Windows 2000 is probably the best Windows server platform. It's lean and mean and it doesn't get in your way like the newer versions. It's still supported by all the major database vendors.
It doesn't support IPv6 or LDAP, but that is not important for a lot of applications.
Most of these commercial databases use web interfaces for their configuration. For obvious reasons these interfaces should be firewalled for local access only. This means you have to run the web browser on the local machine to configure the database.
Some of these web interfaces use powerful new web features like AJAX and SVG, so a web browser from 2000 will not work.
The capacitive technology is crap. It needs to be calibrated. It was intended to replace a mouse. It is WRONG.
In this application one can use contact-based touch screen technology. Very similar to what's in your keyboard. There is no drift. No calibration. Resolution is low, but who cares? You are not moving a cursor around on a screen, you are picking one of a small number of choices.
They should auction it off and send the proceeds to a worthy cause in Iraq. They sure don't need the money, and it would provide a tiny bit of closure to a most despicable moment in American history.
I did some field service work at the IBM factory in Lexington back in the 80's. They were still making the clicky style keyboards, but they were transitioning from double-shot molded keys to the new iron-on kind.
The engineers there were the old guys from the 60's who worked on the original Selectric design. Each engineer had a display in his office of the parts that he designed.
Its good to know that the gear to make those keyboards is still in use.
There are lots of automated tools that can be used to exercise these APIs for safety. Many of them did not exist when the previous generation of these standards was proposed.
DG/UX ULTRIX (oh wait, it's called Tru64 now and it's still shipping) RSTS/E TOPS-20 RSX-11 PrimOS Oh so many AT&T unix clones Caldera SunOS 4 NeXTStep (oh wait, it's called OSX now)
Linux is the same. Well, the kernel, anyway. If you drag out your old Pentium machine and install a nice new 2.6 kernel on it, you would be quite surprised at how much more quickly it runs now than it did back when you ran 1.2 on it.
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If you need to fiddle around with your computers after you turn them on, you have bigger problems than power management.
Even if there is an Apple tax, amortize it over the life of the computer and it's pennies a day.
The price of the computer is just about irrelevant when you consider the value of all the time you spend in front of it.
It's like arguing that a shovel is better than a rake.
Different operating systems and different computers have different feature sets are are intended for different applications.
I have Linux machines, Macs, Windows, and Solaris. Each has its place and each is useful. I don't really worry too much about which is "better".
"With advertising and PR you're also buying into the image that comes with it. "
Really? I don't have a television. I don't read magazines.
So if I go out and buy a new Mac to replace my wife's old Mac, does that mean that I've "bought into" the image and hype?
Gee, I thought I was just buying a computer. Silly me.
The dirtier the fly ash.
LDAP and IPv6 are hacks in Win 2000 and many applications do not support the hacks necessary to make them work.
I guess you don't work with the same products I do.
"our DBAs re-direct the X installer to a VNC session (Xvnc), then go in via VNC "
That would be a a rather nifty trick with Windows 2000.
You missed the part where I mentioned that there are OTHER databases in the world besides Oracle.
That's Oracle. There are lots of other products that don't work that way.
Windows 2000 is probably the best Windows server platform. It's lean and mean and it doesn't get in your way like the newer versions. It's still supported by all the major database vendors.
It doesn't support IPv6 or LDAP, but that is not important for a lot of applications.
Most of these commercial databases use web interfaces for their configuration. For obvious reasons these interfaces should be firewalled for local access only. This means you have to run the web browser on the local machine to configure the database.
Some of these web interfaces use powerful new web features like AJAX and SVG, so a web browser from 2000 will not work.
Firefox 3 runs just great on RHEL4. RHEL4 is looking pretty old these days.
So you have never installed Oracle or Cache or DB2?
How do you configure these databases without their web interfaces?
My guess is that you've never seen a server application with a web interface for its configuration.
That means you've never installed a commercial database.
I don't take much stock in your sys admin knowledge.
They neglected to tell you that it was only true for machines without network hardware.
The capacitive technology is crap. It needs to be calibrated. It was intended to replace a mouse. It is WRONG.
In this application one can use contact-based touch screen technology. Very similar to what's in your keyboard. There is no drift. No calibration. Resolution is low, but who cares? You are not moving a cursor around on a screen, you are picking one of a small number of choices.
They should auction it off and send the proceeds to a worthy cause in Iraq. They sure don't need the money, and it would provide a tiny bit of closure to a most despicable moment in American history.
Why should this be different from any other Microsoft product?
I did some field service work at the IBM factory in Lexington back in the 80's. They were still making the clicky style keyboards, but they were transitioning from double-shot molded keys to the new iron-on kind.
The engineers there were the old guys from the 60's who worked on the original Selectric design. Each engineer had a display in his office of the parts that he designed.
Its good to know that the gear to make those keyboards is still in use.
It seem like one could use swig or a similar tool and get this working very quickly.
After many years, the #1 most commonly used application will finally have direct access to the fancy rendering hardware we paid so much for.
There are lots of automated tools that can be used to exercise these APIs for safety. Many of them did not exist when the previous generation of these standards was proposed.
DG/UX
ULTRIX (oh wait, it's called Tru64 now and it's still shipping)
RSTS/E
TOPS-20
RSX-11
PrimOS
Oh so many AT&T unix clones
Caldera
SunOS 4
NeXTStep (oh wait, it's called OSX now)
Microsoft has been doing exactly the opposite for years.
Linux is the same. Well, the kernel, anyway. If you drag out your old Pentium machine and install a nice new 2.6 kernel on it, you would be quite surprised at how much more quickly it runs now than it did back when you ran 1.2 on it.