leave a copy of the messages on the server and have both the workstation and laptop check them. set them to delete the messages after 7-10 days or whatever time period you think would be sufficient for both places to check the mail.
for every smirk on the/. readers' faces who read this article and have preached against Microsoft in the last few years.
but seriously.... I wonder why Sony takes it's time developing their console as opposed to rushing it out the door to try to gain marketshare like some other greedy corporation does...[/sarcasm]
Won't advertizements in magazines turn off subscribers?
They sure as hell did for me.
For a science experiment: pick up a GQ magazine when you're in line at the grocery market and go through removing all pages with double sided ads. followed by putting a blob of black spray paint on the rest of the ads that are single paged. followed by cutting out any ads that are half or quarter page. take the remains of what you have and count the pages of content. i guarantee you no more than 30 pages.
and if this tool is critical enough, you will have a crippled business while it's being rewritten. got enough cash lying around to float a company for a half a year or so?
if the program is utilized at a level that a business cannot operate without it, then you are forever a needed man/woman/slashdot reader.
it's a dirty way to have great job security.
i'm not sure what would make it harder to sleep at night... knowing that there are outsources ready to take your well maintained project over and remove your source of income, or knowing that you're intentionally putting effort into making a project complex and making a sort of symbiotic leech relationship with your employer.
if i were a programmer full time, i would like to think that there are other ways i could have 100% job security and keep my geek pride.
so it build the company a whole new user base to get paid from later? as oppposed to giving them freedom to choose to stick to linux or switch later (since redhat won't be forcing them stick to their operating system)
Here's a list of reasons why you're being overly rosy:
- licensing cost of windows and office is actually much lower
if you notice the tilde next to the number, that is what mathematicians use for estimations. feel free to post whatever cost you get your licenses for.
- retraining staff is necessary and means that staff not only gets paid to not work, but is not producing any income while they are retraining. The cost of this can be 300 USD / day / employee easily (at my place of work they calculate the cost of programmer downtime as 500+ USD / day / programmer). Make people retrain for even one whole day and your licensing savings are gone.
retraining staff isn't absolutely necessary when the products are close enough in similarity. you can also write manuals on tasks that employees are doing and/or not teach everyone one on one. i'm not sure why at your place you have programmers training people either.
- retraining sysadmins is necessary, even if they already know linux (every network has its own quirks to figure out)
i'm not sure i follow. to use linux you have to change your network? and if they already know linux then what is there to retrain?
also if you notice i never mentioned once removing servers or converting them to linux.;)
- there's no microsoft support for free linuces. Your sysadmins will have to really know their stuff and be able to respond to all scenario's, even when they involve rewriting OS code. Those guys cost money.
there's no free microsoft support for windows. but there are 3rd parties you can use to suppoort your infrastructure no matter which operating system. and if you get into "rewriting OS code" as you call it, you've got a need that windows will not meet out of the box, or you have a group of systems administrators that don't know their ass from a hole in the ground. having maintained close to 70 servers (4 windows, 6 bsdi, 60 redhat linux and later white box linux) which ran services for close to 30,000 users, i've never, NOT ONCE, had to start "rewriting OS code".
- networks involve file shares, authentication, hostname assignment and lookup, and on, and on. Linux clients on windows server networks are... well... delicate. And linux clients on linux networks are a dramatic retooling (requiring a LOT of work hours).
networks involve shares.. very good. SAMBA covers that. it functions for windows and linux operating systems (along with apple and pretty much any flavor of unix). it's very well documented and can be used to replace windows file servers VERY easily.
authentication... it's very easy to setup any combination of KRB/LDAP/SQL/SMB based authentication. a very basic task if you are worth your salary as a systems administrator.
hostname assignment and lookup is covered on the workstations upon initial setup or handed out via DHCP... not sure what you're trying to show by including this... almost makes me think you're a brainwashed microsoft zealot trying to disprove something you don't know anything about.
linux clients on windows server networks are very functional. in my own office right now i have bsd, debian, ubuntu laptop, 2k server, 2 xp pro machines, and all of them access the same information on the bsd server and 2k server. if you set stuff up correctly and know what you're doing, they're not delicate. they're functional and fast.
- linux has no outlook (you would be surprised how much people depend on outlook's abilities, and how difficult it can be to replace them with open source products). Pretty much all outlook equivalents require licensing, and since outlook is bundled with ms office (though exchange server isn't, to be fair), this negates part of your licensing advantage.
linux has evolution (free) and there many projects that recreate exchange's features (i gues
If you really would like to see Linux of any flavor, Apple, or any alternative to Microsoft's strangehold flourish, do what you can to open the eyes of management folks to open source software. Make a spreadsheet of the number of office employees in your office, multiple the number by the cost of the OS (XP Pro is ~$150) and the cost of MS Office (basic is ~$300), add it up, and show them what could be saved while retaining the functionality (and gaining in some places such as not giving certain employees copies of office on their computer to cut cost when they really need it).
Install Open Office on your workstation and show your boss how visually its similar to Microsoft Office so retraining for basic tasks (spreadsheets, letter documents, etc.) will be minimal. When the question comes up (yes it will) asking about opening attachments on e-mails from people still using Microsoft Office, show them it works and that you can even save in Microsoft's format to send to others.
Review the upgrade frequency of the software used in your office. If you upgrade operating systems every 3 years, explain the benefits of switching to another operating system such as SuSE or Ubuntu as far as your finances go.
I'm sure there are other ways to open eyes of management. If you can think of some, please reply to this and add it.
On a side note, not only will this open people up to alternatives to Microsoft, but the fact that they have stepped back and made a change will only make it easier to change if there is another alternative out there that would better fit the bill. It'll get them thinking.
Oh, what? Like Word for a word processor. Like calc for calculator. Like Windows for a windows based shell to an operating system. Like Access for a database. Like Internet Explorer for a web browser. Like Windows Media Player for their media player. Paint for an image editor. Microsoft Flight Simulator for a flight simulator. Etc, etc.
Like oh I don't know.... Microsoft Antispyware? Microsoft Windows Security Suite? A.K.A. Anything that describes their product that someone else doesn't own the right to.
Alot of this new BS with sony and drm/copy protection/etc is seriously making me consider NOT buying a PS3. I don't want to support this kind of stupidity.
Smart move. Talking with your wallet is the loudest you could possible talk.
If you're serious about keeping money away from them, find alternatives to the PS3 and let your friends know about what Sony is doing. Personally I'm very loyal to companies who make good products but I will crack 100% of the games I purchase to get rid of these ridiculous annoyances associated with DRM.
He didn't have a lawyer per se, he had a friend in law school. From TFA:
He was puzzled by one element of the agreement, which gives to Microsoft all rights to the Windows Defender name. However, after consulting with a friend in law school, he decided to just sign it and move on.
Guess his friend hasn't been in law school long enough to hone those shark-like instincts...that clause sure smells fishy!
Yes, that point and unfortunately from this point you have to realize they have gained the largest marketshare from these tactics.
They are one of the strongest companies in IT whether we like it or not.
I like to think of using Microsoft as "being average".;-) It makes me very happy not to be dependent upon them at all and making a living without them.
That's true. To less savvy people I do recommend against Windows. I have limited contact (thank god!) with them though. Most people I interact with have the skills needed to learn another operating system.
Slashdot Mirror
you should look for forums for distributions you're interested in. they hold more information than you can possibly imagine.
leave a copy of the messages on the server and have both the workstation and laptop check them. set them to delete the messages after 7-10 days or whatever time period you think would be sufficient for both places to check the mail.
for every smirk on the /. readers' faces who read this article and have preached against Microsoft in the last few years.
but seriously.... I wonder why Sony takes it's time developing their console as opposed to rushing it out the door to try to gain marketshare like some other greedy corporation does...[/sarcasm]
I hope this costs Microsoft DEARLY
Won't advertizements in magazines turn off subscribers?
They sure as hell did for me.
For a science experiment: pick up a GQ magazine when you're in line at the grocery market and go through removing all pages with double sided ads. followed by putting a blob of black spray paint on the rest of the ads that are single paged. followed by cutting out any ads that are half or quarter page. take the remains of what you have and count the pages of content. i guarantee you no more than 30 pages.
A solid piece of software is just as impenetrable on Windows as it is on Linux or any other platform
That's only true to a point. It's like having a VERY sturdy roof on a framed house with holes in your studs.
These are the requirement of any basic tool.
There is a task that needs to be done, and it needs to do it. Just like a hammer is supposed to drive a nail into a piece of wood.
If the hammer can be aquired for less money and works better than a more expensive hammer, why would you buy the more expensive hammer?
and if this tool is critical enough, you will have a crippled business while it's being rewritten. got enough cash lying around to float a company for a half a year or so?
if the program is utilized at a level that a business cannot operate without it, then you are forever a needed man/woman/slashdot reader.
it's a dirty way to have great job security.
i'm not sure what would make it harder to sleep at night... knowing that there are outsources ready to take your well maintained project over and remove your source of income, or knowing that you're intentionally putting effort into making a project complex and making a sort of symbiotic leech relationship with your employer.
if i were a programmer full time, i would like to think that there are other ways i could have 100% job security and keep my geek pride.
Exactly. The computer is a tool.
Next thing you know, your hammer will have an automatic banner pop up everytime you touch it advertising nails.
I see it now, fiber supplemental products advertised on the roll of toilet paper.
i've had very similar experience with redhat, bsd, and now ubuntu.
and to note to all people that are skeptics, no, i never had to restart a "service" either.
uptime & services up for over a year while being fast, secure, and cheap are par for the course when it comes to my linux/bsd/debian experiences.
so it build the company a whole new user base to get paid from later? as oppposed to giving them freedom to choose to stick to linux or switch later (since redhat won't be forcing them stick to their operating system)
notice the tilde next to the numbers? that's what people that passed high school math use for estimations.
The even funnier part is the highest modded post and my post (lowest) are saying the same exact thing.
...look exactly like Breezy
What exactly is the point of showing screenshots of stuff that hasn't changed?
Here's a list of reasons why you're being overly rosy:
;)
... well ... delicate. And linux clients on linux networks are a dramatic retooling (requiring a LOT of work hours).
- licensing cost of windows and office is actually much lower
if you notice the tilde next to the number, that is what mathematicians use for estimations. feel free to post whatever cost you get your licenses for.
- retraining staff is necessary and means that staff not only gets paid to not work, but is not producing any income while they are retraining. The cost of this can be 300 USD / day / employee easily (at my place of work they calculate the cost of programmer downtime as 500+ USD / day / programmer). Make people retrain for even one whole day and your licensing savings are gone.
retraining staff isn't absolutely necessary when the products are close enough in similarity. you can also write manuals on tasks that employees are doing and/or not teach everyone one on one. i'm not sure why at your place you have programmers training people either.
- retraining sysadmins is necessary, even if they already know linux (every network has its own quirks to figure out)
i'm not sure i follow. to use linux you have to change your network? and if they already know linux then what is there to retrain?
also if you notice i never mentioned once removing servers or converting them to linux.
- there's no microsoft support for free linuces. Your sysadmins will have to really know their stuff and be able to respond to all scenario's, even when they involve rewriting OS code. Those guys cost money.
there's no free microsoft support for windows. but there are 3rd parties you can use to suppoort your infrastructure no matter which operating system. and if you get into "rewriting OS code" as you call it, you've got a need that windows will not meet out of the box, or you have a group of systems administrators that don't know their ass from a hole in the ground. having maintained close to 70 servers (4 windows, 6 bsdi, 60 redhat linux and later white box linux) which ran services for close to 30,000 users, i've never, NOT ONCE, had to start "rewriting OS code".
- networks involve file shares, authentication, hostname assignment and lookup, and on, and on. Linux clients on windows server networks are
networks involve shares.. very good. SAMBA covers that. it functions for windows and linux operating systems (along with apple and pretty much any flavor of unix). it's very well documented and can be used to replace windows file servers VERY easily.
authentication... it's very easy to setup any combination of KRB/LDAP/SQL/SMB based authentication. a very basic task if you are worth your salary as a systems administrator.
hostname assignment and lookup is covered on the workstations upon initial setup or handed out via DHCP... not sure what you're trying to show by including this... almost makes me think you're a brainwashed microsoft zealot trying to disprove something you don't know anything about.
linux clients on windows server networks are very functional. in my own office right now i have bsd, debian, ubuntu laptop, 2k server, 2 xp pro machines, and all of them access the same information on the bsd server and 2k server. if you set stuff up correctly and know what you're doing, they're not delicate. they're functional and fast.
- linux has no outlook (you would be surprised how much people depend on outlook's abilities, and how difficult it can be to replace them with open source products). Pretty much all outlook equivalents require licensing, and since outlook is bundled with ms office (though exchange server isn't, to be fair), this negates part of your licensing advantage.
linux has evolution (free) and there many projects that recreate exchange's features (i gues
Openoffice has an adjustment curve, it's quite steep for people who can barely use MS office.
If they don't know how to use Microsoft Office, then they haven't been trained (correctly) in the first place.
People are fighting back against making the govnerment a parental entity for all people under 18 year olds.
I agree. It would be very interesting to see how much money our government spends on Microsoft products.
If you really would like to see Linux of any flavor, Apple, or any alternative to Microsoft's strangehold flourish, do what you can to open the eyes of management folks to open source software. Make a spreadsheet of the number of office employees in your office, multiple the number by the cost of the OS (XP Pro is ~$150) and the cost of MS Office (basic is ~$300), add it up, and show them what could be saved while retaining the functionality (and gaining in some places such as not giving certain employees copies of office on their computer to cut cost when they really need it).
Install Open Office on your workstation and show your boss how visually its similar to Microsoft Office so retraining for basic tasks (spreadsheets, letter documents, etc.) will be minimal. When the question comes up (yes it will) asking about opening attachments on e-mails from people still using Microsoft Office, show them it works and that you can even save in Microsoft's format to send to others.
Review the upgrade frequency of the software used in your office. If you upgrade operating systems every 3 years, explain the benefits of switching to another operating system such as SuSE or Ubuntu as far as your finances go.
I'm sure there are other ways to open eyes of management. If you can think of some, please reply to this and add it.
On a side note, not only will this open people up to alternatives to Microsoft, but the fact that they have stepped back and made a change will only make it easier to change if there is another alternative out there that would better fit the bill. It'll get them thinking.
Oh, what? Like Word for a word processor. Like calc for calculator. Like Windows for a windows based shell to an operating system. Like Access for a database. Like Internet Explorer for a web browser. Like Windows Media Player for their media player. Paint for an image editor. Microsoft Flight Simulator for a flight simulator. Etc, etc.
Like oh I don't know.... Microsoft Antispyware? Microsoft Windows Security Suite? A.K.A. Anything that describes their product that someone else doesn't own the right to.
Smart move. Talking with your wallet is the loudest you could possible talk.
If you're serious about keeping money away from them, find alternatives to the PS3 and let your friends know about what Sony is doing.
Personally I'm very loyal to companies who make good products but I will crack 100% of the games I purchase to get rid of these ridiculous annoyances associated with DRM.
Guess his friend hasn't been in law school long enough to hone those shark-like instincts...that clause sure smells fishy!
Like I said, he wasn't worth the money.
He should fire his lawyer. Obviously he or she can't be worth the money.
He had the rights to the name and signed them away. He should know if he signed something away, then he had something to start with.
He could have cashed in on the name or forced Microsoft to think of something else (or to muscle someone else around).
Yes, that point and unfortunately from this point you have to realize they have gained the largest marketshare from these tactics.
;-) It makes me very happy not to be dependent upon them at all and making a living without them.
They are one of the strongest companies in IT whether we like it or not.
I like to think of using Microsoft as "being average".
That's true. To less savvy people I do recommend against Windows. I have limited contact (thank god!) with them though. Most people I interact with have the skills needed to learn another operating system.