when the mechanics would have to have a completely new set of tools to work on it?
So, you're one of those managers. Your black and white response is too simple. It depends on the application. For some things, NoSQL (key-value stores) are simpler, faster and more scalable. For the typical business application SQL solutions are probably better. What is your application?
Why do I have to be moderated troll just because I like Microsoft products?
Because you make complete unsubstantiated claims that contradict all reality. There are a lot of Windows supporters here, too. /. is a technical crowd. Just because your PC came delivered with Windows on it does not make it a better OS. And just because you know C# does not make it better than Java. Java used to be slow ... about 10 years ago.
They will absolutely love to use Visual Studio and C# instead of that crap and slow programming language called Java.
Care to substantiate?
Funny how C# is still stuck way behind Java, C and C++ in worldwide usage.
Stop trying to make the world fit your ego and learn to accept facts as facts.
Fact is, Android is the best mobile OS at the moment, at least according to people who've had a chance to use the three current contenders. YMMV.
You guys sound like the typical Windows apologists, disappointed that another FUD attack on Linux turns out to be bunk, as usual. Wha-wha.wha.
I used WP7 and found it to be complete unintuitve. You have to tap on a different symbol to enter text, you can't just tap on the field you want to enter text in. It also tool the liberty of posting a facebook message in my name that i was now a Windows 7 user. Microsoft generally thinks it owns your PC so why should that be different with WP7?
I'm not a big Apple fan but when I tried out a IPhone 3, it was intuitive and easy to use. I needed no help from the owner, it was that intuitive.
If MS wasn't a monopoly in the PC business, no one would buy WP7. Microsoft had to pay Nolia over a billion for them to commit to it. that alone tells you how bad it is.
IIRC, during the campaign Obama's average contribution was a small fraction of McCain's, but he got so many of those $25 contributions that he fully blew by McCain. Once it was clear that Obama was going to be the winner, Corporations started sending in contributions in larger amounts.
Check it out yourself with an open mind
I did and it is just not in the same league as the IPhone. I haven't use Android yet, but I hear it is better in some ways and worse in others than the IPhone.
I was able to pick up an iphone and use it without instruction. Nothing seemed to work on Wp7. To enter text into a field you need to tap a separate button. In typical MS fashion, it also took the liberty, without my permission and without telling me, to tell all my fb friends that I was now using Wp7.
He is correct on many things. There really isn't any other IDE that can compare to Visual Studio. I also hate using Java, C# is a lot better language.
If you want to limit yourself to Windows, maybe.
I used it (WP7) once. It was completely frustrating and unintuitive. All I can say to those who are considering it is to try it out first. MS is big on marketing.
You can't just tap a field to bring up a keyboard. I used its facebook app and it posted a message without asking me, complete with a typing error telling all my friends that I was now using Windows 7. You wouldn't believe the amount of disgusted responses I got. Wanna lose friends? Be a Microsoft supporter.
You seem to misunderstand what anti-virus software does and does not do. Anti-virus software only works for known viruses and virus patterns. It does not work for unknown patterns.
If you use an insecure operating system you are more vulnerable than if you use an operating system designed from the ground up with security in mind. Anti-virus software on an insecure OS is not as effective as a secure OS.
I find it funny that they write that there were no "immediate" increased costs, which probably means that they have a moratorium on license fees for a year or two after which the costs will skyrocket. The article also says that security issues were independent of whether or not open source was used. That completely contradicts every unbiased assessment ever made.
And, of course, the results of the actual studies performed in 2009 and 2010 came to a different conclusion (my translation) "Both studies referenced in the unpublished reports come to the conclusion that the open source strategy for the foreign ministry has worked correctly and that Linux desktops are a viable route. However, there are issues with interoperability and acceptance issues which need to be addressed. McKinsey warned that a return to Windows would cause significant middle-term license and migration costs, even though this route might seem attractive to users with less linux acceptance."
Original: http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Linux-im-Auswaertigen-Amt-Rueckmigration-auf-Windows-nicht-zwingend-1192284.html
Beide Male, wird aus den nicht öffentlichen Ergebnisberichten zitiert, kommen die Unternehmensberater zu dem Schluss, dass die Open-Source-Strategie im AA funktioniert und dass Linux-Desktops ein "gangbarer Weg" seien; allerdings müssten die Interoperabilitätsprobleme angegangen und gegen die vorhandenen Nutzervorurteile angekämpt werden. Für den Fall einer Rückmigration auf Windows warnt McKinsey vor mittelfristig erheblichen Lizenz- und Migrationskosten, auch wenn dieser Weg angesichts der geringen Linux-Akzeptanz bei den Mitarbeitern aus Nutzersicht attraktiv sei.
Usually the argument for Windows is missing drivers for your devices, so it sounds plausible if they tout that party line. I personally think there may have been secret dealings going on and someone is driving a new Mercedes and retiring early who is in the decision making process.
In RTFA, it is clear that they are not providing any actual figures on money saved, something they have been easily providing up until 2010 on the money saved using open source. Secret deals with MS?
Microsoft has has had a lot of bad press lately as linux and java seem to be eating its lunch in the new world (high-performance, web base computing, small form factor and mobile computing). I suspect these issues are true but exaggerated.
Remember that the LSE had serious problems using the MS-based system before. Remember the curious wording of the recent problems with the .NET-based system. Somehow, they tried to link this to the fact that the Linux-based system was being tested (of course it had nothing to with that).
Windows Phone 7 is seriously buggy (many basic functions still don't work). Android (java) and IPhone (freebsd) have a lock on the smartphone market and MS's feeble attempt is too little, too late. Selling low-quality crap only works if you have a monopoly and it must be hard for them to see that they can't compete in the new emerging markets.
Even Microsoft has to provide its updates via Akamai linux-based servers. It's hotmail servers couldn't handle the load when switched to Windows Server and had to be switched back.
All high-end Web-based services (facebook, twitter, google, yahoo, etc) are all run on linux or freebsd systems.
Does it surprise anyone that an issue with a high-profile linux system is going to be big news for the Windows world?
Patenting software is like patenting math.
So, no outage, no downtime, no lost trades.
It amazes me how quickly the press tries to make a big deal about a Linux outage that isn't even an outage. The Windows monopoly must be nervous.
Had this been a Windows based system and it stopped for only 42 seconds it would have been hailed as high reliability. But you've got the Windows fanbois who can't wait to find an issue, any issue, please, with a Linux system.
Remember the article a couple of weeks ago where there was an outage on the LSE while still running on the C# system? The article's title was something like LSE Outage during Linux test. Of course, the Linux test had nothing to do with it, but they had to find something.