You need a nice run of greenfield (that's electrician-speak for the spirally flexible armored steel conduit stuff) with three 10-gauge stranded lines continuous from the service box, to a four-foot long piece of wiremold with ten evenly spaced 120 VAC outlets on it.
Make it yourself or hire an electrician, there is no substitute for heavy shielded wiring. Mount it where it is easily reached without contortionist training, and DON'T mount it the traditional wiremold way with screws through the back of the strip - it makes it really, really hard to relocate should you ever want to (mine are mounted with straps over the face screwed into the wall, except the one at work which is held up by large nylon cable ties).
--Charlie
We never wanted to spend the time required to overwrite with hundreds of streams of non-algorithmically generated data. In order to do this properly, we'd have to spend literally hours at it.
So, we'd go down to the chem lab and rub the harddrive with a Vigorous Circular Motion [TM] against the side of the NMR machine (MRI for you politically correct types) that houses the liquid-helium cooled superconducting electromagnet. If you forgot to leave your wallet in another room, you lost all the mag stripes on your library cards etc.
This worked, but it so thoroughly polarized the heads and platters that they became useless for recording or reading anything ever again. This really pissed off the recyclers we were selling old hard drives to - they wanted to pull the heads out or something, anyway they complained A LOT.
The chem guys, incidentally, thought this was a ton of fun. They liked showing off their machine, I guess.
--Charlie
Somebody's got to pay the Akamai bills. None of us can afford to do it alone!
On the other claw, Ximian could use Skycache/Sidera for their web caching, since they use linux & netbsd instead of the proprietary code that Akamai is built around... I don't know what the billing & performance differences are.
--Charlie
You can encorporate here for $75. And the Delaware Chancery Court processes this kind of stuff faster than any other court in the nation, if not in the world.
Remember the old "Get Smart" TV series? KAOS was incorporated in Delaware, for tax purposes.
The oil-eating bacteria that were used on the Exxon Valdez spill are naturally occuring - not the product of some scary scientist with bad hair.
Native oil-consuming bacteria occur all over the world. It's just that there usually isn't enough oil around to keep local populations very high.
Like most bacteria, each type requires highly specific conditions (look up the etemology of "specific" and "species") to thrive. Most live in a narrow band of temperatures and require oxygen and light - so they can't live in an oil well.
That being said, it's only a matter of time before someone breeds a "super-bug" that _can_ live in oil wells, and then we can solve this oil addiction once and for all;^).
I must point out, on the subject of service packs, that you are wrong. If you look at the total number of executable bytes changed by the MSWindows services packs (ANY version of windows - check before and after upgrade) and you compare it to the total number of changed executable bytes in Red Hat after you apply all updates (of all types - enhancements, security, bug fixes) issued over the same time period you will find that MSwindows has made more changes in their pack.
But, since they don't supply anything other than a minimalistic binary patch file, they can download a bit faster, yes.
This doesn't even address the fact that Red Hat is maintaining a complete system, with the ability to do anything, and MSwindows merely is a GUI on a simple DOS OS. There are no major useful apps like BIND or sendmail in MSwindows, and those apps that are available (simple client stuff like explorer, notepad et al) have brethren under Red Hat.
Now, I freely agree that Malda was trolling. So what? It's his site! Furthermore, your response is inaccurate and misrepresents fact on the subject of updates and service packs - Red Hat is more reliable and bug free than any MS product that I use, despite its many shortcomings. The fact that they issue timely bug fixes that include complete new installable packages is a plus for me, regardless of how long they take to download. There are bugs in MSWindows that they seem to have no intention of EVER fixing - for example, the broken DHCP client in MSwin98 which does not fully conform to the RFC despite several service packs.
For the record, I admin Solaris, SCO, linux, HP-UX, WinNT, and Novell daily. I have a great deal of experience adminning VMS, DOS, and MACos and somewhat less with OS/400 and Pre-OS/390 MVS. I don't think I am speaking as a person who is fixated on ANY vendor - certainly not Red Hat.
Oh, and BTW - VMSinstal was the easiest system update tool I have ever used. Too bad DEC/Compaq is pricing VMS out of existence...
I believe it was Roger Boisjoly, which we always pronounced the same as the french wine (I was a Morton-Thiokol employee at the time).
He's a difficult person, and he didn't get "blackballed and will never again work as an engineer" although he reputedly likes to tell people that.
He was in the process of being dicked over by the Morton assholes when Challenger blew, but his punishment kind of got derailed by the fact that he was right all along and everybody at Thiokol (as distinct from Morton-Thiokol) knew it. Now he is famous in rocketry circles for sticking to his guns... I don't think he'd have any trouble getting an engineering job outside of Utah.
Incidentally, he wasn't the only whistleblower.
--Charlie
PS: A popular quote around the Elkton Plant from when Morton spun off Thiokol: "Well, the salt guys took our best managers, our diversified holdings, and our reputation. But at least they're gone now."
Hey, "evolve past swordfighting"? What's up with that, doesn't everybody get in a good sword fight at least once a month or so?
Me, I pick up a practice blade of some sort at least once a week. Good aerobic exercise, and if the code duello ever gets reinstated I plan to kick some serious butt;^)
--Charlie
As covered by numerous earlier stories, DOS and DDOS attacks can be eradicated by the following simple prescription (espoused by the IETF, BTW).
FILTER YOUR FEEDS. EVERYONE HAS TO DO IT. And that means forcibly disconnecting all the sloppy little ISPs that haven't implemented egress filters - just like we forcibly disconnect every ISP who poisons the global DNS, or steals address space from IANA-registered owners. The net is based on co-operation, and those who subvert the protocols are not co-operating!
Don't allow machines in any net to export address-spoofed packets into the global Internet, and then DOS can be traced easily to the source with simple freeware tools.
There are five reasons I like linux:
#1 It's more stable than the competition
#2 It's OPEN SOURCE
#3 configuration files are human-readable
#4 It's FREE
Other than that, face it, it's just another Unix, with all the sucky "features" of Unix like the all-or-nothing security (e.g. "root user" and suid) and using the same character for the root directory and the subdirectory separator, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. nearly ad infinitum.
DevFS, elimination of root, a Novell-like protection & attribute syntax, ReiserFS, these would be improvements. Making the configuration files XML would make the system worse. If they aren't going to be optimized for human readability in raw ASCII text, then you may as well have a registry like windows.
--Charlie
Sorry about the broken link, Efollet doesn't let you link directly to items. To see the doll that's NOT Tux, go to the Campus Store, select "Fun for All" in the "browse" drop-down menu, and view item # 874-017-00A which is the "plush YouDee doll". They also have one attached to a beanie, for you wild and crazy guys.
--Charlie
The stuffed blue birds are the mascot of the University of Delaware - the "Fighting Blue Hens". They are sold at the on -line Campus Store, the Student Center, and in local tchotchke shops, right next to the "Dela-where?" sweatshirts.
I didn't notice any references to UD in the article, so I'm somewhat confused by this. And really, a blue chicken with the UD logo on its chest looks almost entirely unlike a penguin.
--Charlie
I both hate and understand 'vi'. But then I hate 'emacs' also, though I don't understand it particularly well.
EDT-compatible TPU is real editing power.
--Charlie
Moderators: This and the preceding post should both be marked TROLL. Vote Browne!
OK, first of all this is an old argument. No conclusive "proof" available at this time for either faction.
There are several possible anatomical features that would invalidate the math used: for example, the long-necked dinosaurs could have valvular tubing (either traditional valves like a giraffe, or structures similar to Tesla's valvular fuel piping) in their necks. There could also be muscular arrangements for peristaltic pumping and flow control - the peristaltic pumps in mammals are weak, but that doesn't prove anything about dinosaurs. I am not aware of any complete soft-tissue fossils of dinosaur necks that would prove or disprove the existence of such structures - post 'em if you got 'em.
Other arguments have been made as well - for example, if a brachiosaur can't lift his head for any length of time, he can't drop it for any great length of time - the blood would pool in his brain (rapidly, since the efficiency of his heart as a suction engine is likely much poorer than as a pressure generator). So, given that such a huge creature would require tremendous amounts of fluid intake, how did they drink without passing out? The fossils don't cluster around waterfalls as far as I know (again, post 'em if you got 'em).
Now, as computer geeks, we're all supposed to have some familiarity with LOGIC. So we should all know that it is nearly impossible to PROVE a negative - and astronomically more difficult to do so when the bulk of the evidence is obscured. Most paleontologists agree that the fossil record is necessarily incomplete due to the unusual circumstances required for fossilization and the tremendous variance of species diverisity over geological time periods.
And don't forget, the income tax was enacted as a TEMPORARY MEASURE to repay war debt. After the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional, it was sent to the states as an amendment... with the understanding that the state legislatures would be getting a fat kickback.
Passports are also a "temporary measure" to keep Nazi spies out of the country. Funny how the Nazis supposedly lost, but the principles of national socialism are still evident all around us... the drug war being an obvious example.
--Charlie
NDS and caching -UNLESS- "MANOS" = hand of fate
on
Is Novell Doomed?
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· Score: 2
How about a real answer. This'll never get moderated up to the point where you'll see it, though, because I posted it too late.
NDS is a strong, LDAP & TCP/IP based directory solution directly competing with AD and X500. It is extensible and more robust than any other currently shipping complete solution (which is not the same as saying robust). NDS is a port of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' "FLAME" database and as such has some odd features based more on religious faith than technology.
NDS is multi-platform (including linux and nasty old solaris) and scalable. Like, really, really, really, scalable, literally billions of user objects have been demo'd at Brainshare in Utah. I saw it with my own eyes, as did thousands of other beer-deprived Brainsappers.
NDS and the ICS caching solution are the products intended to keep Novell on the map. Unfortunately for them, a couple of Novell renegades have set up Timpanogas group to create MANOS which is to be a drop-in netware OSS clone. The CEO of Timpanogas, Jeff Murkey (rhymes with Stef Mirkey) is reportedly a gifted coder and was at one time developing native NDS for linux. He got in a spat with Alan and Linus over kernel debuggers, though, and took his football home with him.
Anyway, Novell is in fine shape if Timpanogas can be kept from releasing true NDS clones under a GPL. If not, they have a long time to get a new product going, because of their large installed base. High-end sites will prefer ICS to squid for performance reasons for some time to come, and the Groupwise product (one of those bloated total office solution thingies) hasn't yet alienated their entire customer base.
Ummmm.... global warming is real, but you clearly don't understand it based on your comments. I urge you to read PRIMARY SOURCES and not/. hosers like myself; in particular look at the Mauna Loa data and the antarctic ice cores.
And yes, we already ran out of IP addresses, which is why 10.x.x.x packets hit my firewall from the Internet at large constantly. Portable address blocks are no longer available to small businesses, you have to be an ISP's slave.
First off, you should recognize that the Dell server hardware is optimized for Win NT, not for linux. I have several running both, and I can tell you from personal experience that while Dell's linux guys are nice, dedicated OSS people, they are NOT the guys who get to decide what the hardware will be. They simply try (and lately, they've been succeeding) to back-port Red Hat to the machines Dell is already making.
Second, as far as I know the IIS advantage is entirely based on serving static pages. You need to know what you're serving, and if it's static pages exclusively those numbers might be meaningful... but probably not, as a good caching service like SkyCache (whatever they are calling themselves now) or Akamai can give you better performance to the rest of the world than on-site IIS machines can ever achieve.
Third, even if somebody has done a test using some technique other than static pages, such a test will not reflect the performance you're going to get. Your php and perl, your cgis were not developed to test httpds, they were developed to facilitate your business goals. Your mileage WILL vary.
So, to get conclusive results: Buy two identical cheesy "white box" PC clones. Get fast Pentium !!!s, yes, but assembled at the local Pakistani computer mart, not at Dell or Gateway. Now load IIS and Apache. Time how long it takes to get the machines running. Record number of crashes AND number of reboots from the time you get the machines in the door to the time the test has completed. Load your actual pages and cgis etc. Get a load tester (anyone care to recommend one? I use a room full of humans, which may be cost-prohibitive for you) and TEST WITH YOUR REAL LIVE DATA.
Now, take the results of these tests (including the "how many crashes" records, and how long it took to get the systems running correctly) and write up a little report. Point out the endless parade of security hazards involving IIS. Point out that Dell servers are not the highest-performing linux boxen. Point out the flexibility of Apache in accomodating new languages and techniques. Point out that IIS is losing ground to Apache on the net (must be SOME reason, right?).
Then bottom-line it with cost. Leave out hardware costs entirely (they will be nearly identical) and compare free to Micro$oft.
While it may be true that PIX (which is not primarily a router, unless you consider all firewalls primarily routers) is Intel-based, the rest of the Cisco line isn't.
I have personally dismantled an old IGS, a 1601, a 2501, a 4500M, and a 7000 series (forget the number, but it was an old one). They are not modified PCs, they are purpose-built hardware routers.
Despite what others have said in this discussion, different models of Cisco routers use various specialised hardware architectures, typically with RISC processors and at least three distinct types of memory (flash, DRAM, SRAM). We routinely use generic non-EDO DRAMs in the 4500, but I wouldn't dream of using generic RAM for the fast packet cache.
--Charlie
You asked:
> what's cisco's record like at security and bug fixing and will any GPL/OS solution be any better?
Cisco has had numerous 'sploits and security issues, which they refuse to discuss in detail. In fact, they won't discuss them at all unless you're a current customer and very persistent.
Try this as an experiment: Email or write Cisco and ask them if Cisco routers can be relied upon to protect your net from crackers. Tell them that you are evaluating vendors to see who has the most secure product line, and ask them to itemize their security vulnerabilities.
When I did this they refused to answer at all. In contrast, linux sploits are openly discussed and rapidly repaired. Supposedly OpenBSD is even better (but I am repulsed by Unix fanaticism and intolerance so I use linux).
As I am in the process of porting linux to a Performance Technology "Instant Internet" router, I can explain why this is desirable.
1) Cisco hardware is extremely trustworthy, much more so than the generic PC. Good telecommunications equipment (routers, muxes, DSUs)will run for decades in poorly ventilated dusty closets without any hardware maintenance at all.
2) Router hardware boots fast. WAY fast. Iff it has a decent operating system. This is important in real life because even UPSes are really uninteruptable.
3) Routers (though not the 2500) typically have ridiculously fast RAM for packet buffering. If linux can get Cisco-7000 class throughput on Pentium III hardware, think what it could do on a real router!
4) All software can become obsolete, due to lack of compatability with the real world (what do you mean we need NAT? We didn't need it yesterday!) or penetration (huh? our version of IOS is vulnerable to a script that's all over the net?) or various other reasons. Router software updates are EXPENSIVE!!! Trust me, I have "SmartNet Maintenance" from Cisco not because the hardware ever fails (it doesn't) but because it gives me access to the IOS download site for a single yearly fee. Linux updates are FREE.
The last reason is the most compelling, obviously. Money talks, linux walks, er, runs.
--Charlie
They can't make you sign, but they will tell you they can. They will threaten you with lawsuits, and may actually go so far as to file one (this is EXTREMELY unlikely, but you should be prepared for it regardless).
If you end up in court, you can make exactly the statements you've made here - that you think the patent is too broad to legitimately apply to anything you have invented, and therefore it would be wrong to force other inventors to spent their resources breaking your patent (let's face it, the Patent Office will let anyone patent anything these days, preferring to let the courts do their work for them later).
If you were to lose in court (incredibly unlikely, but if you treat the judge or his cronies with disrespect you can lose regardless of the merits of your case) you might get fined a few bucks. Post on/. and I will send you money (as will others, I believe) to pay the piper. I will respect you and wish to support you - IFF you don't sign. If you sign, I will consider you just another protoplasmic blob wasting space and resources that could be used by somebody with a backbone.
If you are dead, you can't sign. So they won't kill you. The judge isn't going to send you to jail unless you call him a fat old clown, or refuse to bathe and wash your clothes before your appearance. So at most you get LOTS of nice publicity for being an ethical voice in a clamor of greedy amorality (that's something you may be able to turn into a better job, too!) and a nastly little fine that you can solicit donations to pay.
--Charlie
PS: I am not a lawyer, but I've successfully defended myself in court. Right makes Might, in the USA... unless you're up on drug charges, of course!
--CTB
PSS: Those of you encouraging our hero to knuckle under... how's it feel to be born without a spine?
--C
You wrote: "We need a way to show the oil companies that we're fed up of lining their pockets with cash" which is kind of funny since there are so many ways, and so many organisations doing so. Rule #1: Buy NO unneccessary plastic items. I make an exception, personally, for my kids' legos. But I don't buy a new case for my computer just because the ATX form came out, I hacksaw the old one. Plastics are essentially a waste product of the petroleum industry. Rule #2: Buy NOTHING from Exxon. Because we need to convince the Oil Barons that there are some things that don't blow over - and Exxon's had the most egregious crimes as well as being the last vestigal trace of the original Petroleum Trust (Standard Oil = S.O. = Esso = Exxon, you can confirm this easily). Rule #3: Stop whining and do something. I am converting my truck to gas/electric hybrid ASAP. My bud Pete runs used fryer oil in his (unmodified) Mercedes diesel.
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You need a nice run of greenfield (that's electrician-speak for the spirally flexible armored steel conduit stuff) with three 10-gauge stranded lines continuous from the service box, to a four-foot long piece of wiremold with ten evenly spaced 120 VAC outlets on it.
Make it yourself or hire an electrician, there is no substitute for heavy shielded wiring. Mount it where it is easily reached without contortionist training, and DON'T mount it the traditional wiremold way with screws through the back of the strip - it makes it really, really hard to relocate should you ever want to (mine are mounted with straps over the face screwed into the wall, except the one at work which is held up by large nylon cable ties).
--Charlie
We never wanted to spend the time required to overwrite with hundreds of streams of non-algorithmically generated data. In order to do this properly, we'd have to spend literally hours at it.
So, we'd go down to the chem lab and rub the harddrive with a Vigorous Circular Motion [TM] against the side of the NMR machine (MRI for you politically correct types) that houses the liquid-helium cooled superconducting electromagnet. If you forgot to leave your wallet in another room, you lost all the mag stripes on your library cards etc.
This worked, but it so thoroughly polarized the heads and platters that they became useless for recording or reading anything ever again. This really pissed off the recyclers we were selling old hard drives to - they wanted to pull the heads out or something, anyway they complained A LOT.
The chem guys, incidentally, thought this was a ton of fun. They liked showing off their machine, I guess.
--Charlie
Somebody's got to pay the Akamai bills. None of us can afford to do it alone!
On the other claw, Ximian could use Skycache/Sidera for their web caching, since they use linux & netbsd instead of the proprietary code that Akamai is built around... I don't know what the billing & performance differences are.
--Charlie
You can encorporate here for $75. And the Delaware Chancery Court processes this kind of stuff faster than any other court in the nation, if not in the world.
Remember the old "Get Smart" TV series? KAOS was incorporated in Delaware, for tax purposes.
--Charlie
The oil-eating bacteria that were used on the Exxon Valdez spill are naturally occuring - not the product of some scary scientist with bad hair.
Native oil-consuming bacteria occur all over the world. It's just that there usually isn't enough oil around to keep local populations very high.
Like most bacteria, each type requires highly specific conditions (look up the etemology of "specific" and "species") to thrive. Most live in a narrow band of temperatures and require oxygen and light - so they can't live in an oil well.
That being said, it's only a matter of time before someone breeds a "super-bug" that _can_ live in oil wells, and then we can solve this oil addiction once and for all
--Charlie
I must point out, on the subject of service packs, that you are wrong. If you look at the total number of executable bytes changed by the MSWindows services packs (ANY version of windows - check before and after upgrade) and you compare it to the total number of changed executable bytes in Red Hat after you apply all updates (of all types - enhancements, security, bug fixes) issued over the same time period you will find that MSwindows has made more changes in their pack.
But, since they don't supply anything other than a minimalistic binary patch file, they can download a bit faster, yes.
This doesn't even address the fact that Red Hat is maintaining a complete system, with the ability to do anything, and MSwindows merely is a GUI on a simple DOS OS. There are no major useful apps like BIND or sendmail in MSwindows, and those apps that are available (simple client stuff like explorer, notepad et al) have brethren under Red Hat.
Now, I freely agree that Malda was trolling. So what? It's his site! Furthermore, your response is inaccurate and misrepresents fact on the subject of updates and service packs - Red Hat is more reliable and bug free than any MS product that I use, despite its many shortcomings. The fact that they issue timely bug fixes that include complete new installable packages is a plus for me, regardless of how long they take to download. There are bugs in MSWindows that they seem to have no intention of EVER fixing - for example, the broken DHCP client in MSwin98 which does not fully conform to the RFC despite several service packs.
For the record, I admin Solaris, SCO, linux, HP-UX, WinNT, and Novell daily. I have a great deal of experience adminning VMS, DOS, and MACos and somewhat less with OS/400 and Pre-OS/390 MVS. I don't think I am speaking as a person who is fixated on ANY vendor - certainly not Red Hat.
Oh, and BTW - VMSinstal was the easiest system update tool I have ever used. Too bad DEC/Compaq is pricing VMS out of existence...
--Charlie
I believe it was Roger Boisjoly, which we always pronounced the same as the french wine (I was a Morton-Thiokol employee at the time).
He's a difficult person, and he didn't get "blackballed and will never again work as an engineer" although he reputedly likes to tell people that.
He was in the process of being dicked over by the Morton assholes when Challenger blew, but his punishment kind of got derailed by the fact that he was right all along and everybody at Thiokol (as distinct from Morton-Thiokol) knew it. Now he is famous in rocketry circles for sticking to his guns... I don't think he'd have any trouble getting an engineering job outside of Utah.
Incidentally, he wasn't the only whistleblower.
--Charlie
PS: A popular quote around the Elkton Plant from when Morton spun off Thiokol: "Well, the salt guys took our best managers, our diversified holdings, and our reputation. But at least they're gone now."
Hey, "evolve past swordfighting"? What's up with that, doesn't everybody get in a good sword fight at least once a month or so? ;^)
Me, I pick up a practice blade of some sort at least once a week. Good aerobic exercise, and if the code duello ever gets reinstated I plan to kick some serious butt
--Charlie
As covered by numerous earlier stories, DOS and DDOS attacks can be eradicated by the following simple prescription (espoused by the IETF, BTW).
FILTER YOUR FEEDS. EVERYONE HAS TO DO IT. And that means forcibly disconnecting all the sloppy little ISPs that haven't implemented egress filters - just like we forcibly disconnect every ISP who poisons the global DNS, or steals address space from IANA-registered owners. The net is based on co-operation, and those who subvert the protocols are not co-operating!
Don't allow machines in any net to export address-spoofed packets into the global Internet, and then DOS can be traced easily to the source with simple freeware tools.
--Charlie
There are five reasons I like linux:
#1 It's more stable than the competition
#2 It's OPEN SOURCE
#3 configuration files are human-readable
#4 It's FREE
Other than that, face it, it's just another Unix, with all the sucky "features" of Unix like the all-or-nothing security (e.g. "root user" and suid) and using the same character for the root directory and the subdirectory separator, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. nearly ad infinitum.
DevFS, elimination of root, a Novell-like protection & attribute syntax, ReiserFS, these would be improvements. Making the configuration files XML would make the system worse. If they aren't going to be optimized for human readability in raw ASCII text, then you may as well have a registry like windows.
--Charlie
Sorry about the broken link, Efollet doesn't let you link directly to items. To see the doll that's NOT Tux, go to the Campus Store, select "Fun for All" in the "browse" drop-down menu, and view item # 874-017-00A which is the "plush YouDee doll". They also have one attached to a beanie, for you wild and crazy guys.
--Charlie
The stuffed blue birds are the mascot of the University of Delaware - the "Fighting Blue Hens". They are sold at the on -line Campus Store, the Student Center, and in local tchotchke shops, right next to the "Dela-where?" sweatshirts.
I didn't notice any references to UD in the article, so I'm somewhat confused by this. And really, a blue chicken with the UD logo on its chest looks almost entirely unlike a penguin.
--Charlie
I hear shipping the system to IBM with a fake return address is cheaper.
--Charlie
What, you don't use Unix?
Snork, giggle, *koff* I just couldn't resist.
--CHarlie
I both hate and understand 'vi'. But then I hate 'emacs' also, though I don't understand it particularly well.
EDT-compatible TPU is real editing power.
--Charlie
Moderators: This and the preceding post should both be marked TROLL. Vote Browne!
OK, first of all this is an old argument. No conclusive "proof" available at this time for either faction.
There are several possible anatomical features that would invalidate the math used: for example, the long-necked dinosaurs could have valvular tubing (either traditional valves like a giraffe, or structures similar to Tesla's valvular fuel piping) in their necks. There could also be muscular arrangements for peristaltic pumping and flow control - the peristaltic pumps in mammals are weak, but that doesn't prove anything about dinosaurs. I am not aware of any complete soft-tissue fossils of dinosaur necks that would prove or disprove the existence of such structures - post 'em if you got 'em.
Other arguments have been made as well - for example, if a brachiosaur can't lift his head for any length of time, he can't drop it for any great length of time - the blood would pool in his brain (rapidly, since the efficiency of his heart as a suction engine is likely much poorer than as a pressure generator). So, given that such a huge creature would require tremendous amounts of fluid intake, how did they drink without passing out? The fossils don't cluster around waterfalls as far as I know (again, post 'em if you got 'em).
Now, as computer geeks, we're all supposed to have some familiarity with LOGIC. So we should all know that it is nearly impossible to PROVE a negative - and astronomically more difficult to do so when the bulk of the evidence is obscured. Most paleontologists agree that the fossil record is necessarily incomplete due to the unusual circumstances required for fossilization and the tremendous variance of species diverisity over geological time periods.
--Charlie
And don't forget, the income tax was enacted as a TEMPORARY MEASURE to repay war debt. After the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional, it was sent to the states as an amendment... with the understanding that the state legislatures would be getting a fat kickback.
Passports are also a "temporary measure" to keep Nazi spies out of the country. Funny how the Nazis supposedly lost, but the principles of national socialism are still evident all around us... the drug war being an obvious example.
--Charlie
How about a real answer. This'll never get moderated up to the point where you'll see it, though, because I posted it too late.
NDS is a strong, LDAP & TCP/IP based directory solution directly competing with AD and X500. It is extensible and more robust than any other currently shipping complete solution (which is not the same as saying robust). NDS is a port of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' "FLAME" database and as such has some odd features based more on religious faith than technology.
NDS is multi-platform (including linux and nasty old solaris) and scalable. Like, really, really, really, scalable, literally billions of user objects have been demo'd at Brainshare in Utah. I saw it with my own eyes, as did thousands of other beer-deprived Brainsappers.
NDS and the ICS caching solution are the products intended to keep Novell on the map. Unfortunately for them, a couple of Novell renegades have set up Timpanogas group to create MANOS which is to be a drop-in netware OSS clone. The CEO of Timpanogas, Jeff Murkey (rhymes with Stef Mirkey) is reportedly a gifted coder and was at one time developing native NDS for linux. He got in a spat with Alan and Linus over kernel debuggers, though, and took his football home with him.
Anyway, Novell is in fine shape if Timpanogas can be kept from releasing true NDS clones under a GPL. If not, they have a long time to get a new product going, because of their large installed base. High-end sites will prefer ICS to squid for performance reasons for some time to come, and the Groupwise product (one of those bloated total office solution thingies) hasn't yet alienated their entire customer base.
--Charlie
Ummmm.... global warming is real, but you clearly don't understand it based on your comments. I urge you to read PRIMARY SOURCES and not /. hosers like myself; in particular look at the Mauna Loa data and the antarctic ice cores.
And yes, we already ran out of IP addresses, which is why 10.x.x.x packets hit my firewall from the Internet at large constantly. Portable address blocks are no longer available to small businesses, you have to be an ISP's slave.
--Charlie
First off, you should recognize that the Dell server hardware is optimized for Win NT, not for linux. I have several running both, and I can tell you from personal experience that while Dell's linux guys are nice, dedicated OSS people, they are NOT the guys who get to decide what the hardware will be. They simply try (and lately, they've been succeeding) to back-port Red Hat to the machines Dell is already making.
Second, as far as I know the IIS advantage is entirely based on serving static pages. You need to know what you're serving, and if it's static pages exclusively those numbers might be meaningful... but probably not, as a good caching service like SkyCache (whatever they are calling themselves now) or Akamai can give you better performance to the rest of the world than on-site IIS machines can ever achieve.
Third, even if somebody has done a test using some technique other than static pages, such a test will not reflect the performance you're going to get. Your php and perl, your cgis were not developed to test httpds, they were developed to facilitate your business goals. Your mileage WILL vary.
So, to get conclusive results: Buy two identical cheesy "white box" PC clones. Get fast Pentium !!!s, yes, but assembled at the local Pakistani computer mart, not at Dell or Gateway. Now load IIS and Apache. Time how long it takes to get the machines running. Record number of crashes AND number of reboots from the time you get the machines in the door to the time the test has completed. Load your actual pages and cgis etc. Get a load tester (anyone care to recommend one? I use a room full of humans, which may be cost-prohibitive for you) and TEST WITH YOUR REAL LIVE DATA.
Now, take the results of these tests (including the "how many crashes" records, and how long it took to get the systems running correctly) and write up a little report. Point out the endless parade of security hazards involving IIS. Point out that Dell servers are not the highest-performing linux boxen. Point out the flexibility of Apache in accomodating new languages and techniques. Point out that IIS is losing ground to Apache on the net (must be SOME reason, right?).
Then bottom-line it with cost. Leave out hardware costs entirely (they will be nearly identical) and compare free to Micro$oft.
Works for me.
--Charlie
While it may be true that PIX (which is not primarily a router, unless you consider all firewalls primarily routers) is Intel-based, the rest of the Cisco line isn't.
I have personally dismantled an old IGS, a 1601, a 2501, a 4500M, and a 7000 series (forget the number, but it was an old one). They are not modified PCs, they are purpose-built hardware routers.
Despite what others have said in this discussion, different models of Cisco routers use various specialised hardware architectures, typically with RISC processors and at least three distinct types of memory (flash, DRAM, SRAM). We routinely use generic non-EDO DRAMs in the 4500, but I wouldn't dream of using generic RAM for the fast packet cache.
--Charlie
You asked:
> what's cisco's record like at security and bug fixing and will any GPL/OS solution be any better?
Cisco has had numerous 'sploits and security issues, which they refuse to discuss in detail. In fact, they won't discuss them at all unless you're a current customer and very persistent.
Try this as an experiment: Email or write Cisco and ask them if Cisco routers can be relied upon to protect your net from crackers. Tell them that you are evaluating vendors to see who has the most secure product line, and ask them to itemize their security vulnerabilities.
When I did this they refused to answer at all. In contrast, linux sploits are openly discussed and rapidly repaired. Supposedly OpenBSD is even better (but I am repulsed by Unix fanaticism and intolerance so I use linux).
--Charlie
As I am in the process of porting linux to a Performance Technology "Instant Internet" router, I can explain why this is desirable.
1) Cisco hardware is extremely trustworthy, much more so than the generic PC. Good telecommunications equipment (routers, muxes, DSUs)will run for decades in poorly ventilated dusty closets without any hardware maintenance at all.
2) Router hardware boots fast. WAY fast. Iff it has a decent operating system. This is important in real life because even UPSes are really uninteruptable.
3) Routers (though not the 2500) typically have ridiculously fast RAM for packet buffering. If linux can get Cisco-7000 class throughput on Pentium III hardware, think what it could do on a real router!
4) All software can become obsolete, due to lack of compatability with the real world (what do you mean we need NAT? We didn't need it yesterday!) or penetration (huh? our version of IOS is vulnerable to a script that's all over the net?) or various other reasons. Router software updates are EXPENSIVE!!! Trust me, I have "SmartNet Maintenance" from Cisco not because the hardware ever fails (it doesn't) but because it gives me access to the IOS download site for a single yearly fee. Linux updates are FREE.
The last reason is the most compelling, obviously. Money talks, linux walks, er, runs.
--Charlie
They can't make you sign, but they will tell you they can. They will threaten you with lawsuits, and may actually go so far as to file one (this is EXTREMELY unlikely, but you should be prepared for it regardless). /. and I will send you money (as will others, I believe) to pay the piper. I will respect you and wish to support you - IFF you don't sign. If you sign, I will consider you just another protoplasmic blob wasting space and resources that could be used by somebody with a backbone.
If you end up in court, you can make exactly the statements you've made here - that you think the patent is too broad to legitimately apply to anything you have invented, and therefore it would be wrong to force other inventors to spent their resources breaking your patent (let's face it, the Patent Office will let anyone patent anything these days, preferring to let the courts do their work for them later).
If you were to lose in court (incredibly unlikely, but if you treat the judge or his cronies with disrespect you can lose regardless of the merits of your case) you might get fined a few bucks. Post on
If you are dead, you can't sign. So they won't kill you. The judge isn't going to send you to jail unless you call him a fat old clown, or refuse to bathe and wash your clothes before your appearance. So at most you get LOTS of nice publicity for being an ethical voice in a clamor of greedy amorality (that's something you may be able to turn into a better job, too!) and a nastly little fine that you can solicit donations to pay.
--Charlie
PS: I am not a lawyer, but I've successfully defended myself in court. Right makes Might, in the USA... unless you're up on drug charges, of course!
--CTB
PSS: Those of you encouraging our hero to knuckle under... how's it feel to be born without a spine?
--C
You wrote: "We need a way to show the oil companies that we're fed up of lining their pockets with cash" which is kind of funny since there are so many ways, and so many organisations doing so.
Rule #1: Buy NO unneccessary plastic items. I make an exception, personally, for my kids' legos. But I don't buy a new case for my computer just because the ATX form came out, I hacksaw the old one. Plastics are essentially a waste product of the petroleum industry.
Rule #2: Buy NOTHING from Exxon. Because we need to convince the Oil Barons that there are some things that don't blow over - and Exxon's had the most egregious crimes as well as being the last vestigal trace of the original Petroleum Trust (Standard Oil = S.O. = Esso = Exxon, you can confirm this easily).
Rule #3: Stop whining and do something. I am converting my truck to gas/electric hybrid ASAP. My bud Pete runs used fryer oil in his (unmodified) Mercedes diesel.
Alternative Energy Engineering
Ballard Fuel Cells
Electro Automotive
Energy Conversion Devices, Inc.
Greenpeace International Homepage
Home Power Magazine
Hydrogen Web (English/German)
innEVations
Jerry Halstead's Car
Low Rolling Resistance Tires
Phoenix EAA
Roofing Systems
Unique Mobility
Veggie Van (BioDiesel)
Wilde EVolutions catalog
United Solar Systems Home Page
--Charlie