It's like saying "This engine tops out at 2000rpm, but this engine here can do 4000rpm"
Is the second a more powerful engine? Hardly.. the first is out of a huge diesel caterpillar; the second is out of 20 year old Honda Civic.
Re:Gentoo is a giant step, too long for mere morta
on
Is RPM Doomed?
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· Score: 2
Debian.
Look A basic install, though perhaps not quite as bare as gentoo, is really bare. Really light.
You end up, with a minimal configuration, with teh bare minimum you need to boot, get a console, and install more packages over the network.
Then it's a matter of adding packages as you see fit... which is entirely too easy.
to get here, just skip the package selection and/or task selection (where you choose either individual packages, or in beginner mode, what kind of machine it's going to be, development, server, etc.)
I do every debian machine for every reason this way. I love it especially becaues it leaves me with a light, clean system every time.
One of the reasons behind Gentoo is probably one of the reasons why people used to love Slackware (heh, I guess some still do). Because you had to do things the old fashioned way. Get source, comipile, install where you saw fit. You had to actually learn how things work.
I can say that, in having ot mess with early, early version of linux I learned more about how unix works than any other unix I've used. Having to actually figure out, either by reading, or trial and error, what file goes a LONG way towards being able to work multi-platform.
Re:Solaris packaging
on
Is RPM Doomed?
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Okay. What features of the solaris package management and/or solaris packages themselves do you want to see? Because if it's just about nice, neat clean packages that install trouble free.... well, let's just say it's entirely easy to produce a solaris package that sucks.
The point is.. RPM is not the culprit; multiple vendors using the same package but systems that are rather different sucks.
debian packages work well because the debian world is rather focused. Because we ensure that all dependencies can also be met from debian packages in the same distirubtion, etcetera.
If you use redhat and only redhat official packages, it works great too (well, insomuch as redhat can work great)
That's what computers used to do. How do you think your Commodore 64 or your Apple 2 booted? You got it.. straight out of ROM.
And they didn't have a BIOS.
BIOS is like a simple API.. a standard set of interrupts & calls that somewhat abstract the hardware beneath. It's pretty trivial. It's also not required if the OS can support the hardware directly.
It's not pointless at all. THe ability to turn on a machine, blind, and have it quit functional (debug memory, rudamentary programming, scannign for new devices, etc) is highly useful.
Look at Sun.. they've been doing it, well, forever.
As a sysadmin, your duty is to report what is going on to those who run the business; from there it is their call. It is not YOUR job to assess the legal and financial risks of the company. It is theirs.
If the company won't report it, and you have an ethical issue with this, then that's your call, same as with ANY action your employer does. You can report it behind their back, sure. I, for one, would fire you. I sure as HELL would not trust someone with my business data who goes behind my back.
As for talk of sysadmins doing cover-your-ass stuff... if you have to, you have to, that's reality. We gotta put food on the table, right?
Really, though, you should not be secretive about security. If you have issues about what the company does/does not have for security, document it. Keep up with patches. Make sure there is a paper trail showing that you did what is reasonable to protect things.
Sorry.. but that's between you and the bank, not you and the store.
As for having your card cut off for 'suspicious activity'.
Firstly.. if that's how you tend to spend, THEY KNOW THAT. It won't look odd.
Secondly.. the first thing you do if they suspend it is CALL THEM. A 2 minute conversation is all it will take to assure them that YOU made the transactions, because you are out shopping. They'll probably give you a credit increase at teh same time if you ask.
If you can't get them on the phone in under 5 minutes, get a new credit card with a new company.
Re:Credit Card system most braindead thing ever
on
Ethical Obligations
·
· Score: 2
Oh. This is why you should ALWAYS ask for a discount if you are paying cash. Most stores will give it to you.
Merchant agreements forbid them from posting a lower price if you pay with cash (otherwise credit cards wouldn't be that attractive, would they? If you saw that it cost you 5% more to use them in every store)
But the merchants know, and if they know that you know, it all works out if you just ask for a discount.
You are right about fraud. Everyone should remember that it is the credit companies that bear the brunt of fraud... not consumers.
In order for a merchant to be guaranteed his money, he has to be able to PROVE that the authorized person used the card.
A signature is a good way to start. A shipping address that is the home address of cardholder is another. (why many internet sites will only ship to the address on the card)
The system hasn't collapsed because a) You can get in deep shit for credit card fraud b) Customers can easily dispute charges they did not make, the onus is on the merchant to prove they were legit. c) Visa (or whoever) is thus protected on both ends.
You see, they can't inconvenience their product (you, me, the next guy) because their customers (merchants) only see value in accepting credit cards, and paying the associated fees, if lots of people hold them. If credit cards/charge cards became a pain in the ass to use, the value would be gone.
Why are they legally requird to inform them? What law?
What has been stolen? Not the customer's credit cards; those are in their wallets still.
Unless their merchant agreement requires them to inform customers (Which it very well may).... there may not BE a law requiring them to disclose the breach.
Whether or not the merchant is required to disclose credit card theft from their files should be covered by their agreement with the card issuer.
Why?
Because THAT is who the cards and numbers belong to. It's right there on the back of my cards. "THIS CARD IS THE PROPERTY OF AND ISSUED BY *** AND MUST BE RETURNED ON REQUEST"
and.. "ESTA TARJETA ES PERSONAL, INTRANSFERIBLE Y PROPIEDAD DEL BANCO"
Let's all *please* remember what a credit card really is. It's a token, issued to the customer of a credit card issuer, used to identify yourself to merchants who are also using that credit system.
it is not yours. it is merely a token.
Many card contracts only hold you liable for charges if your card is physically stolen and you don't report it; you are not liable *at all* for fees charged to your card unless a) You charged them yourself b) Through your own actions permitted someone to charge them c) Failing to report a stolen card.
In other words, if my card is in my pocket, and whatever merchant some gomer used my number at can't prove that it was ME who authorized the use... he gets no money, visa doesn't charge me.
If you card DOESN'T work this way, please shop around, you are getting screwed.
The Java VM seems to be gone on one of my win2k boxes, and any time I go to instlall it, either from MS or from Java, it says "This is a protected Windows component. you cannot install it" or some such crap.
It is not right or wrong. It is simply up to you to decide what it is that is best for you in your situation. They made the offer because they want to keep you.
It is then up to you to decide which you want. If you feel you can stay in your current position and continue to do your job well, no bad blood, etcetera, then do so.
If you feel a change of jobs would do you good, change.
Just keep in mind when it comes to hiring... a company that can woo you with money can quickly dump you as well.
This is not THE new standard, it is A new standard.
It is THE standard for 10Gbps ethernet. Nothing more.
Gigabit is hardly obsolete when a) very few corporate networks are using Gigabit outside the server room, and...
Your average workstation can probably not even push 10Gbps, or anywhere near it in the first place. (Of course, that's not as big a deal, because it's ethernet, right? A single host can't max it out anyway.. the higher capacity means more hosts with lower latency.)
So.. you have flatrate, with a cap that requires a manual override.
You go over, your browser auto-redirects to a page explaining you have exceeded your base bandwidth allotment. Set the limit just above what the average user uses, or whever the gap between average and high usage is, so most people don't even hit the limit.
I think you are wrong, by the way.. unlike many things, the bandwidth market IS pay per use, all the way along, and flat rate pricing is not natural. You especially can't have flat rate pricing and total freedom of use.
You think electricity is only pay-per-use because it's a monopoly? What bout long distance companies? Lots of them... all pay-per-use. Those that have flat rate options are just cost averaging.
I mean, after all, bandwidth is really the limited resources they are selling. So rather than offering 'Unlimited' access that's not really unlimited, then trying to badmouth those who actually use it, it makese darn good sense to simply charge for the bandwidth you use.
It's not about "Bandwidth hogs" . it's simply about charging appropriate money for a resource used.
Yeah.. you better make lots of noise, becuase there is NO WAY that IT manager should be testing the disaster recover plan to make sure it works. That should be left for when a real disaster happens during a critical moment, when the business really can't afford the downtime, right?
Slashdot Mirror
It's NOT a measure of system performance.
It's a measure of clock speed.
It's like saying "This engine tops out at 2000rpm, but this engine here can do 4000rpm"
Is the second a more powerful engine? Hardly.. the first is out of a huge diesel caterpillar; the second is out of 20 year old Honda Civic.
Debian.
Look A basic install, though perhaps not quite as bare as gentoo, is really bare. Really light.
You end up, with a minimal configuration, with teh bare minimum you need to boot, get a console, and install more packages over the network.
Then it's a matter of adding packages as you see fit... which is entirely too easy.
to get here, just skip the package selection and/or task selection (where you choose either individual packages, or in beginner mode, what kind of machine it's going to be, development, server, etc.)
I do every debian machine for every reason this way. I love it especially becaues it leaves me with a light, clean system every time.
One of the reasons behind Gentoo is probably one of the reasons why people used to love Slackware (heh, I guess some still do). Because you had to do things the old fashioned way. Get source, comipile, install where you saw fit. You had to actually learn how things work.
I can say that, in having ot mess with early, early version of linux I learned more about how unix works than any other unix I've used. Having to actually figure out, either by reading, or trial and error, what file goes a LONG way towards being able to work multi-platform.
Okay.
What features of the solaris package management and/or solaris packages themselves do you want to see? Because if it's just about nice, neat clean packages that install trouble free.... well, let's just say it's entirely easy to produce a solaris package that sucks.
The point is.. RPM is not the culprit; multiple vendors using the same package but systems that are rather different sucks.
debian packages work well because the debian world is rather focused. Because we ensure that all dependencies can also be met from debian packages in the same distirubtion, etcetera.
If you use redhat and only redhat official packages, it works great too (well, insomuch as redhat can work great)
Really.
What if the publisher is distributing the work in China illegally?
Right.
I'm sorry.. but accusing corporate america of avoiding that particular law is a bit rediculous.
I'm sure you cover up a few crimes.. or are you known locally as "Blue Boy the Rat"
Because we all know that the military figured out how to read your license plate looking straight down on your car.
The thing about satellites is they really can't do much more than look almost straight down.
That's what computers used to do. How do you think your Commodore 64 or your Apple 2 booted? You got it.. straight out of ROM.
And they didn't have a BIOS.
BIOS is like a simple API.. a standard set of interrupts & calls that somewhat abstract the hardware beneath. It's pretty trivial. It's also not required if the OS can support the hardware directly.
It's not pointless at all. THe ability to turn on a machine, blind, and have it quit functional (debug memory, rudamentary programming, scannign for new devices, etc) is highly useful.
Look at Sun.. they've been doing it, well, forever.
The BIOS stuff we have now is basically useless.
As a sysadmin, your duty is to report what is going on to those who run the business; from there it is their call. It is not YOUR job to assess the legal and financial risks of the company. It is theirs.
If the company won't report it, and you have an ethical issue with this, then that's your call, same as with ANY action your employer does. You can report it behind their back, sure. I, for one, would fire you. I sure as HELL would not trust someone with my business data who goes behind my back.
As for talk of sysadmins doing cover-your-ass stuff... if you have to, you have to, that's reality. We gotta put food on the table, right?
Really, though, you should not be secretive about security. If you have issues about what the company does/does not have for security, document it. Keep up with patches. Make sure there is a paper trail showing that you did what is reasonable to protect things.
Sorry.. but that's between you and the bank, not you and the store.
As for having your card cut off for 'suspicious activity'.
Firstly.. if that's how you tend to spend, THEY KNOW THAT. It won't look odd.
Secondly.. the first thing you do if they suspend it is CALL THEM. A 2 minute conversation is all it will take to assure them that YOU made the transactions, because you are out shopping. They'll probably give you a credit increase at teh same time if you ask.
If you can't get them on the phone in under 5 minutes, get a new credit card with a new company.
Oh.
This is why you should ALWAYS ask for a discount if you are paying cash. Most stores will give it to you.
Merchant agreements forbid them from posting a lower price if you pay with cash (otherwise credit cards wouldn't be that attractive, would they? If you saw that it cost you 5% more to use them in every store)
But the merchants know, and if they know that you know, it all works out if you just ask for a discount.
You are right about fraud. Everyone should remember that it is the credit companies that bear the brunt of fraud... not consumers.
Because, it's not just about the number.
In order for a merchant to be guaranteed his money, he has to be able to PROVE that the authorized person used the card.
A signature is a good way to start.
A shipping address that is the home address of cardholder is another. (why many internet sites will only ship to the address on the card)
The system hasn't collapsed because
a) You can get in deep shit for credit card fraud
b) Customers can easily dispute charges they did not make, the onus is on the merchant to prove they were legit.
c) Visa (or whoever) is thus protected on both ends.
You see, they can't inconvenience their product (you, me, the next guy) because their customers (merchants) only see value in accepting credit cards, and paying the associated fees, if lots of people hold them. If credit cards/charge cards became a pain in the ass to use, the value would be gone.
Remember.. it's about making it easier than cash.
Why are they legally requird to inform them? What law?
What has been stolen? Not the customer's credit cards; those are in their wallets still.
Unless their merchant agreement requires them to inform customers (Which it very well may).... there may not BE a law requiring them to disclose the breach.
Whether or not the merchant is required to disclose credit card theft from their files should be covered by their agreement with the card issuer.
Why?
Because THAT is who the cards and numbers belong to. It's right there on the back of my cards.
"THIS CARD IS THE PROPERTY OF AND ISSUED BY *** AND MUST BE RETURNED ON REQUEST"
and..
"ESTA TARJETA ES PERSONAL, INTRANSFERIBLE Y PROPIEDAD DEL BANCO"
Let's all *please* remember what a credit card really is. It's a token, issued to the customer of a credit card issuer, used to identify yourself to merchants who are also using that credit system.
it is not yours. it is merely a token.
Many card contracts only hold you liable for charges if your card is physically stolen and you don't report it; you are not liable *at all* for fees charged to your card unless
a) You charged them yourself
b) Through your own actions permitted someone to charge them
c) Failing to report a stolen card.
In other words, if my card is in my pocket, and whatever merchant some gomer used my number at can't prove that it was ME who authorized the use... he gets no money, visa doesn't charge me.
If you card DOESN'T work this way, please shop around, you are getting screwed.
Why does everyone insist glass flows? IT DOESN'T.
Do you not listen? Old windows are not uniform because THEY NEVER WERE. They do not get worse over time.
Glass DOES NOT FLOW at room temperatures; there is not enough energy present to allow it to flow.
What does oil and water mixing have to do with glass flowing?
GLASS DOES NOT FLOW. IT IS AN URBAN MYTH. IT IS WRONG.
CUmulative thermal shock? You are inventing things out of thin air.
Once again.
GLASS IS NOT A LIQUID.
The Java VM seems to be gone on one of my win2k boxes, and any time I go to instlall it, either from MS or from Java, it says "This is a protected Windows component. you cannot install it" or some such crap.
It is not right or wrong. It is simply up to you to decide what it is that is best for you in your situation. They made the offer because they want to keep you.
It is then up to you to decide which you want. If you feel you can stay in your current position and continue to do your job well, no bad blood, etcetera, then do so.
If you feel a change of jobs would do you good, change.
Just keep in mind when it comes to hiring... a company that can woo you with money can quickly dump you as well.
I know you say this jokingly.. or do you?
This is not THE new standard, it is A new standard.
It is THE standard for 10Gbps ethernet. Nothing more.
Gigabit is hardly obsolete when a) very few corporate networks are using Gigabit outside the server room, and...
Your average workstation can probably not even push 10Gbps, or anywhere near it in the first place. (Of course, that's not as big a deal, because it's ethernet, right? A single host can't max it out anyway.. the higher capacity means more hosts with lower latency.)
So.. you have flatrate, with a cap that requires a manual override.
You go over, your browser auto-redirects to a page explaining you have exceeded your base bandwidth allotment. Set the limit just above what the average user uses, or whever the gap between average and high usage is, so most people don't even hit the limit.
I think you are wrong, by the way.. unlike many things, the bandwidth market IS pay per use, all the way along, and flat rate pricing is not natural. You especially can't have flat rate pricing and total freedom of use.
You think electricity is only pay-per-use because it's a monopoly? What bout long distance companies? Lots of them... all pay-per-use. Those that have flat rate options are just cost averaging.
I mean, after all, bandwidth is really the limited resources they are selling. So rather than offering 'Unlimited' access that's not really unlimited, then trying to badmouth those who actually use it, it makese darn good sense to simply charge for the bandwidth you use.
It's not about "Bandwidth hogs" . it's simply about charging appropriate money for a resource used.
I back up a dozen servers and workstations regularly.... it's really not a problem. That's what stuff like Veritas Netbackup was *designed* to do.
Yeah.. you better make lots of noise, becuase there is NO WAY that IT manager should be testing the disaster recover plan to make sure it works. That should be left for when a real disaster happens during a critical moment, when the business really can't afford the downtime, right?
The whole point is: the ideal network is an unlimited broadcast network. Every host can see every packet, and we have unlimited bandwidth.
Another way to put it: bandwidth cures switching.
That said, that's not possible; we don't have it. We have to have a way to optimize the links we use.
The argument can be made that glass is fluid if you re-define what constitutes 'glass'. For instance, molten glass is obviously a fluid.
But glass, as in a window pane, or fiberoptic cable, is decidedly NOT fluid.
Glass is technically NOT a liquid, this is a myth.
Like old windows that are heavier on the bottom than the top.. and people say it's because it flows over time.
It's not. It's because the glass process at the time did not produce nice, even panes of glass, and it made SENSE to put the heavy side down, M'kay?