"NT 4.0 MCSE certs are hardly worth the paper they're written on, IMO. 2000 track MCSEs are better."
It's not the cert, it's the person. You can go out and get 10 different industry certs, but does that mean you actually know 10 different technologies? No. It means you studied enough to pass the cert exam. This of course, must be backed up with hands on experience. We all know that there is no substitute for that.
Where I currently work, we have cert requirements. They're there because that is a minimum level that a candidate should have achieved in order to function in the position. That doesn't mean we don't weed out candidates who have certs, but little real world experience through the interview process.
Of course resume fakery could be anentirely new thread.;)
You obviously don't have any sort of relationship with Sun.
I work for a global pharma company as a Solaris admin and we have a dedicated Sun account team. From my discussions with our reps, I can tell you that Sun takes Linux quite seriously.
We were actually considering buying an HPC cluster of Linux X86 blade servers from Sun that their own Professional Services group would support.
If that doesn't say they take Linux seriously, I don't know what would.
I think the perception that Sun has it out for Linux comes primarily from McNeely's big mouth, which has gotten Sun in trouble for years. If they could silence McNeely, they'd be a lot better off all around.
If 9 Lbs is really going to hurt you that much, perhaps you should consider a trip to the gym once in a while.
Essentially that laptop is as fast as most recent desktops on the market, but 5 X more portable.
The pricetag isn't all that bad either considering that the XPS desktop model would probably be roughly the same cost if you get the monitor and speakers which are of course, built into this laptop.
When you have an "I Hate My Job" day, try this. On your way home from work, stop at your pharmacy and go to the thermometer section and purchase a rectal thermometer made by Johnson and Johnson.
Be very sure you get this brand. When you get home, lock your doors, draw the curtains and disconnect the phone so you will not be disturbed.
Change into very comfortable clothing and lie down on your bed.
Open the package and remove the thermometer. Now, carefully place it on the bedside table so that it will not become chipped or broken.
Take out the literature and read it carefully. You will notice that in small print there is a statement, "Every rectal thermometer made by
Johnson and Johnson is personally tested". Now, close your eyes and repeat out loud five times: "I am so glad I do not work for quality control at Johnson and Johnson."
BTW...I do work for Johnson & Johnson, but thankfully, not in QA.:)
While I agree with you on nearly all of your points...
playing chicken with SCO
Playing chicken with SCO? Isn't that somewhat similar to The Queen Mary playing chicken with a Jet Ski? Just saying that I don't see all that much risk for IBM here. Not that I don't think it's amusing to see a scumbag company like SCO going down in flames.
Well, I suppose we could have taken the pallets of Dell desktops that were phased out in favor of newer equipment and used those. Since we're research and have our own facilities resources, we could've kept that quiet for a while.
However, the machines we would've ended up using would have of course not been anywhere near the dual 2 GHz servers that we bought. The other downside if we had tried to do it ninja style is that we wouldn't have been able to buy vendor support.
I work for a huge company 100K+ people 190+ subsidiaries. Until recently, Linux on anything was a no no. I'm happy to report that tomorrow we're scheduled to receive our 32 node HPC Linux cluster from IBM (and we actually got it through official channels).
If for some reason I disappear over the weekend, then I guess that'll just go to prove that someone at corporate really doesn't want Linux in there.
While I wholeheartedly agree with your statement, it's also very much about the business undersatnding the capabilities of IT.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not at all saying that they need to understand every little detail, they do at least need to understand what the current IT staff can accomplish for them, and what types of things would require outsourcing.
Another thing that is essential is for everyone concered to have some realistic expectations. The business cannot constantly be led to believe that we can do it overnight, and with no additional funding, oh yeah, and actually get it right.
Just my observations from the enterprise where I work. We're working toward the authors ideas, but it's a long road from both sides of the table.
I see everyone on here referring to Redhat 6.x, 7.x and 8.x. According to Redhat, the "server" product that they are supporting is Redhat Advanced server.
Redhat Advanced Server is supposed to have a much slower release cycle so that Veritas, Oracle and the like don't have to try to keep up with a moving target.
I haven't researched it just yet since we haven't deployed Linux at my current employer (we're deploying a farm either this year or next), but I would assume that the support cycles for the Advanced Server product will be longer also.
Definitely worth looking into before touting Raleigh as the new Redmond.
Various people have made some excellent points on here. Points which I am aware of, but which I did not mention due to the fact that I don't have time to write a novel.
You're absolutely correct about scheduling downtime, documentation, etc, etc.
The applications I was referring to are things like Oracle, iPlanet, Notes, NetBackup, BMC Patrol, and a host of other enterprise class products. These items show me that Linux has gained very serious backing at the highest levels.
I believe some folks are being a bit overzealous about Linux and it's capabilities, or lack of capabilities for any given application. Linux is a tool. A hammer is a wonderful tool as well, so long as what you are hitting happens to be a nail. That's why I mentioned in my original post that the person should evaluate each before making a choice. That's the only sound way to determine which tool will do the particular job the best in your environment.
However, at times I do have to remind myself that I work in the research segment of a large pharma, so we can afford to be a little more bleeding edge in some cases.
We're considering deployment of a large farm of Linux machines for scientific calculations.
When it comes to tried and true stability including corporate support plans in a production data center environment such as the one many of you mentioned, we turn to Sun Solaris or HP/UX.
But again, I have to say, no one thing can be everything everyone needs it to be. Bill Gates tried that model and it didn't work.
One of the reasons I choose Linux over BSD is the rate at which Linux development takes place.
Linux is beginning to hit so big in corporate America that the software development effort to develop new applications and port existing applications to Linux is amazing.
This of course is just my opinion, but I would have to say that the development effort for Linux is outpacing that of the FreeBSD community.
I suppose the bottom line though is what works best for you? I would recommend that you take a look at both and decide for yourself which one works best for you.
That's definitely a good point. That's also why I mentioned that Xandros is based on Debian, which has been a pillar in the linux community for some time now.
I'd love to try it, but I'm not a Debian user. That's why I said "I hear". That seems to be the number one thing that Debian users talk about as being the advantage of using the distro.
Since I work for a large corporation (100K users), we've chosen a distribution with corporate focus and support plans.
I did try to install apt-get for rpm on one of my systems, but it failed, and I haven't followed up to see if it has been fixed. It's been a while now, I probably should give it a shot again.
I wonder how long it will take the (*#$(&*^% spammers to figure out how to pop up ads in your car.
I can see the cops talking at the accident scene now....
Well...by the look of it, he followed a link to find out how to make his penis 3 inches longer in just 3 weeks with one little pill....That's about the time that the garbage truck stopped in front of him...
The registration tool will probably tell them which version you installed. (If you register the game that is)
To me, it doesn't matter if I actually use it or not.
I've never played UT before, but I am impressed enough that they shipped a native linux client and server that I will buy the game. If for no other reason than to support future gaming on linux.
I'll also be emailing them and letting them know that their support of linux was a factor in my purchasing decision.
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It's not the cert, it's the person. You can go out and get 10 different industry certs, but does that mean you actually know 10 different technologies? No. It means you studied enough to pass the cert exam. This of course, must be backed up with hands on experience. We all know that there is no substitute for that.
Where I currently work, we have cert requirements. They're there because that is a minimum level that a candidate should have achieved in order to function in the position. That doesn't mean we don't weed out candidates who have certs, but little real world experience through the interview process. Of course resume fakery could be anentirely new thread. ;)
I work for a global pharma company as a Solaris admin and we have a dedicated Sun account team. From my discussions with our reps, I can tell you that Sun takes Linux quite seriously.
We were actually considering buying an HPC cluster of Linux X86 blade servers from Sun that their own Professional Services group would support.
If that doesn't say they take Linux seriously, I don't know what would.
I think the perception that Sun has it out for Linux comes primarily from McNeely's big mouth, which has gotten Sun in trouble for years. If they could silence McNeely, they'd be a lot better off all around.
Essentially that laptop is as fast as most recent desktops on the market, but 5 X more portable.
The pricetag isn't all that bad either considering that the XPS desktop model would probably be roughly the same cost if you get the monitor and speakers which are of course, built into this laptop.
It may be, but it was mailed to me internally. And I wasn't kidding, I do work for a wholly owned subsidiary of J&J.
Be very sure you get this brand. When you get home, lock your doors, draw the curtains and disconnect the phone so you will not be disturbed. Change into very comfortable clothing and lie down on your bed.
Open the package and remove the thermometer. Now, carefully place it on the bedside table so that it will not become chipped or broken.
Take out the literature and read it carefully. You will notice that in small print there is a statement, "Every rectal thermometer made by Johnson and Johnson is personally tested". Now, close your eyes and repeat out loud five times: "I am so glad I do not work for quality control at Johnson and Johnson."
BTW...I do work for Johnson & Johnson, but thankfully, not in QA. :)
This one is definitely going on my list!
What I would like to see, is support for ogg/vorbis instead.
I'm just sick and tired of all these proprietary and restrictive formats that lock you into things.
It's time we see a lot more use of open protocols that allow the owner/user the freedom to choose.
Solaris 8 is CDE by default, but you can download Gnome 2 for it.
Solaris 9 has both CDE and Gnome 2 on the install disks.
playing chicken with SCO
Playing chicken with SCO? Isn't that somewhat similar to The Queen Mary playing chicken with a Jet Ski? Just saying that I don't see all that much risk for IBM here. Not that I don't think it's amusing to see a scumbag company like SCO going down in flames.
However, the machines we would've ended up using would have of course not been anywhere near the dual 2 GHz servers that we bought. The other downside if we had tried to do it ninja style is that we wouldn't have been able to buy vendor support.
Created? Yes.
I work for a huge company 100K+ people 190+ subsidiaries. Until recently, Linux on anything was a no no. I'm happy to report that tomorrow we're scheduled to receive our 32 node HPC Linux cluster from IBM (and we actually got it through official channels).
If for some reason I disappear over the weekend, then I guess that'll just go to prove that someone at corporate really doesn't want Linux in there.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not at all saying that they need to understand every little detail, they do at least need to understand what the current IT staff can accomplish for them, and what types of things would require outsourcing.
Another thing that is essential is for everyone concered to have some realistic expectations. The business cannot constantly be led to believe that we can do it overnight, and with no additional funding, oh yeah, and actually get it right.
Just my observations from the enterprise where I work. We're working toward the authors ideas, but it's a long road from both sides of the table.
Then the people feel wronged and bitch when they go to pick up this new TV and get arrested instead.
Tards. They're getting whet they deserve.
And as someone else suggested, if there were a season, I'd gladly buy a tag and bag my limit.
Redhat Advanced Server is supposed to have a much slower release cycle so that Veritas, Oracle and the like don't have to try to keep up with a moving target.
I haven't researched it just yet since we haven't deployed Linux at my current employer (we're deploying a farm either this year or next), but I would assume that the support cycles for the Advanced Server product will be longer also.
Definitely worth looking into before touting Raleigh as the new Redmond.
You're absolutely correct about scheduling downtime, documentation, etc, etc.
The applications I was referring to are things like Oracle, iPlanet, Notes, NetBackup, BMC Patrol, and a host of other enterprise class products. These items show me that Linux has gained very serious backing at the highest levels.
I believe some folks are being a bit overzealous about Linux and it's capabilities, or lack of capabilities for any given application. Linux is a tool. A hammer is a wonderful tool as well, so long as what you are hitting happens to be a nail. That's why I mentioned in my original post that the person should evaluate each before making a choice. That's the only sound way to determine which tool will do the particular job the best in your environment.
However, at times I do have to remind myself that I work in the research segment of a large pharma, so we can afford to be a little more bleeding edge in some cases.
We're considering deployment of a large farm of Linux machines for scientific calculations.
When it comes to tried and true stability including corporate support plans in a production data center environment such as the one many of you mentioned, we turn to Sun Solaris or HP/UX.
But again, I have to say, no one thing can be everything everyone needs it to be. Bill Gates tried that model and it didn't work.
Linux is beginning to hit so big in corporate America that the software development effort to develop new applications and port existing applications to Linux is amazing.
This of course is just my opinion, but I would have to say that the development effort for Linux is outpacing that of the FreeBSD community.
I suppose the bottom line though is what works best for you? I would recommend that you take a look at both and decide for yourself which one works best for you.
My former manager called me up after I had been gone many months to ask if I would assist them with a particular issue they were having.
Of course I made sure to let them know what the hourly rate would be for the work up front.
I went in and did what I needed to do. In and out in two hours. Got paid, and everyone is still happy.
I'd go back again if they needed something else done too.
Call me a whore if you want, but I never turn down easy money.
I'll give it a try again.
Thanks for the info.
That's definitely worth consideration when making the choice.
That's definitely a good point. That's also why I mentioned that Xandros is based on Debian, which has been a pillar in the linux community for some time now.
Since I work for a large corporation (100K users), we've chosen a distribution with corporate focus and support plans.
I did try to install apt-get for rpm on one of my systems, but it failed, and I haven't followed up to see if it has been fixed. It's been a while now, I probably should give it a shot again.
And of course Xandros is based on Debian, which I hear has a package management system that is the cats ass.
I can see the cops talking at the accident scene now....
Well...by the look of it, he followed a link to find out how to make his penis 3 inches longer in just 3 weeks with one little pill....That's about the time that the garbage truck stopped in front of him...
To me, it doesn't matter if I actually use it or not.
I've never played UT before, but I am impressed enough that they shipped a native linux client and server that I will buy the game. If for no other reason than to support future gaming on linux.
I'll also be emailing them and letting them know that their support of linux was a factor in my purchasing decision.