You can sync from Windows with Palm Desktop and the help of the SUSE OpenExchange palm conduits to their OpenExchange server. Works great. There also is a Linux client available, haven't tried it yet.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge SGI fan from way back. Indigo Magic was a great environment in it's time and if you forget everything you know about any other environment it holds up well on its own. However, there are many usability issues that have been addressed in other UI's that haven't been (and my guess probably never will) in Indigo Magic.
Seems to me we should borrow the good things from it and incorporate it into KDE and Gnome. The sparkle thing on app start up is cool, do that. The simplicity of the Toolchest is great, do that. The zoom thumbwheel is cool, do that. Icons, ok.
I'm just saying we've come a long way, baby, and to want to use Indigo Magic as it is would be a good-sized step back.
I am a consultant that started my own thing just about a year ago. I do a lot of day-to-day Windows stuff, but internally run SUSE on just about everything and my wife has a Powerbook.
We use Quickbooks 2003 for accounting. Works well, fairly easy to use for my non-accounting brain. What I did to accomplish this was to run a Windows 2000 Server basically as a terminal server to allow either one of us to use Quickbooks on our boxes. I had the firewall forwarded so my accountant could get into it as well. They key is not to use the box for anything else, no web browsing, no e-mail, no nothing. Keep it patched, toss on a copy of Symantec antivirus, install the free version of SFU and you can back it up over the network on yer linux box. Seems to be the best way to "Windows-enable" your linux network.
I also run Mozilla mail against SUSE OpenExchange Server with great success and happiness. OpenExchange has an excellent web interface to mail as well as document management (with revision control), knowledgebase, contacts with contact history type functionality, job and project tracking (admittedly difficult to use), and internal instant messaging. Can sync yer Palm to it as well, or toss on Outlook with IMAP if you really have to. It's quite an excellent product and the pricing is quite reasonable considering what it can do. Doesn't need huge system resources either. I run it on dual a PIII-866 with 256MB right now--512MB would be quite sufficient. (swaps a bit with 256)
OpenOffice.Org runs on the SUSE desktops and the PowerBook has genuine MS Office X. She gets into some complex Excel formulas and macros so decided to go MS on that one. I have NO problem recommending OpenOffice.Org to anyone doing office tasks. If you gotta have support, go StarOffice from Sun--just as good, only a few bucks.
I haven't really gotten into any of the PHPProjekt-type wares. Seem to be a lot of functionality, but not much of it done up really well, and much less of it useful in and office setting. That groupware "killer app" is still lurking out there somewhere, if it's not the SUSE product.
Linux on the desktop is definately do-able. I do it here. My wife's old PC with XP crashed a few months ago--bought her the PowerBook and never thought about the Windows box again. All of your major tasks can be done on linux. I have an IBM X31 laptop and SUSE Pro 9.0 support all my hardware, including wireless network card and even some funky IBM stuff. I'm sure RedHat would be fine as well, especially on desktop systems--your preference.
The community will get better with accounting-type programs. I think it will probably still be a few years until something surfaces. The Win 2000 as terminal server should suffice until then, and it's not too expensive.
Good luck in your efforts, let us all know how you end up!
A big cable TV friend of mine recently changed to satellite. The picture quality of non-HD channels was awful. I got better of my roof antenna.
Look for rebates and other deals on DirecTV equipment. My friends hardship with switching was the cost (he has like a jillion TV's) of buying all the equipment. It ended up costing him like $200 to change, and he got HD and DVR's and the whole works.
Also consider the multisatellite system, as that's where yout HD channels come from and some other spanish and chinese-language programming, and the NASA channel. I guess they didn't have the bandwidth on their main satellite, so they off loaded it to another which the regular 18" dish equipment doesn't work it.
Also, call DirecTV and say you are considering switching from cable and they will probably give you a few extra months free, which isn't all bad...
What's SUSE to do now? All of SUSE's server products are based on United Linux 1.0. Do they need to do some quick back-peddling to get a product base again?
This cert from Novell has been on their site for a while now. But it seems that there's more substance to the LPI cert. But the industry has heard of Novell and not of LPI, so if you're into getting certs, both of them are probably appropriate.
What I think is better is the combination of the LPI and UL training for the SUSE certification. Seems as it's the meatiest path of them all....
Wow, didn't work out that way for me. I just get the "Keep it all in your office so I don't have to look at it." It spills out into the hallway every so often and then I hear it again. Kind of a early warning system for when I have too much still piling up.:)
Configure your firewall properly to block all requests to and from port 25. Doesn't matter how secure Exchange is if you have your firewall properly configured.
Yes, that is a huge stumbling block to implementing anything other then Windows at any given company. Everything has hooks into Word/Excel/Outlook-MAPI/ etc. There's just nothing you can do about it right now. There aren't any comparable apps on the other side of the fence yet. Yet. I, too, hope for change in that area.
A client of mine recently asked what anti-spyware program they should run alongside their anti-virus. They have lots of "less-experienced" users so thend end up with all kinds of stuff being installed on machines.
I use SpyBot Search and Destry and it does a good job. But they need something real-time, like a antivirus scanner. I mainly use Symantec Corporate Edition antivirus, but Symantec doesn't seem to have a anti-spyware program yet (maybe it's somewhere in one of their bundles, but that doesn't help me out network-wide)... Need something that automagically updates itself from the server, too, just like Symantec Corporate Edition.....
Go some place that has done it already and talk with their engineers about it. Your ISP is a great starting place as you already have a relationship with them and they are usually happy to show off their setup to their customers.
Dell has enterprise consulting that can also help you setup your datacenter. Ain't free, though.
Not sure why the latest round of Tungsten handhelds ALL don't have it. It seems like it should be standard on all but the cheapest models. 802.11b is a waste of time on a handheld, IMHO. That functionality is better served over bluetooth.
I got the IBM X31 with bluetooth, Ericsson R520m with bluetooth, and the Sony Clie TG-50 with bluetooth and they all talk together extremely well. Dialing your phone directly from your Palm address book has now become essential and wireless hotsync a life saver (although you still have to put it in the cradle for charging, so you sync via USB at that time as well)....
I don't think it cam be beat right now. I hope all my devices hold out for at least another year....
Supercomputers, like PCs, become old in technology terms within about 3 to 5 years. But whereas you or I would go to a shop and buy one, Virginia tech has to start again from scratch. That's why they are building a new multi million dollar facility opening in 2006 for the next generation of Supercomputer.
So, they are just going to junk this setup in 3 years and start over? Doesn't make sense to me. The PowerMac is always had the better processor upgrades then PC's. I'm sure PowerLogix or Sonnet would love to make 1000+ CPU upgrade cards for them. Sure, the bus speed would be slightly behind a new system at that time, but the cost of buying an upgrade versus a whole new machine is worth looking at. Maybe after the first round of upgrades they should consider scrapping it.
Seriously, that sounds a but extreme. We're all adults should be able to manage our schedules--if you're 15 minutes late, make it up over lunch or in the evening. Any sane boss shouldn't be upset if they found out you made up the time later that day. And if it becomes a consistent problem for you that management has to get involved, then I think you have to look inward first.
Just like with a TiVo or ReplayTV box, you have to change the way you vacuum or watch TV. One or two rooms per day, charge it overnight. Within a few days everything is done. Wait your desired dirtiness interval, and repeat.
It's a huge time saver even over a few days because you put it in a room, turn it on, hit the room size, go to work and forget about it. Or have it drive around while you are watching TV.
I just bought one when the original Roomba story ran a few weeks ago. Maybe I'm still within the 30 days return period!
It is an amazing machine. It does quite well for not actively remembering where it has gone or really knowing the layout of the room. Worth the $200 for the original and DEFINATELY going to be worth the extra $50 for the Elite.
And who doesn't want to have something that's called "Elite"?
...are a compromise from the start. These highly integrated and mini-sized parts are not off the shelf components. You just can't get the level of customization that you can on a desktop. Someday you might, but not today.
I'd say make the best educated decision you can about the system you choose--you can't ask for more then that.
Just bought an IBM Thinkpad X31--no idea what the mobo or options card brands are, but it sure works just fine. And the media slice is cool--can go laptop with it on or ultra-portable without it.
I have one of the M-Systems 16MB USB keychain jobs (admittedly a few years old now) and 90% of the time comes up empty when I move it from computer to computer. Same host OS, different host OS, doesn't matter. I let the machine (2000/xp) install it's own drivers while 95/98 machines I download the drivers from M-Sys. Do I need to flash my flash device for some updated firmware or any idea why this thing bites? I should get a newer one and try it back to back....
Squirting the fuel in and igniting it with high compression sounds a lot like a good old diesel. Can't get enough of diesel on the ground--put it in the sky too!
Seriously, diesels use so much more of the energy from fuel then gas cars--a similar improvement would be great in airplanes as well!
The MicroCenter in Minneapolis is great. Most sales people have average knowledge and there is usually someone they can find that knows much more about any particular topic. Prices aren't always that great, I agree, but their selection is better then Best Buy/Circuit City and check-out is usually faster....
The company I previously worked at used Peachtree for their accounting package. It had a really bad time networking. Either use Quickbooks or get up to a MAS 90-level program.
Slashdot Mirror
Hey,
You can sync from Windows with Palm Desktop and the help of the SUSE OpenExchange palm conduits to their OpenExchange server. Works great. There also is a Linux client available, haven't tried it yet.
OpenExchange is getting there, people!
-m
Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge SGI fan from way back. Indigo Magic was a great environment in it's time and if you forget everything you know about any other environment it holds up well on its own. However, there are many usability issues that have been addressed in other UI's that haven't been (and my guess probably never will) in Indigo Magic.
Seems to me we should borrow the good things from it and incorporate it into KDE and Gnome. The sparkle thing on app start up is cool, do that. The simplicity of the Toolchest is great, do that. The zoom thumbwheel is cool, do that. Icons, ok.
I'm just saying we've come a long way, baby, and to want to use Indigo Magic as it is would be a good-sized step back.
-m
I am a consultant that started my own thing just about a year ago. I do a lot of day-to-day Windows stuff, but internally run SUSE on just about everything and my wife has a Powerbook.
We use Quickbooks 2003 for accounting. Works well, fairly easy to use for my non-accounting brain. What I did to accomplish this was to run a Windows 2000 Server basically as a terminal server to allow either one of us to use Quickbooks on our boxes. I had the firewall forwarded so my accountant could get into it as well. They key is not to use the box for anything else, no web browsing, no e-mail, no nothing. Keep it patched, toss on a copy of Symantec antivirus, install the free version of SFU and you can back it up over the network on yer linux box. Seems to be the best way to "Windows-enable" your linux network.
I also run Mozilla mail against SUSE OpenExchange Server with great success and happiness. OpenExchange has an excellent web interface to mail as well as document management (with revision control), knowledgebase, contacts with contact history type functionality, job and project tracking (admittedly difficult to use), and internal instant messaging. Can sync yer Palm to it as well, or toss on Outlook with IMAP if you really have to. It's quite an excellent product and the pricing is quite reasonable considering what it can do. Doesn't need huge system resources either. I run it on dual a PIII-866 with 256MB right now--512MB would be quite sufficient. (swaps a bit with 256)
OpenOffice.Org runs on the SUSE desktops and the PowerBook has genuine MS Office X. She gets into some complex Excel formulas and macros so decided to go MS on that one. I have NO problem recommending OpenOffice.Org to anyone doing office tasks. If you gotta have support, go StarOffice from Sun--just as good, only a few bucks.
I haven't really gotten into any of the PHPProjekt-type wares. Seem to be a lot of functionality, but not much of it done up really well, and much less of it useful in and office setting. That groupware "killer app" is still lurking out there somewhere, if it's not the SUSE product.
Linux on the desktop is definately do-able. I do it here. My wife's old PC with XP crashed a few months ago--bought her the PowerBook and never thought about the Windows box again. All of your major tasks can be done on linux. I have an IBM X31 laptop and SUSE Pro 9.0 support all my hardware, including wireless network card and even some funky IBM stuff. I'm sure RedHat would be fine as well, especially on desktop systems--your preference.
The community will get better with accounting-type programs. I think it will probably still be a few years until something surfaces. The Win 2000 as terminal server should suffice until then, and it's not too expensive.
Good luck in your efforts, let us all know how you end up!
-m
A big cable TV friend of mine recently changed to satellite. The picture quality of non-HD channels was awful. I got better of my roof antenna.
Look for rebates and other deals on DirecTV equipment. My friends hardship with switching was the cost (he has like a jillion TV's) of buying all the equipment. It ended up costing him like $200 to change, and he got HD and DVR's and the whole works.
Also consider the multisatellite system, as that's where yout HD channels come from and some other spanish and chinese-language programming, and the NASA channel. I guess they didn't have the bandwidth on their main satellite, so they off loaded it to another which the regular 18" dish equipment doesn't work it.
Also, call DirecTV and say you are considering switching from cable and they will probably give you a few extra months free, which isn't all bad...
-m
Should have asked them to donate to the Mozilla group or buy you a lifetime license to SUSE Enterprise server!
Hard to say what to do, they can exert some pressure.
Congrats on getting more then their original offer!
-m
The thing looks like a tombstone! Sorry, don't like...
-m
What's SUSE to do now? All of SUSE's server products are based on United Linux 1.0. Do they need to do some quick back-peddling to get a product base again?
-m
This cert from Novell has been on their site for a while now. But it seems that there's more substance to the LPI cert. But the industry has heard of Novell and not of LPI, so if you're into getting certs, both of them are probably appropriate.
What I think is better is the combination of the LPI and UL training for the SUSE certification. Seems as it's the meatiest path of them all....
-m
Wow, didn't work out that way for me. I just get the "Keep it all in your office so I don't have to look at it." It spills out into the hallway every so often and then I hear it again. Kind of a early warning system for when I have too much still piling up. :)
-m
PS: Thanks, honey!
Somebody said to me the other day they wanted to switch off of their local ISP DSL to Earthlink DSL because it had pop-up blocking.
Enough said.
-m
Configure your firewall properly to block all requests to and from port 25. Doesn't matter how secure Exchange is if you have your firewall properly configured.
Duh, why didn't I think of that!
-m
Yes, that is a huge stumbling block to implementing anything other then Windows at any given company. Everything has hooks into Word/Excel/Outlook-MAPI/ etc. There's just nothing you can do about it right now. There aren't any comparable apps on the other side of the fence yet. Yet. I, too, hope for change in that area.
-m
Hey,
A client of mine recently asked what anti-spyware program they should run alongside their anti-virus. They have lots of "less-experienced" users so thend end up with all kinds of stuff being installed on machines.
I use SpyBot Search and Destry and it does a good job. But they need something real-time, like a antivirus scanner. I mainly use Symantec Corporate Edition antivirus, but Symantec doesn't seem to have a anti-spyware program yet (maybe it's somewhere in one of their bundles, but that doesn't help me out network-wide)... Need something that automagically updates itself from the server, too, just like Symantec Corporate Edition.....
Spyware is definately an annoyance!!!
Thanks for any info....
-m
How's the Cube for being quiet? Or the new G5? Hell-looooo!
-m
Go some place that has done it already and talk with their engineers about it. Your ISP is a great starting place as you already have a relationship with them and they are usually happy to show off their setup to their customers.
Dell has enterprise consulting that can also help you setup your datacenter. Ain't free, though.
Good luck.
-m
Not sure why the latest round of Tungsten handhelds ALL don't have it. It seems like it should be standard on all but the cheapest models. 802.11b is a waste of time on a handheld, IMHO. That functionality is better served over bluetooth.
I got the IBM X31 with bluetooth, Ericsson R520m with bluetooth, and the Sony Clie TG-50 with bluetooth and they all talk together extremely well. Dialing your phone directly from your Palm address book has now become essential and wireless hotsync a life saver (although you still have to put it in the cradle for charging, so you sync via USB at that time as well)....
I don't think it cam be beat right now. I hope all my devices hold out for at least another year....
-m
So, they are just going to junk this setup in 3 years and start over? Doesn't make sense to me. The PowerMac is always had the better processor upgrades then PC's. I'm sure PowerLogix or Sonnet would love to make 1000+ CPU upgrade cards for them. Sure, the bus speed would be slightly behind a new system at that time, but the cost of buying an upgrade versus a whole new machine is worth looking at. Maybe after the first round of upgrades they should consider scrapping it.
-m
I'm a consultant, thus always right on time.... :)
Seriously, that sounds a but extreme. We're all adults should be able to manage our schedules--if you're 15 minutes late, make it up over lunch or in the evening. Any sane boss shouldn't be upset if they found out you made up the time later that day. And if it becomes a consistent problem for you that management has to get involved, then I think you have to look inward first.
-m
Just like with a TiVo or ReplayTV box, you have to change the way you vacuum or watch TV. One or two rooms per day, charge it overnight. Within a few days everything is done. Wait your desired dirtiness interval, and repeat.
It's a huge time saver even over a few days because you put it in a room, turn it on, hit the room size, go to work and forget about it. Or have it drive around while you are watching TV.
-m
I just bought one when the original Roomba story ran a few weeks ago. Maybe I'm still within the 30 days return period!
It is an amazing machine. It does quite well for not actively remembering where it has gone or really knowing the layout of the room. Worth the $200 for the original and DEFINATELY going to be worth the extra $50 for the Elite.
And who doesn't want to have something that's called "Elite"?
Run out and get one, only after I've got mine....
-m
...are a compromise from the start. These highly integrated and mini-sized parts are not off the shelf components. You just can't get the level of customization that you can on a desktop. Someday you might, but not today.
I'd say make the best educated decision you can about the system you choose--you can't ask for more then that.
Just bought an IBM Thinkpad X31--no idea what the mobo or options card brands are, but it sure works just fine. And the media slice is cool--can go laptop with it on or ultra-portable without it.
-m
I have one of the M-Systems 16MB USB keychain jobs (admittedly a few years old now) and 90% of the time comes up empty when I move it from computer to computer. Same host OS, different host OS, doesn't matter. I let the machine (2000/xp) install it's own drivers while 95/98 machines I download the drivers from M-Sys. Do I need to flash my flash device for some updated firmware or any idea why this thing bites? I should get a newer one and try it back to back....
Thanks for any info....
-m
Squirting the fuel in and igniting it with high compression sounds a lot like a good old diesel. Can't get enough of diesel on the ground--put it in the sky too!
Seriously, diesels use so much more of the energy from fuel then gas cars--a similar improvement would be great in airplanes as well!
-m
The MicroCenter in Minneapolis is great. Most sales people have average knowledge and there is usually someone they can find that knows much more about any particular topic. Prices aren't always that great, I agree, but their selection is better then Best Buy/Circuit City and check-out is usually faster....
-m
The company I previously worked at used Peachtree for their accounting package. It had a really bad time networking. Either use Quickbooks or get up to a MAS 90-level program.
-m