Most people aren't running mission critical servers, especially Gentoo users. They're tend to be more desktop oriented, so you're talking about a niche market.
Ok, it may not be "mission critical" but I run my servers and my firewalls on Gentoo. It gives me the flexibility and control to know *EXACTLY* what is installed and how it is compiled. I don't have to worry about which services are running or ports are open because the only ones out there are the ones I put there. I don't face any of the cleanup concerns of trying to pare down RH/SUSE/Mandrake to what I want on my system, or to what will fit on my system. They're also a bit more efficient, since I can tune the make options for the specific (read older) hardware. And FWIW, Gentoo is the first distro since RH5.2 (that's five point two) that would install and run worth a flip on my old P90.
Ummm... Anybody else out there remember a little outfit called Quaterdeck? They made this nice little utility called Desqview. Ran under Win3.1 and DOS. Allowed multiple virtual desktops. Doesn't exist anymore, but it can still be found out there on the web.
My wife is on the phone right now, VoIP. I'm browsing, as is she.
We're using Vonage, with a cablemodem (TWC RoadRunner).
Our cost: RR:$45/month, Vonage:$27/month.
FWIW, Vonage gives us free voicemail, 500 minutes LD anywhere in the Continental US, caller ID/CallWaiting/Call forwarding/3 way calling, and $.05 per minute to the UK. In comparison, our local Telco gives us local only with NONE of the features listed above, for $32/month.
I'll second that. Works great with my Sony, Yamaha, Toshiba, Mitsubishi and Turtle Beach A/V equipment. Easily programmable and customizable. Pass through commands, so you can setup control of two different components without having to switch between the master pages for each. Macros for multi-command sequences. Backlit buttons for easy operation in the dark.
Having lived in SC during Hugo, and Florida during Andrew, Here are a couple of other suggested items to have on hand if you need to ride out the storm:
1) Gasoline - without power, there won't be any way to buy gas for your car, boat, or.... 2) Generator - a small one will suffice to keep your fridge running, a fan blowing, and a light on. 3) Solar hot water bag - great for heating water during the day so you can get a warm shower at night. Of course, this assumes you will have... 4) Water. Fill the tub for flushing / shower water. Use sparingly. Store bottled water, or better yet freeze all you can. double purpose - keeps the fridge cool when the power is out, and you can drink it when it melts. 5) Charcoal, lighter fluid, matches, and a grill. Useful for cooking and boiling water. 6) Insect repellent. 7) A complete first aid kit.
As far as battening down the hatches go, put anything you don't want wet in plastic bags - it might be your only source of dry clothes. Anything that can be moved indoors, move. Skip the tape in the windows, it's pointless. Instead, cover them with thick plywood. 1/4 inch won't cut it - 1/2 inch as a minimum, 3/4 inch would be best. Brace with 2x4s.
Last, pull the hard drives out of your machines and put them in your luggage. Then get the hell out of the path of that thing! Trust me on this - you do NOT want to ride out a hurricane. Your house/condo/apartment/office will survive or not - and there's not one thing you can do about it during the storm. So get out of the way, and be sure you're healthy to clean up the mess.
A simple, straightforward basic answer to the question, without delving into the technopaedic minutiae that would no doubt needlessly confuse the questioner. Thank you.
Think through some of this country's more offbeat celebrations and attend them, if possible. Burning Man is already at the top of the list, for good reason. Some others to consider:
Bike week, Daytona Beach FL. Harley motorcycle heaven, right on some of the world's best beaches. Catch a launch from the nearby Cape if at all possible.
Jazz Fest, New Orleans. World class music, food, and wine. What more could you need?
Fantasy Fest, Key West FL. Makes Mardi Gras in New Orleans look like a church social. Usually followed by 'Meeting of the Minds', an annual Jimmy Buffett parrothead convention.
Spoleto Festival (and Piccolo Spoleto), Charleston SC. Literally one of the best arts festivals in the world. Theater, dance, music - there is something for everyone. It is simply amazing. Doesn't hurt that it's set in one of the most gracious southern cities.
New Year's Eve, Times Square, NY, NY. It's one of those things ya really ought to do once.
Crush, Napa Valley CA. Some wineries will let you help pick grapes and bring them in to be pressed. Great time to see the action part of winemaking in action.
I second the older Pentium solutions. Mine is a 233, with 256MB and 2 60GB HDs mirrored. Mount on a standard size board which supports multiple PCI cards (3 ethernet), install in a mid-tower with a small ps, add only necessary fans and put in a closet. It's fully functional, expandable, cheap, and reasonably energy efficient.
Right off - I didn't read the other comments - no time. My 11 month old is bouncing in her bouncy seat, so I have a moment.
You will need: - A diaper genie. The only way to deal with dirty diapers. - A swing, preferably battery powered. Great way to soothe tired kids who don't want to nap. - Toys. Lots of toys. The more the better, to encourage creativity. - A PVR. Forget ever watching "West Wing" on time. It just ain't happeneing. - Patience. You thought installing modern Linux from floppy on an old 386 with no CD was frustrating, you ain't seen nothing yet. - The books
What to expect when she's expecting
,
What to expect in the first year
, and
The Girlfriend guide to Pregnancy
. All full od good information.
A few observations: - Jar food is not evil. It makes travel, especially by air, much more pleasant. - Disposable diapers are the way to go, for the same reason. - If s/he is in daycare, watch them like hawks. Give preference to daycares that do NOT have TVs in the rooms with them. - Find a good pediatrician now. Talk to moms with small kids - they know who is good and who isn't. A good pediatrician will save your sanity several times. - Sleep now.
Apps and corporate standards. I work in a Windows shop, and many of the apps we use daily are custom apps written both in-house and by vendors for the Windows Platform. Re-writing them all for Linux, or even platform independence would be a multi-hundred-million dollar undertaking. For now, I'm stuck on Win2K.
My home network is Linux, NetWare, and Win2K. My home PC dual boots W2K and Linux and I have a Linux workstation hidden in my office, just to be contrarian.
It's a great way to get out, enjoy the sun, relax, get some exercise, and hand out with friends. If you get serious, there is competitive skiing, and if not there are lazy Sundays on the lakes with friends
I've probably set up over 100 servers over the last 10 years or so, and I wouldn't use anything but Compaq Array controllers. I've never lost data because of a drive subsystem problem. I've got over 20 that I'm responsible for now, and all of them use Compaq Array controllers. They are reliable, easy to configure, well supported, and easy to maintain. The tools under NetWare and Windows work well. Most are supported under Linux. They aren't cheap,but they are simply great.
I have worked for one large regional financial institution, and one large entertainment conglomerate, and one of the things they have in common is that both use Compaq hardware. There's a good reason - it works.
FWIW, I do not now, nor have I ever worked for Compaq, nor do I have any direct investment in Compaq.
I've used NDS extensively in a couple of organizations and found it to be reasonably flexible and as reliable as a dead cat. NDS handles thousands of users, replicates across hundreds of servers, and has given me no grief. It's solid. It's reliable. It just doesn't have the mind-share it deserves.
Then pay attention to, and vote in, your LOCAL elections. Your county commisionners/city council/state representatives have more influence over your life than you realize, and are in raced decided by far fewer votes than national elections. Local elections are where your vote, and your voice, can make a much larger impact.
"There isn't always something worth voting for, but there is almost always something worth voting against."
Or something like that.
And seeing as how there is little to be excited about in this year's choice, the decision seems to come down to which major candidate you would least like to see in office. Do you want a President who made his money in oil production, or one who sees the internal combustion engine as evil? Do you want a President who opposes abortion except in specific, limited situation or supports a woman's right to choose? Do you want a President who favors extending the internet tax moratorium or one who "invented the internet"? Do you want a President who can't speak clearly, or one who lies clearly?
Do you want a President who will add Supreme Court Justices who favor a more liberal approach, or a more conservative one?
Then there is the balance of power. Government is now stymied by a Republican congress and a Democratic White House. Do you favor that balance, or not?
This year, I really believe the choice comes down to the lesser of two evils. Which is in itself a rather sad, frightening commentary on today's political system.
-----------------------
Want more information? VoteSmart!
Low: Everybody needs more memory. Or you can help save a species. Mid: Put this in your hand, or this under your desk. Either would please.
If you have to ask: One of these would be nice, particularly for Quake, but I NEED one of these. Really. It could solve a fair number of problems.
Yes Intel can make life difficult for Transmeta with predatory pricing, but they cannot touch the technology. If IBM builds a Crusoe-based laptop with 6-8 hour battery life they will blow away all current Intel based systems. This matters to those folks who travel a lot, and whose flight patterns are LA to NY, not LA to Las Vegas.
AMD has already proven that the chip inside isn't the all-important deciding factor that Intel would like it to be. Corporate purchasing decisions will continue to be made on the basis of what the box does for the customer, and which company stands behind it.
Longest-Awaited interview
on
Open Grill
·
· Score: 1
Y'all referenced the length of time it took Lars to get back to you, but you haven't yet mentioned that Douglas Adams has yet to get back to us. The original request for questions went up May 2nd. That's 35 days ago. (Lars only took 22 days.) Have we heard anything from Mr Adams, or anyone in his organization, as to why the delay or when we might get answers?
Slashdot Mirror
Ok, it may not be "mission critical" but I run my servers and my firewalls on Gentoo. It gives me the flexibility and control to know *EXACTLY* what is installed and how it is compiled. I don't have to worry about which services are running or ports are open because the only ones out there are the ones I put there. I don't face any of the cleanup concerns of trying to pare down RH/SUSE/Mandrake to what I want on my system, or to what will fit on my system. They're also a bit more efficient, since I can tune the make options for the specific (read older) hardware. And FWIW, Gentoo is the first distro since RH5.2 (that's five point two) that would install and run worth a flip on my old P90.
Ummm... Anybody else out there remember a little outfit called Quaterdeck? They made this nice little utility called Desqview. Ran under Win3.1 and DOS. Allowed multiple virtual desktops. Doesn't exist anymore, but it can still be found out there on the web.
My wife is on the phone right now, VoIP. I'm browsing, as is she.
We're using Vonage, with a cablemodem (TWC RoadRunner).
Our cost: RR:$45/month, Vonage:$27/month.
FWIW, Vonage gives us free voicemail, 500 minutes LD anywhere in the Continental US, caller ID/CallWaiting/Call forwarding/3 way calling, and $.05 per minute to the UK. In comparison, our local Telco gives us local only with NONE of the features listed above, for $32/month.
Check out Vonage here.
To fix the eb_link error you also need the EScript.api file in the plug_ins directory.
I'll second that. Works great with my Sony, Yamaha, Toshiba, Mitsubishi and Turtle Beach A/V equipment. Easily programmable and customizable. Pass through commands, so you can setup control of two different components without having to switch between the master pages for each. Macros for multi-command sequences. Backlit buttons for easy operation in the dark.
I love mine.
A small nuclear device should do. Assuming you can't get Pitr's, try contacting Toshiba about the one discussed in this story
Having lived in SC during Hugo, and Florida during Andrew, Here are a couple of other suggested items to have on hand if you need to ride out the storm:
....
1) Gasoline - without power, there won't be any way to buy gas for your car, boat, or
2) Generator - a small one will suffice to keep your fridge running, a fan blowing, and a light on.
3) Solar hot water bag - great for heating water during the day so you can get a warm shower at night. Of course, this assumes you will have...
4) Water. Fill the tub for flushing / shower water. Use sparingly. Store bottled water, or better yet freeze all you can. double purpose - keeps the fridge cool when the power is out, and you can drink it when it melts.
5) Charcoal, lighter fluid, matches, and a grill. Useful for cooking and boiling water.
6) Insect repellent.
7) A complete first aid kit.
As far as battening down the hatches go, put anything you don't want wet in plastic bags - it might be your only source of dry clothes. Anything that can be moved indoors, move. Skip the tape in the windows, it's pointless. Instead, cover them with thick plywood. 1/4 inch won't cut it - 1/2 inch as a minimum, 3/4 inch would be best. Brace with 2x4s.
Last, pull the hard drives out of your machines and put them in your luggage. Then get the hell out of the path of that thing! Trust me on this - you do NOT want to ride out a hurricane. Your house/condo/apartment/office will survive or not - and there's not one thing you can do about it during the storm. So get out of the way, and be sure you're healthy to clean up the mess.
Godspeed, all in her path.
A simple, straightforward basic answer to the question, without delving into the technopaedic minutiae that would no doubt needlessly confuse the questioner. Thank you.
Now, what the hell are you doing on slashdot?
Think through some of this country's more offbeat celebrations and attend them, if possible. Burning Man is already at the top of the list, for good reason. Some others to consider:
Bike week, Daytona Beach FL. Harley motorcycle heaven, right on some of the world's best beaches. Catch a launch from the nearby Cape if at all possible.
Jazz Fest, New Orleans. World class music, food, and wine. What more could you need?
Fantasy Fest, Key West FL. Makes Mardi Gras in New Orleans look like a church social. Usually followed by 'Meeting of the Minds', an annual Jimmy Buffett parrothead convention.
Spoleto Festival (and Piccolo Spoleto), Charleston SC. Literally one of the best arts festivals in the world. Theater, dance, music - there is something for everyone. It is simply amazing. Doesn't hurt that it's set in one of the most gracious southern cities.
New Year's Eve, Times Square, NY, NY. It's one of those things ya really ought to do once.
Crush, Napa Valley CA. Some wineries will let you help pick grapes and bring them in to be pressed. Great time to see the action part of winemaking in action.
...I'm an over forty victim of fate...
Glad to know I'm not the only parrothead around here.
A few others:
The Rippingtons. Great high energy band. Start with Moonlighting or Kilamanjaro for studio albums, or Live in L.A. for real fun.
David Benoit. Excellent piano. Suggest American Landscape and Shaken Not Stirred.
Fourplay. Great foursome, all successful artists in their own right. Good vibe, great for relaxing.
Pau;l Howards. Great sax. Seriously awesome sax. Highly recommend So The Story Goes.
I second the older Pentium solutions. Mine is a 233, with 256MB and 2 60GB HDs mirrored. Mount on a standard size board which supports multiple PCI cards (3 ethernet), install in a mid-tower with a small ps, add only necessary fans and put in a closet. It's fully functional, expandable, cheap, and reasonably energy efficient.
FWIW - having the "Submit" button right next to the "Preview" button is hell on those of us with poor aim.
You will need:
- A diaper genie. The only way to deal with dirty diapers.
- A swing, preferably battery powered. Great way to soothe tired kids who don't want to nap.
- Toys. Lots of toys. The more the better, to encourage creativity.
- A PVR. Forget ever watching "West Wing" on time. It just ain't happeneing.
- Patience. You thought installing modern Linux from floppy on an old 386 with no CD was frustrating, you ain't seen nothing yet.
- The books
- What to expect when she's expecting
,- What to expect in the first year
, and- The Girlfriend guide to Pregnancy
. All full od good information.A few observations:
- Jar food is not evil. It makes travel, especially by air, much more pleasant.
- Disposable diapers are the way to go, for the same reason.
- If s/he is in daycare, watch them like hawks. Give preference to daycares that do NOT have TVs in the rooms with them.
- Find a good pediatrician now. Talk to moms with small kids - they know who is good and who isn't. A good pediatrician will save your sanity several times.
- Sleep now.
Apps and corporate standards. I work in a Windows shop, and many of the apps we use daily are custom apps written both in-house and by vendors for the Windows Platform. Re-writing them all for Linux, or even platform independence would be a multi-hundred-million dollar undertaking. For now, I'm stuck on Win2K.
My home network is Linux, NetWare, and Win2K. My home PC dual boots W2K and Linux and I have a Linux workstation hidden in my office, just to be contrarian.
It's a great way to get out, enjoy the sun, relax, get some exercise, and hand out with friends. If you get serious, there is competitive skiing, and if not there are lazy Sundays on the lakes with friends
... is Compaq.
I've probably set up over 100 servers over the last 10 years or so, and I wouldn't use anything but Compaq Array controllers. I've never lost data because of a drive subsystem problem. I've got over 20 that I'm responsible for now, and all of them use Compaq Array controllers. They are reliable, easy to configure, well supported, and easy to maintain. The tools under NetWare and Windows work well. Most are supported under Linux. They aren't cheap,but they are simply great.
For details look here.
I have worked for one large regional financial institution, and one large entertainment conglomerate, and one of the things they have in common is that both use Compaq hardware. There's a good reason - it works.
FWIW, I do not now, nor have I ever worked for Compaq, nor do I have any direct investment in Compaq.
There's used to be an insurance services company called Policy Management Systems.
I've used NDS extensively in a couple of organizations and found it to be reasonably flexible and as reliable as a dead cat. NDS handles thousands of users, replicates across hundreds of servers, and has given me no grief. It's solid. It's reliable. It just doesn't have the mind-share it deserves.
The preferred multiplier is the page number.
Then pay attention to, and vote in, your LOCAL elections. Your county commisionners/city council/state representatives have more influence over your life than you realize, and are in raced decided by far fewer votes than national elections. Local elections are where your vote, and your voice, can make a much larger impact.
Go Vote! And VoteSmart!
"There isn't always something worth voting for, but there is almost always something worth voting against."
Or something like that.
And seeing as how there is little to be excited about in this year's choice, the decision seems to come down to which major candidate you would least like to see in office. Do you want a President who made his money in oil production, or one who sees the internal combustion engine as evil? Do you want a President who opposes abortion except in specific, limited situation or supports a woman's right to choose? Do you want a President who favors extending the internet tax moratorium or one who "invented the internet"? Do you want a President who can't speak clearly, or one who lies clearly?
Do you want a President who will add Supreme Court Justices who favor a more liberal approach, or a more conservative one?
Then there is the balance of power. Government is now stymied by a Republican congress and a Democratic White House. Do you favor that balance, or not?
This year, I really believe the choice comes down to the lesser of two evils. Which is in itself a rather sad, frightening commentary on today's political system.
-----------------------
Want more information? VoteSmart!
...in each category.
Low: Everybody needs more memory. Or you can help save a species.
Mid: Put this in your hand, or this under your desk. Either would please.
If you have to ask: One of these would be nice, particularly for Quake, but I NEED one of these. Really. It could solve a fair number of problems.
Yes Intel can make life difficult for Transmeta with predatory pricing, but they cannot touch the technology. If IBM builds a Crusoe-based laptop with 6-8 hour battery life they will blow away all current Intel based systems. This matters to those folks who travel a lot, and whose flight patterns are LA to NY, not LA to Las Vegas.
AMD has already proven that the chip inside isn't the all-important deciding factor that Intel would like it to be. Corporate purchasing decisions will continue to be made on the basis of what the box does for the customer, and which company stands behind it.
Y'all referenced the length of time it took Lars to get back to you, but you haven't yet mentioned that Douglas Adams has yet to get back to us. The original request for questions went up May 2nd. That's 35 days ago. (Lars only took 22 days.) Have we heard anything from Mr Adams, or anyone in his organization, as to why the delay or when we might get answers?