Comparing these devices to full sized laptops misses the point. Ding! Exactly Right.
These machines harken back to the days of the HP Omnibook 300, and are the evolution of the early IBM X series. They are not supposed to be full sized, fully capable laptops. They are for occasional, light use. They are email machines, capable of handling Firefox and "web 2.0". Download your email to it, read/reply while travelling, then resync. And given the rising ubiquity of wireless access, remote access to app servers makes these even more useable.
If you need a more capable machine then carry one.
From Rob-
what keeps me here is knowing exactly what would happen within a few months of my departure. I don't like that one bit. From Ckwop-
the day that happens is the day I tip my cap and leave this site for good. I agree with both. It would be a very bad day for the slashdot community. And it would also mean it's time for me to retire my ID and go find something else to read.
The departure of Rob would undoubtedly mean a decline in the overall story quality. Not immediately, I'm sure, as Jamie, CN, etc would soldier on. But for how long, and with how much influence? Rob's very much the "spiritual leader" of this community. He founded it, and the principles that guide it are his. But without him to stand up and say "No" with the authority of a leader those who would exploit this creation would eventually win. I know that day will come, and it will be a sad day for us all. I'm just hoping that it's long after the 20 year retrospective. Slashdot's been a huge part of my online life for longer than I care to remember. It's been informative and interesting and funny and infuriating. And it's kept me coming back.
Rob, thanks for the last decade. And I'm looking forward the next one.
All I ask is that your next mail to me doesn't have WTF? as the subject. You do realize that you'll soon be getting 5000 emails per day with said subject line?
Thanks for the article. Nice to know that PEBKAC is a factor for y'all too.
I hate marketing Slashdot. I dislike doing press for Slashdot. I've always felt that if we do a good job, people will read, and there's no reason to hype the site. This is anathema to corporate life, which is why we do things like the 10-year anniversary thing. The only reason we're doing it is that I really felt that after 10 whole years it was worth a bit of reflection. You may hate it, but many of us appreciate it. Inasmuch as we take gadgets apart to see how they work, we like knowing about the inner workings of a site we read daily. I'm sure you feel all of this has taken time away from more important stuff that matters, but we enjoy knowing about it.
Ten years is a huge span in internet time. Slashdot has outlasted companies, technologies, presidents, and search engines. I think it is as good a time as any to step back from the day-to-day fray and get a little perspective. Slashdot has made a difference, both in the web and in the world.
I know NetWare, and I know Linux, and you're absolutely right about permissions. If you are managing a file server for a large number of users who work in multiple groups the file system permissions in NetWare are far more comprehensive and flexible than those in Linux. The ability to give different groups of users different levels of permission to a directory structure is one I miss regularly.
I look forward to the day that Linux's permission structure catches up to the level of twelve-year-old NetWare 4.1.
On cars, the computers keep the engines from over revving or running on too rich a mixture, both of which can damage the hardware. If you mod the software in your engine's computers you void the warrantee.
Here is where the comparison falls down: this would be akin to stating that altering the car's engine control software voided the warranty on the driver's door hinge.
It may be time for the unlucky laptop owner to start writing letters to the manufacturer directly, and the local Better Business Bureau (or UK equivalent).
Step 2: Ask him to prioritize HIS responsibilities as he sees them, then break them down into measurable units of work. Then he can do the same for yours.
Step 3: Point out to the beancounter that you're a professional, not a widget maker, and that you manage systems. And as he well knows (from step 2) it is difficult to quantify and measure management in an empirical fashion.
I got asked a very similar question by the head of the department I was working for one time, and I told him that truthfully there isn't an effective way. I gave him two suggestions: 1) if the users are able to do their jobs with the technology being an asset to productivity and 2) there aren't any issues he's hearing about then I must be doing something right. He was satisfied with that.
It will slow it down, perhaps making it more cumbersome to use until an alternative is developed, but it won't kill MythTv. Far from it.
And, as a longtime MythTv user I'd cheerfully cough up $50/year for access to the data. Zap2it has been reliable and accurate for me, and I'd support them. But then I'm weird - I subscribe to comics and journals.
Small clients rarely have the resources to run more than a server or two - and I push for two so I can at least keep the primary firewall machine separate. The other is usually a multipurpose machine - the one I spent time with today runs email (with all the attendant spam filtering stuff), Samba, and apache (for internal use only). And it's an Athon XP 2000 with mirrored disks. No high end stuff here. But multiplying the services on the machines usually means the update frequency rises exponentially.
My home server supports email, samba, apache (private), MythTV-backend & ivtv, mysql, nfs, ntp, and a virtual machine with quasi-public apache & gallery. Admittedly it has a bit more horsepower: dual PIII 1Ghz. It gets updated weekly. Or more.
I usually run my Debian servers as a blend of stable and testing. Depending on the server, there are usually 5-30 packagages that are updated by their maintainers each week. Not all of the updates are security related, and not all of the non-security related updates get applied regularly. But I do monitor the outstanding changes and update as I deem necessary. Packages with security implications for my servers get updated immediately.
I used Gentoo for several years. I learned an awful lot about Linux from it. And I appreciate the work that goes into it. But my servers run Debian now, for one reason - quick, reliable updates. I support several small businesses, I don't have the resources to maintain test environnments to check the impact of upgrades. And not having multiple powerful systems at many sites means distcc is not an option. And the recompiles occasionally necessary for apache or samba or postfix or mysql put an unreasonable strain on servers that are typically not high powered and are supporting multiple users. So for quick, reliable system updating apt-get beats emerge every time.
I'm not knocking gentoo. It's a great system for testing stuff, and evaluating software. But in the 3 minutes it took me to type this post, I could update 5 servers that hadn't been updated in a week.
I use a similar method on some systems, though I inject a random number in the sequence. Like Door19Asphalt or Mess27Heave. Just avoid using the current month or year, and of course 42.
i would suggest minimum different zip codes different time zones would be best
Sounds funny but very true. Backups across town aren't terriby useful if across town is flat too. Sound farfetched? Ask a sysadmin in Miami how far off he ships his backups. If he was there when Andrew visited, I'll bet they're in New Mexico.
This may seem a tad offtopic, but it is relevant:
You have to think through both distance from and access to your backups as a part of disaster recovery planning. Backup isn't just recovering the CEO's email, though that is a (hopefully) far more frequent occurance than recovering from a hurricane/fire/mudslide/blizzard. Easy access to the backup media is important for daily operations. Recovery from disaster is quite a bit more complex. Your backup solution needs to be able to cover the full spectrum - from yestarday's lost spreadsheet to the area flattened by mother nature.
Personally, I keep two backups - one here locally, one 1000 miles away in another state. Backup to CD here, online rsync in NC.
"Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway." - Variously attributed, frequently to Andrew Tanenbaum
Check out digikam or F-Spot. Both support access to EXIF data, both are free (GPL). Digikam is KDE oriented, and F-Spot is GNOME oriented. Both feature basic photo editing, while F-Spot's tagging and organizing may be a bit stronger. Both support a wide range of memory cards and cameras.
'Cause if it ain't broke, don't fix it.... and NetWare doesn't break much.
It can break, of course, just as much as any OS can, but generally once you get it stable it just runs. I've seen NetWare boxes run for years without a reboot - in corporate environments, supporting users and printers, doing their job.
Have you got a box you haven't done a OS reload or recompile on in seven years? I do. It's NetWare 4.11. It sits quietly in the corner and serves files. It's fairly secure, as it runs IPX making it difficult to get to from the internet. NDS (eDirectory) makes user and rights managment as cinch. And it doesn't require new/fast/powerful hardware to support 30 or so users. Or even 300.
Odd, as the XP systems I've installed this on haven't seen any noticeable performance hit. And it would have been noticeable, as these were all sub-2.0Ghz Celeron or Athlon boxes.
As to AVG - I like it too. It's installed on my wife's XP box - the only Windows box in the house.
As another alternative, check out Panda Security. I've used their software on a couple of small networks and found it stable and effective. Their managment software easily allows remote installation as well as signature distribution.
We just went through this when we updated wills. We made sure to make a list of each others web accounts and access credentials. That way if anything happens to either or both of us our survivors won't have issues around access to financial accounts, utilities, subscriptions, etc.
Now I need to figure out who to leave my Slashdot account to.
The culprit was 3.12, not 4.x. And it was truly minor - Pre-2000, account expirations happened at the beginning of the date of the expiration. Post 2000, they happened at the end of the day.
I'm confident in this as I did the Y2K testing of NetWare 3.12 and 4.x for a major entertainment conglomerate. We then used NetWare in the lab as we tested all of the other applications on the network. Other than the above mentioned, we had no issues.
My 4.12 serer is still running fine, thank you very much.
From the perspective of a home user / small business those may be options - I've not yet experimented with them all. But medium to large architectural and engineering companies usually have a large investment in training, tools, libraries, and licenses that they are unwilling to give up, especially if it means they might lose one micron of functionality or productivity.
I for one would have no problem writing checks to AutoDesk for AutoCAD if it were ported to Linux.
Slashdot Mirror
These machines harken back to the days of the HP Omnibook 300, and are the evolution of the early IBM X series. They are not supposed to be full sized, fully capable laptops. They are for occasional, light use. They are email machines, capable of handling Firefox and "web 2.0". Download your email to it, read/reply while travelling, then resync. And given the rising ubiquity of wireless access, remote access to app servers makes these even more useable.
If you need a more capable machine then carry one.
I know you've been asked before, but I'll try again:
Who is your "cheaper" host?
I'm not asking to be a pain, I'm just interested in alternatives.
The departure of Rob would undoubtedly mean a decline in the overall story quality. Not immediately, I'm sure, as Jamie, CN, etc would soldier on. But for how long, and with how much influence? Rob's very much the "spiritual leader" of this community. He founded it, and the principles that guide it are his. But without him to stand up and say "No" with the authority of a leader those who would exploit this creation would eventually win. I know that day will come, and it will be a sad day for us all. I'm just hoping that it's long after the 20 year retrospective. Slashdot's been a huge part of my online life for longer than I care to remember. It's been informative and interesting and funny and infuriating. And it's kept me coming back.
Rob, thanks for the last decade. And I'm looking forward the next one.
Thanks for the article. Nice to know that PEBKAC is a factor for y'all too.
The new Intel MB with an embedded Celeron processor has far better performance at a lower cost. Try this:
$46.99 - Hard drive - 40GB, 5400rpm Seagate
28.99 - 1GB Memory - Corsair DDR2 533
69.50 - MB - Intel D201GLY, Celeron 1.33
54.95 - Fanless power supply - picoPSU-120
59.95 - Case - M300
$260.38 - Total - Shipping NOT included
Far better performance, reasonable power consumption (~25w), small and silent
Or, if you prefer single stop shopping, try this.
Ten years is a huge span in internet time. Slashdot has outlasted companies, technologies, presidents, and search engines. I think it is as good a time as any to step back from the day-to-day fray and get a little perspective. Slashdot has made a difference, both in the web and in the world.
Thank you.
I know NetWare, and I know Linux, and you're absolutely right about permissions. If you are managing a file server for a large number of users who work in multiple groups the file system permissions in NetWare are far more comprehensive and flexible than those in Linux. The ability to give different groups of users different levels of permission to a directory structure is one I miss regularly.
I look forward to the day that Linux's permission structure catches up to the level of twelve-year-old NetWare 4.1.
I remember that tool - how wonderful. And how many times it saved my user's and my butt.
On cars, the computers keep the engines from over revving or running on too rich a mixture, both of which can damage the hardware. If you mod the software in your engine's computers you void the warrantee.
Here is where the comparison falls down: this would be akin to stating that altering the car's engine control software voided the warranty on the driver's door hinge.
It may be time for the unlucky laptop owner to start writing letters to the manufacturer directly, and the local Better Business Bureau (or UK equivalent).
Good luck!
Step 1: Update your resume
Step 2: Ask him to prioritize HIS responsibilities as he sees them, then break them down into measurable units of work. Then he can do the same for yours.
Step 3: Point out to the beancounter that you're a professional, not a widget maker, and that you manage systems. And as he well knows (from step 2) it is difficult to quantify and measure management in an empirical fashion.
I got asked a very similar question by the head of the department I was working for one time, and I told him that truthfully there isn't an effective way. I gave him two suggestions: 1) if the users are able to do their jobs with the technology being an asset to productivity and 2) there aren't any issues he's hearing about then I must be doing something right. He was satisfied with that.
It will slow it down, perhaps making it more cumbersome to use until an alternative is developed, but it won't kill MythTv. Far from it.
And, as a longtime MythTv user I'd cheerfully cough up $50/year for access to the data. Zap2it has been reliable and accurate for me, and I'd support them. But then I'm weird - I subscribe to comics and journals.
Oh, to have mod points!
+2 Funny
None taken.
Small clients rarely have the resources to run more than a server or two - and I push for two so I can at least keep the primary firewall machine separate. The other is usually a multipurpose machine - the one I spent time with today runs email (with all the attendant spam filtering stuff), Samba, and apache (for internal use only). And it's an Athon XP 2000 with mirrored disks. No high end stuff here. But multiplying the services on the machines usually means the update frequency rises exponentially.
My home server supports email, samba, apache (private), MythTV-backend & ivtv, mysql, nfs, ntp, and a virtual machine with quasi-public apache & gallery. Admittedly it has a bit more horsepower: dual PIII 1Ghz. It gets updated weekly. Or more.
Ok, you're trolling, but I'll bite.
I usually run my Debian servers as a blend of stable and testing. Depending on the server, there are usually 5-30 packagages that are updated by their maintainers each week. Not all of the updates are security related, and not all of the non-security related updates get applied regularly. But I do monitor the outstanding changes and update as I deem necessary. Packages with security implications for my servers get updated immediately.
Now run along.
Ah the beauty of Linux - multiple ways to accomplish the same task, each fitting the different requirements of different users.
I'd rather fight quirky installation stuff than recompile apps on my PII400 server. And that's the fast one.
Gentoo on a server? No longer.
I used Gentoo for several years. I learned an awful lot about Linux from it. And I appreciate the work that goes into it. But my servers run Debian now, for one reason - quick, reliable updates. I support several small businesses, I don't have the resources to maintain test environnments to check the impact of upgrades. And not having multiple powerful systems at many sites means distcc is not an option. And the recompiles occasionally necessary for apache or samba or postfix or mysql put an unreasonable strain on servers that are typically not high powered and are supporting multiple users. So for quick, reliable system updating apt-get beats emerge every time.
I'm not knocking gentoo. It's a great system for testing stuff, and evaluating software. But in the 3 minutes it took me to type this post, I could update 5 servers that hadn't been updated in a week.
I use a similar method on some systems, though I inject a random number in the sequence. Like Door19Asphalt or Mess27Heave. Just avoid using the current month or year, and of course 42.
And no, none of those work on my slashdot ID.
i would suggest minimum different zip codes different time zones would be best
Sounds funny but very true. Backups across town aren't terriby useful if across town is flat too. Sound farfetched? Ask a sysadmin in Miami how far off he ships his backups. If he was there when Andrew visited, I'll bet they're in New Mexico.
This may seem a tad offtopic, but it is relevant:
You have to think through both distance from and access to your backups as a part of disaster recovery planning. Backup isn't just recovering the CEO's email, though that is a (hopefully) far more frequent occurance than recovering from a hurricane/fire/mudslide/blizzard. Easy access to the backup media is important for daily operations. Recovery from disaster is quite a bit more complex. Your backup solution needs to be able to cover the full spectrum - from yestarday's lost spreadsheet to the area flattened by mother nature.
Personally, I keep two backups - one here locally, one 1000 miles away in another state. Backup to CD here, online rsync in NC.
"Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway." - Variously attributed, frequently to Andrew Tanenbaum
Check out digikam or F-Spot. Both support access to EXIF data, both are free (GPL). Digikam is KDE oriented, and F-Spot is GNOME oriented. Both feature basic photo editing, while F-Spot's tagging and organizing may be a bit stronger. Both support a wide range of memory cards and cameras.
'Cause if it ain't broke, don't fix it.... and NetWare doesn't break much.
It can break, of course, just as much as any OS can, but generally once you get it stable it just runs. I've seen NetWare boxes run for years without a reboot - in corporate environments, supporting users and printers, doing their job.
Have you got a box you haven't done a OS reload or recompile on in seven years? I do. It's NetWare 4.11. It sits quietly in the corner and serves files. It's fairly secure, as it runs IPX making it difficult to get to from the internet. NDS (eDirectory) makes user and rights managment as cinch. And it doesn't require new/fast/powerful hardware to support 30 or so users. Or even 300.
Odd, as the XP systems I've installed this on haven't seen any noticeable performance hit. And it would have been noticeable, as these were all sub-2.0Ghz Celeron or Athlon boxes.
As to AVG - I like it too. It's installed on my wife's XP box - the only Windows box in the house.
As another alternative, check out Panda Security. I've used their software on a couple of small networks and found it stable and effective. Their managment software easily allows remote installation as well as signature distribution.
t
http://www.pandasoftware.com/home/empresas/defaul
Sort of.
We just went through this when we updated wills. We made sure to make a list of each others web accounts and access credentials. That way if anything happens to either or both of us our survivors won't have issues around access to financial accounts, utilities, subscriptions, etc.
Now I need to figure out who to leave my Slashdot account to.
The culprit was 3.12, not 4.x. And it was truly minor - Pre-2000, account expirations happened at the beginning of the date of the expiration. Post 2000, they happened at the end of the day.
I'm confident in this as I did the Y2K testing of NetWare 3.12 and 4.x for a major entertainment conglomerate. We then used NetWare in the lab as we tested all of the other applications on the network. Other than the above mentioned, we had no issues.
My 4.12 serer is still running fine, thank you very much.
From the perspective of a home user / small business those may be options - I've not yet experimented with them all. But medium to large architectural and engineering companies usually have a large investment in training, tools, libraries, and licenses that they are unwilling to give up, especially if it means they might lose one micron of functionality or productivity.
I for one would have no problem writing checks to AutoDesk for AutoCAD if it were ported to Linux.