The others report to the CEO (Ballmer). Sounds to me as though the next CEO will be Rudder or Ozzie, but I'm on the record suggesting Ballmer was never the right person for the CEO spot in the first place. Maybe the Vista delays were the final straw for the board, so the directors are setting up for the inevitable succession.
Or maybe they're setting up for Ballmer getting jail time for accidentally braining someone with a chair while ranting about how he's "going to fucking kill Google" or somesuch...
Why would anyone think that technology could provide a check to see if thier Grandma is still useful? Of all the insensitive, downright cold things to ask for...
FoxPRO. Yech. Filemaker is better, but limited to Mac/Windows, and only recently progressed past 'Yech'.
I'd love a dev enviroment for PostgreSQL that had the same GUI Layout and programming environment of FoxPRO or Filemaker that was really cross platform and didn't cost an arm and a leg for a small shop. Before you say 'Java', Java is great technology, but is difficult to speak to someone who doesn't need to use it day in and day out.
If someone would make something akin to this, as well as make a dev environment even close to the Microsoft Visual tools, we'd really start to get somewhere.
From TFA: (Disclaimer: I'm the software engineer responsible for the main telescope server.)
My guess is that carnun has a very pissed off webserver admin grabbing him by the collar about now.
WebAdmin: W H A T_T H E_F U C K_W E R E_Y O U_T H I K I N G !!!! carnun: Heh. Sorry 'bout that... WebAdmin: *produces diamond encrusted LART* AUUUUUGGGGHHHH!!!! carnun: *SPLUTCH*
That translates to "Shut The Fuck Up", you moronic troll, just to make sure you understand. No, your sarcasm was not lost on me.
Anyone who is willing to put thier life on the line so I can drink Gin, sit in my basement and flame Slahdot trolls can have whatever the fuck they need to get the job done.
Comfortable undewear that prevents what is at the least an uncomfortable skin condition and at worst is a medically dangerous condition - namely boils and necrosis - are cheap compared to having more trained, competent professional people ready to take military action. These people work in situations that would have me soiling those silver boxers.
I may not agree with why those people are over there, but I sure as fuck want then to come home alive, healthy and able to enjoy the quality of live they were defending, you short sighted skinflint.
I'm not happy about most taxation either, except when my money goes to a good cause such as this.
Bah, I could go on, but flaming a troll like you is too easy. Think before you post, Mr. Reagan.
My bet is that IBM is still dreaming of a day where the OS is irrelevent, since all your apps are Java based (perhaps even XUL based) and accessable through a standards compliant browser. IBM has a lot of expertise in this area, and stands to make a really nice chunk of change if customers migrate to this way of getting thier apps.
If Firefox gets above 10% marketshare and stays there, IBM should be able to do real damage to the competition by luring thier customers to more open solutions on the Firefox platform and marketing them as liberation from vendor lock in.
Friend, I'll give you credit for actually asking the question. It's a smart person who admits when they don't have the info they need, and tries to find out the answer instead of winging it. But, you're going about the solution all wrong. Proper IT support is not just about numbers - there's soooo much more.
First, you need to get a handle on what you're employer actually expects out of it's information systems. Some firms want a glorified typewriter, some want it to do most everything. Some can't stand spending a dime on a machine, others only want the latest and greatest. Guaging the culture of an organisation is paramount.
Then there's risk. This is, IMHO, the biggest factor in actual budgeting. How much risk to the companies bottom line will any expendatures entail? How much risk is involved with doing nothing? How much risk is involved in your compeditors advancing further in IT efficiencies? You need to show that what you intend to spend will protect current operations, or there won't be a budget for anything, let alone IT. As well, if you can show that there's significant risk in not spending a certain amount, most CxO types will approve what you're asking for.
Then you can get into the numbers, and justify your expendetures with ROI.
OK, the problem? My experience lately has been that professionalism is sorely lacking in a lot of IT departments. I've heard people lament "They're driving the company into the ground anyway - why should I care?", or justify an over priced solution on what other departments get, while bitching about how under appreciated the IT department is. Your department is under appreciated because it isn't communicating properly with the people you serve. It's that simple.
We techies tend to look down on business users (they are just lusers, after all), but they're the people who drive the ship. How they're driving it should not matter one whit to you effectively doing your job. Hell, maybe some information that your systems provide will turn into a cluebat and wake up a sleeping bridge. You need to think a bit like them in order to effecitvely communicate what you're trying to do and why. You need to use thier terms and jargon, even the (YECH) buzzwords. This seems to be anethemia to a significant portion of the Slashdot crowd.
A professional, when he accepts a job, will do what's right for his customer within his area of expertise, no matter his own personal opinion on the customer or the customers direction.
I'd guess that even being in a shaded area, you're still benfiting from all the ambient sunlight in the room - I doubt you're inside a black-body , and so get some sunlight reflecting off of the walls.
Then again, there are some geeks for whom Sol is called the Evil Daystar - perhaps you're one of those?
What's scary is that after a full night programming Perl/Tk, I usually end up doing this exact thing of my own volition, even though I've never heard about "the Sign" before the parent post.
Excuse me while I go chase NumEntry() out of my brain with an ice pick...
Autopackage is really, really nice, but IIRC it requires one to re-package everything in order to be effective.
What I'd like to see is a GUI based package manager that could just bloody well figure out that your repos are.deb based or.rpm based, and act accordingly. Each distro would delare in a config file "I put admin stuff in this directory, apps in this directory, and all other stuff in that directory" or somesuch to get around the "where files go" problem. Wallah, a common front end for all distros.
Having the Debian package archives and apt natively available on Fedora would be so, so nice.
I agree with all of your points, but would like to try and clarify one a bit:
The only other point I want to make is that the "free beer" definition buys you something right *now* - the ability to download the Sun JDK without them charging you for it. If you're getting it without paying, what's the big deal? The big deal is that tomorrow, they *could* start charging for it. And then you can only run as long as it takes for you to need some new feature, or support for new hardware or a new OS. Then you pay.
It's not the paying money part I'm too worried about - I'm willing to buy something that makes me or my company more efficient/flexable at a reasonable price. Money is a big aspect, however, since it's the loss of being able to choose the best tools and use them as I want, no mattter how much money I pay that's truly important. Getting caught in a situation where "reasonable price" is jacked up because the vendor figures out how much it'd cost me to move to someone/something else is a loss of freedom I've experienced too many times. (Fuck you, Quark.)
That's what's so important about this aspect or Software Libre - being able to choose your tools as you see fit.
Most Slashdot writers haven't been through the same big-as-a-Galaxy-class-Starship sized grist mill as Wil has. This man had more life experience - both good and bad - at 25 than I do now at 40.
One thing about the grist mill is it tends to strip away all the chaff - the stuff that isn't important, and leaves only what is.
He's someone who's earned my respect and admiration by being honest, humble and respectful of others.
Try one locked with a password. If it's like OOo, it more or less says "Sorry - one of your cow-orkers was a m0r0n and made this document unavailable."
I get really irritated with the dominance of MS Office at times.
GAHHH!! He said the word we, the Knights who say - ummmm... who formerly said NI cannot say! Yes, he said IT! ARRRGHHH!!! Now I'm saying IT! I have to stop saying IT!!! OWWWW! Cut IT out! AhhhhWWWCHH!
*finish in a fit of blathering worthy of C/Net @ wwdc*
But I worry about the seeds being sown, and the harvest we will reap.
Hunh?
Parent: Here's your lunch money. I can check, remember, what you're buying. Child: Yeah, so what. You'll only find that I'm doing what I've always told you I'm doing. Parent: I know. Remember this when you're older - privacy and real freedom are way too valuable to lose. Child: I sure will, dad. Parent: Cool. Here's an extra couple of bucks to get some ice cream after school. Now get going before you're late.
And obviously not a parent. There's nothing wrong with having this as an option, as long as the child is informed. If you can trust your 12 year old to make reasonable choices - like not spending thier lunch money on crap it wasn't intended for - there's no problem, and you won't need this service. If you aren't sure - you can check that the child is doing what they tell you. A parent's main means of knowing that thier child is growing up well is reliable information about the childs activities, which is getting harder to come by due to "children's rights".
A 12 year old has a right to all the privacy I as a parent feel safe giving them. Each child is different - some may need this in order for parents to get the information they need in order to help thier children grow up healthy and happy. What if the child is being bullied out of thier lunch money or something? This would be a good way to find out and remedy the situation.
Dignity and responsibility don't instantly come at 18 (My 12 year old is actually more responsible that my 22 year old), but when one can actually handle all that life can throw at you. Before then, we parents want to be able to prepare our kids so they can do that.
Slashdot Mirror
The others report to the CEO (Ballmer). Sounds to me as though the next CEO will be Rudder or Ozzie, but I'm on the record suggesting Ballmer was never the right person for the CEO spot in the first place. Maybe the Vista delays were the final straw for the board, so the directors are setting up for the inevitable succession.
Or maybe they're setting up for Ballmer getting jail time for accidentally braining someone with a chair while ranting about how he's "going to fucking kill Google" or somesuch...
Why would anyone think that technology could provide a check to see if thier Grandma is still useful? Of all the insensitive, downright cold things to ask for...
Soko
FoxPRO. Yech. Filemaker is better, but limited to Mac/Windows, and only recently progressed past 'Yech'.
I'd love a dev enviroment for PostgreSQL that had the same GUI Layout and programming environment of FoxPRO or Filemaker that was really cross platform and didn't cost an arm and a leg for a small shop. Before you say 'Java', Java is great technology, but is difficult to speak to someone who doesn't need to use it day in and day out.
If someone would make something akin to this, as well as make a dev environment even close to the Microsoft Visual tools, we'd really start to get somewhere.
Soko
and not even funny
You must be new here. Welcome to Slashdot!
Soko
Moving the existing data over will be a huge pain no matter what you migrate to though.
This is the entire reason I'm killing Exchange where I work. Moving to anything else from Exchange is way too painfull to even consider again.
Soko
From TFA: (Disclaimer: I'm the software engineer responsible for the main telescope server.)
My guess is that carnun has a very pissed off webserver admin grabbing him by the collar about now.
WebAdmin: W H A T_T H E_F U C K_W E R E_Y O U_T H I K I N G !!!!
carnun: Heh. Sorry 'bout that...
WebAdmin: *produces diamond encrusted LART* AUUUUUGGGGHHHH!!!!
carnun: *SPLUTCH*
Soko
STFU.
That translates to "Shut The Fuck Up", you moronic troll, just to make sure you understand. No, your sarcasm was not lost on me.
Anyone who is willing to put thier life on the line so I can drink Gin, sit in my basement and flame Slahdot trolls can have whatever the fuck they need to get the job done.
Comfortable undewear that prevents what is at the least an uncomfortable skin condition and at worst is a medically dangerous condition - namely boils and necrosis - are cheap compared to having more trained, competent professional people ready to take military action. These people work in situations that would have me soiling those silver boxers.
I may not agree with why those people are over there, but I sure as fuck want then to come home alive, healthy and able to enjoy the quality of live they were defending, you short sighted skinflint.
I'm not happy about most taxation either, except when my money goes to a good cause such as this.
Bah, I could go on, but flaming a troll like you is too easy. Think before you post, Mr. Reagan.
Soko
One can safely assume that your LUG is a non-profit, and is not likley to intentionally sully the Linux trademark.
You therefore have nothing to worry about.
Soko
My bet is that IBM is still dreaming of a day where the OS is irrelevent, since all your apps are Java based (perhaps even XUL based) and accessable through a standards compliant browser. IBM has a lot of expertise in this area, and stands to make a really nice chunk of change if customers migrate to this way of getting thier apps.
If Firefox gets above 10% marketshare and stays there, IBM should be able to do real damage to the competition by luring thier customers to more open solutions on the Firefox platform and marketing them as liberation from vendor lock in.
I'd buy into that, myself.
Soko
I think teh reference is from here:
Amy, I think you're going to earn a place as our Official ASR Sysadmin's Chum. In a secondary, particularly bloody-minded sense of the word.
Steve VanDevender
First thing that I though of.
Soko
Friend, I'll give you credit for actually asking the question. It's a smart person who admits when they don't have the info they need, and tries to find out the answer instead of winging it. But, you're going about the solution all wrong. Proper IT support is not just about numbers - there's soooo much more.
First, you need to get a handle on what you're employer actually expects out of it's information systems. Some firms want a glorified typewriter, some want it to do most everything. Some can't stand spending a dime on a machine, others only want the latest and greatest. Guaging the culture of an organisation is paramount.
Then there's risk. This is, IMHO, the biggest factor in actual budgeting. How much risk to the companies bottom line will any expendatures entail? How much risk is involved with doing nothing? How much risk is involved in your compeditors advancing further in IT efficiencies? You need to show that what you intend to spend will protect current operations, or there won't be a budget for anything, let alone IT. As well, if you can show that there's significant risk in not spending a certain amount, most CxO types will approve what you're asking for.
Then you can get into the numbers, and justify your expendetures with ROI.
OK, the problem? My experience lately has been that professionalism is sorely lacking in a lot of IT departments. I've heard people lament "They're driving the company into the ground anyway - why should I care?", or justify an over priced solution on what other departments get, while bitching about how under appreciated the IT department is. Your department is under appreciated because it isn't communicating properly with the people you serve. It's that simple.
We techies tend to look down on business users (they are just lusers, after all), but they're the people who drive the ship. How they're driving it should not matter one whit to you effectively doing your job. Hell, maybe some information that your systems provide will turn into a cluebat and wake up a sleeping bridge. You need to think a bit like them in order to effecitvely communicate what you're trying to do and why. You need to use thier terms and jargon, even the (YECH) buzzwords. This seems to be anethemia to a significant portion of the Slashdot crowd.
A professional, when he accepts a job, will do what's right for his customer within his area of expertise, no matter his own personal opinion on the customer or the customers direction.
Soko
I'd guess that even being in a shaded area, you're still benfiting from all the ambient sunlight in the room - I doubt you're inside a black-body , and so get some sunlight reflecting off of the walls.
Then again, there are some geeks for whom Sol is called the Evil Daystar - perhaps you're one of those?
Soko
Wow. You learn something new everyday.
What's scary is that after a full night programming Perl/Tk, I usually end up doing this exact thing of my own volition, even though I've never heard about "the Sign" before the parent post.
Excuse me while I go chase NumEntry() out of my brain with an ice pick...
Soko
They can call it the Red Mini Star. :P
I'd buy one of those for me mum if they'd call the smeggin' thing Red Dwarf.
Soko
Autopackage is really, really nice, but IIRC it requires one to re-package everything in order to be effective.
.deb based or .rpm based, and act accordingly. Each distro would delare in a config file "I put admin stuff in this directory, apps in this directory, and all other stuff in that directory" or somesuch to get around the "where files go" problem. Wallah, a common front end for all distros.
What I'd like to see is a GUI based package manager that could just bloody well figure out that your repos are
Having the Debian package archives and apt natively available on Fedora would be so, so nice.
Soko
I hate to resort to personal attacks, and Mom always said "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all."
There's a reason Jonathan Schwartz has a pony tail - He's a HORSES ASS.
I'm the troll, he's clueless.
Sorry Mom.
Soko
I agree with all of your points, but would like to try and clarify one a bit:
The only other point I want to make is that the "free beer" definition buys you something right *now* - the ability to download the Sun JDK without them charging you for it. If you're getting it without paying, what's the big deal? The big deal is that tomorrow, they *could* start charging for it. And then you can only run as long as it takes for you to need some new feature, or support for new hardware or a new OS. Then you pay.
It's not the paying money part I'm too worried about - I'm willing to buy something that makes me or my company more efficient/flexable at a reasonable price. Money is a big aspect, however, since it's the loss of being able to choose the best tools and use them as I want, no mattter how much money I pay that's truly important. Getting caught in a situation where "reasonable price" is jacked up because the vendor figures out how much it'd cost me to move to someone/something else is a loss of freedom I've experienced too many times. (Fuck you, Quark.)
That's what's so important about this aspect or Software Libre - being able to choose your tools as you see fit.
Soko
Most Slashdot writers haven't been through the same big-as-a-Galaxy-class-Starship sized grist mill as Wil has. This man had more life experience - both good and bad - at 25 than I do now at 40.
One thing about the grist mill is it tends to strip away all the chaff - the stuff that isn't important, and leaves only what is.
He's someone who's earned my respect and admiration by being honest, humble and respectful of others.
Soko
Try one locked with a password. If it's like OOo, it more or less says "Sorry - one of your cow-orkers was a m0r0n and made this document unavailable."
I get really irritated with the dominance of MS Office at times.
Soko
Ummmmm... you're Canadian?
Soko
So, what happens when they reference Slashdot in a story line? What will they be modded as, Hmmmmm?
(-1, Not Futurama)
Soko
You idiot, it's UNIX, not Eunuchs!
I will say what you did took some, er.... Nevermind.
Soko
NI!!!
GAHHH!! He said the word we, the Knights who say - ummmm... who formerly said NI cannot say! Yes, he said IT! ARRRGHHH!!! Now I'm saying IT! I have to stop saying IT!!! OWWWW! Cut IT out! AhhhhWWWCHH!
*finish in a fit of blathering worthy of C/Net @ wwdc*
Soko
But I worry about the seeds being sown, and the harvest we will reap.
Hunh?
Parent: Here's your lunch money. I can check, remember, what you're buying.
Child: Yeah, so what. You'll only find that I'm doing what I've always told you I'm doing.
Parent: I know. Remember this when you're older - privacy and real freedom are way too valuable to lose.
Child: I sure will, dad.
Parent: Cool. Here's an extra couple of bucks to get some ice cream after school. Now get going before you're late.
Turnabout is fair play.
Soko
Oh yeah, I'm 21. But I remember.
And obviously not a parent. There's nothing wrong with having this as an option, as long as the child is informed. If you can trust your 12 year old to make reasonable choices - like not spending thier lunch money on crap it wasn't intended for - there's no problem, and you won't need this service. If you aren't sure - you can check that the child is doing what they tell you. A parent's main means of knowing that thier child is growing up well is reliable information about the childs activities, which is getting harder to come by due to "children's rights".
A 12 year old has a right to all the privacy I as a parent feel safe giving them. Each child is different - some may need this in order for parents to get the information they need in order to help thier children grow up healthy and happy. What if the child is being bullied out of thier lunch money or something? This would be a good way to find out and remedy the situation.
Dignity and responsibility don't instantly come at 18 (My 12 year old is actually more responsible that my 22 year old), but when one can actually handle all that life can throw at you. Before then, we parents want to be able to prepare our kids so they can do that.
Soko