By the way, I will venture to say that today Excel (for the common business user) is probably Microsoft most well put together apps minus all the bloat.
I tend to agree on the quality of Excel... But "minus all the bloat" is a bit problematic considering the fact that MS shipped a flight simulator in the product - and nobody noticed.
normally with NT its the best part of a day getting the OS and all patches etc installed and working together (and then put exchange on and watch the whole thing vanish into a big pile of junk).
I just have to reply to this... Because this is the very reason I don't do Windows anymore. I would spend HOURS building a pristine system based upon years of best-practices knowledge. I would disable unnessary services, spool and temp files go to a drive designated as "dynamic",... etc... Then, I would install the app.... It would backdoor in trial code for some other product from that company, install DOZENS of services (ie: Thier own scheduler service - or the MS Wallet service (AKA: Protected Storage - pstores.exe)...) and then all the concentrated work for creation of a lean machine was wasted.
The end result: No matter how hard you tried, this box would NEVER be as clean as an average UNIX box.
TRUE.
Living with Linux requires that you take a larger role in problem solving / issues that may arise on your system than with MS products.
Many people fault MS tech support because they gave up once they met the first-line of tech support. Once you get several layers deep THEY REALLY KNOW THIER PRODUCT. (And this is fair (that the first line is not so brilliant) considering the valume of calls that they take).
While support offerings exist for Linux (I guess - never having used them) you will more likely than not resort to working through the problem yourself.
Re:Fiber? It'll cut into your crack budget
on
Wiring A New House?
·
· Score: 1
When I do development (at home) I prefer to keep the source on the server (that has redundant disks). Compiling across 10 BaseT is not quite as nice as 100 BaseT. This requirement would even be MORE so for someone who is moving / editing large video files from one machine to another.
You assume that the only path needed is out to the world. Hardly the case. I want a server AWAY from my desk so I don't have to listen to it, and I want a full-duplex Fast Ethernet connection between the machine I am on and that server.
Although, I do agree that fiber is overkill (now). That's why the conduit would be preferable.
Your comparison of Ethernet to POTs lines is WRONG. If we were using 1940's POTS lines now you would never get DSL or 56k which require technology SIGNIFICANTLY upgraded from what was put in in the 40's.
BTW, Congratulations on making the cut to the "upper 1% of wage earners" - I am sure that your mother is proud.
Now that the site appears back up... From the previous link:
The foundation will use these funds, in part, to establish technical support programs at community colleges and to enhance and expand an existing program that successfully teaches students how to support the technology systems at their schools.
The cultivation of new devotees works best for them if it can happen at all levels of the education system.
Every conversation on this subject seems to leave out one key item of the proposed settlement, that MS will provide training to colleges for support. So not only will they be indoctrinating future microsofties but they will be indoctranating the next generation of IT departments as well.
Unfortunately I cannot quote directly from the above URL as the MS site appears to be DOWN.
The Betteman Archives was a collection of Photographs (and drawings?) that was availible online for free. Way back when... I used to grab free pic's of famous people off of thier site. A perfect example was Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin at Teran. A rather famous photograph.
Corbis now owns the rights and these pics can only be had for a price. Corbis is owned by Bill Gates.
Whenever I talked to a client during a consulting gig about upgrades to MS products we had two conversations. One was the technology upgrade (what they would be recieving in terms of "features"), the other was the license upgrade (what new rules were introduced with this release of the license).
Office 97 had the new restriction of "any device that may use Office 97 functionality, ie: a pager, must be individually licensed". (This is a quote from memory taken from a QnA off TechNet).
The Terminal Server upgrade (from WinFrame) had similar restrictions in that "any machine that may access the terminal server must be (permenantly) licensed for NT Workstation (and any Office 97 apps that will be run there)".(Once again the quote is from memory...)
The article is technically accurate in that this is the new licensing model (for most products) from Microsoft. Concievably, if you access a Office 97 application through a Terminal Server session on Linux (via MetaFrame) YOU WOULD NEED A NT LICENSE AND AN OFFICE 97 LICENSE FOR YOUR LINUX WORKSTATION!
What really bothers me is that this is OLD news. Anybody that has any touch with MS should have known this. How could an IT department roll out 10,000 desktops based on a license and not actually read the license.
When there are car give-aways in the mall where you have to divulge your name, address, email... to win a $25K car (The car on display will be a range-rover at $50K+) do this:
- Spill your shake in the slot (partially open window) of the car.
- Steal all the forms. I used to shove them all in the slot of the car but now I destroy them. Steal the pens too..
- Write REALLY nasty things on the forms before inserting them into the slot.
- Abuse the system at will.
I worked as a security guard in a downtown SanDiego office building while going to college...
There were several financial firms in the building.
The people that worked there were the MOST ARROGANT PEOPLE ON EARTH. They treated you, women, minorities, or just about anyone without money like complete SHIT.
Doing any work "for" these kind of people HAS to qualify as the worst job ever.
It is more of a personal belief than a proven fact... But there are poeple (like myself) in this world that believe that the mass of people are a result of thier time and place in society. Some will always run counter to the common belief often seen as wacko's, then later as visionaries.
To put it more specifically; People who are raised by the "glass-fronted box" will tend not to think for themselves. Just as people raised in the "dark ages" tended to let the church think for them.
But within a complete cycle of history a group of people are raised that break out of these confines and DO think for themsleves. This is called a revolution.
The point is, that once life dictated by a glass-fronted box becomes SO absurd and intolerable people are forced to think and enough of them break from the norm that the true sheep find a new flock to follow as well - and then you have a revolution.
From an historical perspective, we must not be living in too bad of a time... Only a small fraction of the populace actually believes there is a real (single) problem... The threashold has not been reached.
Yes, it is unfortunate that they chose to focus on Linux in the article. But then again I am sure that this is becomming more of an issue.
The article would be better addressed to unwanted software, be it games, napster, or Linux.
Then it would not appear so inflamatory to the sensitive Linux users ear.
The point is, that IT must have some accountability for what is happening on THIER network. In a proper orginazation there should be some method of properly introducing new software onto the network - this includes testing the ramifications of this new software on everything from network performance to SLA's (Service Level Agreements) concearning uptime, costs, etc...
Once again, it is a valid point (although some solutions may be draconian) it is just focousing on Linux - while bigger threats to corporate legality and network bandwidth may come from such apps as Napster...
This is a letter I sent to RedHat earlier this week:
----------
I am writing to you as a RHCE, an investor, a former reseller, and a (potential) distributor.
My question is a simple one that I believe requires an answer in one form or another.
Why can I download the latest version of RedHat 7 yet I can not buy it in a local store? Would it not benefit us to have the media IN THE CHANNEL BEFORE YOU ANNOUNCE THE RELEASE?
I am aware that it can be purchased online. But why would I more inclined to purchase something from your web site than get it for free FROM THE SAME LOCATION?
I understand this may fly in the face of Open Source sensibilities, but wouldn't it be better to have the media in the stores on the day of the announcement, THEN, LATER have it on the ftp site?
As much as you may dislike the practices of your competitors in the closed-source world, it is important to borrow at least one page from their playbook and learn to distribute to your advantage. Pay close attention to the people lining up at 12 Midnight to buy Windows 95 - This is the same mentality of the people who are eager to buy RedHat 7.
This does not even address the ability to ship a pre-configured workstation or server with the latest version of your distribution. On the day of "release", why is it not possible to call Dell or other major manufacturers / distributors and purchase a piece of hardware with RedHat 7? Should a customer want to evaluate the latest version of your software for a project, it would make sense that they would want to purchase a "certified", pre-configured server with the latest version. Yet, the best you have to offer is the ability to download it(, or buy from the same location).
My point was really based more from a recovery perspective. - More specifically, recovery from a bad driver, or a completely horked system... Where read/write access is required.
You need to have your computers physically secure. Disabling floppies, BIOS passwords, and such security are worthless if someone has full access to your server.
Who needs Linux? A parallel install of NT works wonders in recovering NT files.
Remember, NTFS does not provide security. The OS provides security by using NTFS. If you can bypass the OS (with any other OS or install of the same OS) then you can bypass the securtity provided by the OS. - In short; If you don't have the root password, then make a new root.
I have heard RedHat partner with AMD, Motorolla, IBM and the GNOME Foundation in the last week. While I am sure that stragetic partnerships are good for RedHat and Linux, I begin to wonder how much resources RedHat has to offer.
Do they have the manpower to effectively contribute to these relationships?
EMC does not run SCO on thier products (at least not the stuff they designed - Symmetrix). They may "support" it (last I heard they did not).
The Symmetrix software (that runs *ON* the Symmetrix) was written in-house in assembly (roumoured recently to be in C) and is not a general purpose OS (like SCO).
Furthermore... Just comparing EMC reliability / engineering to SCO is misleading. SCO is not in the same ballpark as EMC.
Sometimes I enjoy following the links these guys give th thier pathetic home pages. Always good for a laugh - kind of like the "worst of the web" contest. These guys are the finalists.
This goober has a broken link to his resume... Ooo I think I'll hire him! and some kind of wish-list for his house that includes "2 soaker hoses".
When I got my first C compiler for DOS I bought it used without (as far as I could tell) a license. I called up the company, after waiting jut a few seconds I was online with a real tech, who offered to send me (free of charge) the latest disks... I swore then that this was the company for me....
We did resolve the issue by doing (essentially) just that. The issue is not how we fixed it but that it happened in the first place.
The other issue is that, yes, a single authentication model has this issue... With NT you do not have a choice in the matter (in this case we were using Exchange) with Linux you do.
The tight integration of the MS BackOffice is exactly what is pusing me (a MCSE of 3 years - now a RHCE) back to Linux.
Microsoft has so tightly intertwined the BackOffice applications that corruption / issues with one can adversely effect the other.
For example: At a recent (NT only) account, the netlogon service on the PDC had a memory leak. It accepted logon requests but did not properly respond. For this reason all domain logons (and services dependent upon logons (read - everyting)) came to a halt. One service, on one box, stopped the show.
When you create such tightly-coupled relationships with such buggy software you are always in for a ride.
I still do NT, but almost always I throw a Linux box into the mix typically as an Exchange replacement that provides core network services as well (DHCP, DNS, etc...)... And I am looking to do more.
The funny thing is: Microsoft states that they are responding to the customer's will with the new features. Everyone I know is about exhausted with new features - we want stability in the product. Yet all we get is more bug-ridden features. More bug ridden code to cover what was poor system design in the first place.
Slashdot Mirror
- By the way, I will venture to say that today Excel (for the common business user) is probably Microsoft most well put together apps minus all the bloat.
I tend to agree on the quality of Excel... But "minus all the bloat" is a bit problematic considering the fact that MS shipped a flight simulator in the product - and nobody noticed.- normally with NT its the best part of a day getting the OS and all patches etc installed and working together (and then put exchange on and watch the whole thing vanish into a big pile of junk).
I just have to reply to this... Because this is the very reason I don't do Windows anymore. I would spend HOURS building a pristine system based upon years of best-practices knowledge. I would disable unnessary services, spool and temp files go to a drive designated as "dynamic",... etc... Then, I would install the app.... It would backdoor in trial code for some other product from that company, install DOZENS of services (ie: Thier own scheduler service - or the MS Wallet service (AKA: Protected Storage - pstores.exe)...) and then all the concentrated work for creation of a lean machine was wasted.The end result: No matter how hard you tried, this box would NEVER be as clean as an average UNIX box.
TRUE.
Living with Linux requires that you take a larger role in problem solving / issues that may arise on your system than with MS products.
Many people fault MS tech support because they gave up once they met the first-line of tech support. Once you get several layers deep THEY REALLY KNOW THIER PRODUCT. (And this is fair (that the first line is not so brilliant) considering the valume of calls that they take).
While support offerings exist for Linux (I guess - never having used them) you will more likely than not resort to working through the problem yourself.
When I do development (at home) I prefer to keep the source on the server (that has redundant disks). Compiling across 10 BaseT is not quite as nice as 100 BaseT. This requirement would even be MORE so for someone who is moving / editing large video files from one machine to another.
You assume that the only path needed is out to the world. Hardly the case. I want a server AWAY from my desk so I don't have to listen to it, and I want a full-duplex Fast Ethernet connection between the machine I am on and that server.
Although, I do agree that fiber is overkill (now). That's why the conduit would be preferable.
Your comparison of Ethernet to POTs lines is WRONG. If we were using 1940's POTS lines now you would never get DSL or 56k which require technology SIGNIFICANTLY upgraded from what was put in in the 40's.
BTW, Congratulations on making the cut to the "upper 1% of wage earners" - I am sure that your mother is proud.
The foundation will use these funds, in part, to establish technical support programs at community colleges and to enhance and expand an existing program that successfully teaches students how to support the technology systems at their schools.
The cultivation of new devotees works best for them if it can happen at all levels of the education system.
Every conversation on this subject seems to leave out one key item of the proposed settlement, that MS will provide training to colleges for support. So not only will they be indoctrinating future microsofties but they will be indoctranating the next generation of IT departments as well.
Unfortunately I cannot quote directly from the above URL as the MS site appears to be DOWN.
The Betteman Archives was a collection of Photographs (and drawings?) that was availible online for free. Way back when... I used to grab free pic's of famous people off of thier site. A perfect example was Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin at Teran. A rather famous photograph.
Corbis now owns the rights and these pics can only be had for a price. Corbis is owned by Bill Gates.
THIS is probably the #1 reason I dislike the man.
Whenever I talked to a client during a consulting gig about upgrades to MS products we had two conversations. One was the technology upgrade (what they would be recieving in terms of "features"), the other was the license upgrade (what new rules were introduced with this release of the license).
Office 97 had the new restriction of "any device that may use Office 97 functionality, ie: a pager, must be individually licensed". (This is a quote from memory taken from a QnA off TechNet).
The Terminal Server upgrade (from WinFrame) had similar restrictions in that "any machine that may access the terminal server must be (permenantly) licensed for NT Workstation (and any Office 97 apps that will be run there)".(Once again the quote is from memory...)
The article is technically accurate in that this is the new licensing model (for most products) from Microsoft. Concievably, if you access a Office 97 application through a Terminal Server session on Linux (via MetaFrame) YOU WOULD NEED A NT LICENSE AND AN OFFICE 97 LICENSE FOR YOUR LINUX WORKSTATION!
What really bothers me is that this is OLD news. Anybody that has any touch with MS should have known this. How could an IT department roll out 10,000 desktops based on a license and not actually read the license.
When there are car give-aways in the mall where you have to divulge your name, address, email... to win a $25K car (The car on display will be a range-rover at $50K+) do this:
- Spill your shake in the slot (partially open window) of the car.
- Steal all the forms. I used to shove them all in the slot of the car but now I destroy them. Steal the pens too..
- Write REALLY nasty things on the forms before inserting them into the slot.
- Abuse the system at will.
I worked as a security guard in a downtown SanDiego office building while going to college...
There were several financial firms in the building.
The people that worked there were the MOST ARROGANT PEOPLE ON EARTH. They treated you, women, minorities, or just about anyone without money like complete SHIT.
Doing any work "for" these kind of people HAS to qualify as the worst job ever.
It is more of a personal belief than a proven fact... But there are poeple (like myself) in this world that believe that the mass of people are a result of thier time and place in society. Some will always run counter to the common belief often seen as wacko's, then later as visionaries.
To put it more specifically; People who are raised by the "glass-fronted box" will tend not to think for themselves. Just as people raised in the "dark ages" tended to let the church think for them.
But within a complete cycle of history a group of people are raised that break out of these confines and DO think for themsleves. This is called a revolution.
The point is, that once life dictated by a glass-fronted box becomes SO absurd and intolerable people are forced to think and enough of them break from the norm that the true sheep find a new flock to follow as well - and then you have a revolution.
From an historical perspective, we must not be living in too bad of a time... Only a small fraction of the populace actually believes there is a real (single) problem... The threashold has not been reached.
I was looking at the "Illustrated Guide To Breaking Your Computer" page when I noticed a serious safety hazzard in the "Mano a Diskette" section.
Fearing I might sound like your mother I will say this - it happened to me:
I often broke floppies that contained viruses or that had lost data before throwing them away to prevent them from returning to circulation.
One time I did this I took a nasty cut to the hand from the metal shutter. Ouch.
So remember, listen to your mother when she gives you advice.
The article would be better addressed to unwanted software, be it games, napster, or Linux.
Then it would not appear so inflamatory to the sensitive Linux users ear.
The point is, that IT must have some accountability for what is happening on THIER network. In a proper orginazation there should be some method of properly introducing new software onto the network - this includes testing the ramifications of this new software on everything from network performance to SLA's (Service Level Agreements) concearning uptime, costs, etc...
Once again, it is a valid point (although some solutions may be draconian) it is just focousing on Linux - while bigger threats to corporate legality and network bandwidth may come from such apps as Napster...
This is a letter I sent to RedHat earlier this week:
----------
I am writing to you as a RHCE, an investor, a former reseller, and a (potential) distributor.
My question is a simple one that I believe requires an answer in one form or another.
Why can I download the latest version of RedHat 7 yet I can not buy it in a local store? Would it not benefit us to have the media IN THE CHANNEL BEFORE YOU ANNOUNCE THE RELEASE?
I am aware that it can be purchased online. But why would I more inclined to purchase something from your web site than get it for free FROM THE SAME LOCATION?
I understand this may fly in the face of Open Source sensibilities, but wouldn't it be better to have the media in the stores on the day of the announcement, THEN, LATER have it on the ftp site?
As much as you may dislike the practices of your competitors in the closed-source world, it is important to borrow at least one page from their playbook and learn to distribute to your advantage. Pay close attention to the people lining up at 12 Midnight to buy Windows 95 - This is the same mentality of the people who are eager to buy RedHat 7.
This does not even address the ability to ship a pre-configured workstation or server with the latest version of your distribution. On the day of "release", why is it not possible to call Dell or other major manufacturers / distributors and purchase a piece of hardware with RedHat 7? Should a customer want to evaluate the latest version of your software for a project, it would make sense that they would want to purchase a "certified", pre-configured server with the latest version. Yet, the best you have to offer is the ability to download it(, or buy from the same location).
Thank you,
William Favorite
Correct.
My point was really based more from a recovery perspective. - More specifically, recovery from a bad driver, or a completely horked system... Where read/write access is required.
You need to have your computers physically secure. Disabling floppies, BIOS passwords, and such security are worthless if someone has full access to your server.
Who needs Linux? A parallel install of NT works wonders in recovering NT files.
Remember, NTFS does not provide security. The OS provides security by using NTFS. If you can bypass the OS (with any other OS or install of the same OS) then you can bypass the securtity provided by the OS. - In short; If you don't have the root password, then make a new root.
I have heard RedHat partner with AMD, Motorolla, IBM and the GNOME Foundation in the last week. While I am sure that stragetic partnerships are good for RedHat and Linux, I begin to wonder how much resources RedHat has to offer.
Do they have the manpower to effectively contribute to these relationships?
EMC does not run SCO on thier products (at least not the stuff they designed - Symmetrix). They may "support" it (last I heard they did not).
The Symmetrix software (that runs *ON* the Symmetrix) was written in-house in assembly (roumoured recently to be in C) and is not a general purpose OS (like SCO).
Furthermore... Just comparing EMC reliability / engineering to SCO is misleading. SCO is not in the same ballpark as EMC.
Sometimes I enjoy following the links these guys give th thier pathetic home pages. Always good for a laugh - kind of like the "worst of the web" contest. These guys are the finalists.
This goober has a broken link to his resume... Ooo I think I'll hire him! and some kind of wish-list for his house that includes "2 soaker hoses".
A fiercly proud Texan - that should say it all...
When I got my first C compiler for DOS I bought it used without (as far as I could tell) a license. I called up the company, after waiting jut a few seconds I was online with a real tech, who offered to send me (free of charge) the latest disks... I swore then that this was the company for me....
Today I curse that company's name... Microsoft.
We did resolve the issue by doing (essentially) just that. The issue is not how we fixed it but that it happened in the first place.
The other issue is that, yes, a single authentication model has this issue... With NT you do not have a choice in the matter (in this case we were using Exchange) with Linux you do.
The tight integration of the MS BackOffice is exactly what is pusing me (a MCSE of 3 years - now a RHCE) back to Linux.
Microsoft has so tightly intertwined the BackOffice applications that corruption / issues with one can adversely effect the other.
For example: At a recent (NT only) account, the netlogon service on the PDC had a memory leak. It accepted logon requests but did not properly respond. For this reason all domain logons (and services dependent upon logons (read - everyting)) came to a halt. One service, on one box, stopped the show.
When you create such tightly-coupled relationships with such buggy software you are always in for a ride.
I still do NT, but almost always I throw a Linux box into the mix typically as an Exchange replacement that provides core network services as well (DHCP, DNS, etc...)... And I am looking to do more.
The funny thing is: Microsoft states that they are responding to the customer's will with the new features. Everyone I know is about exhausted with new features - we want stability in the product. Yet all we get is more bug-ridden features. More bug ridden code to cover what was poor system design in the first place.
>Name one thing that linux has that Microsoft's NT >doesn't have.
Stability.
But NT does have more pretty blue screens!