OH MY GOD!! You got rejected?? and this joker's submission was ACCPETED???? That's it, I am writing to my senator and making up some picket signs for a protest... of something or other.
That's a common mistake, when trying to please everyone with "common ground" you end up doing some half-measure that no one likes - for those who want to actually store files on this thing, 20 gigs is obviously not enough, for those who just want to use it to playback stuff from the "basement server" (like me) it's just an extra, uncesessary component that generates heat and noise, and just one more thing to break.
Have you ever actually tried screaming at BEA? It's one of the most frustrating and fruitless endeauvers you can find yourself in. I can't speak for IBM, but in BEA's case, screaming at them is useless. Couple that with their shitty JDBC implementation, and you've got yourself days of fun for the entire family.
(I know some people said this already, but I figured this is something where every vote counts.)
My point was more about the people unlike you, who don't know DHCP or DNS, but when presented with a pretty GUI think that it looks "easy" and just check every second option, and feel good about themselves because the've "set up" something.
Of course making something easier to use doesn't automatically make it less secure (or efficient for that matter) but there is a difference between making life easier for those who know what they are doing, and helping those who don't fool themselves into thinking that they don't have to RTFM.
I've got nothing against conveniences (hell I am a lazy bastard as it is), I just don't think they matter greatly in the grand scheme of things - on the server market, that is.
You are precisely right - J2EE is a great platform, and its here to stay,.NET or no.NET (Just try to take WebLogic + Cafe away from someone who's used it for a while), WL runs great on Linux ( I haven't done/seen any speed comparisons, but it's stable as all get out) as does Oracle. And running big UNICES (and their indigenous hardware) is becoming less and less appealing simply from the bang/buck perspective. (I was recently pricing out a database server, it's amazing how little your get from Sun vs. Linux on Intel - and even more so on AMD) - I don't think there is any question remaining as far feasability of Linux as a server platform. It's the desktop that most peole are talking about nowadays.
And that's the point where the article was especially devoid of substance. Apart from making some things up about browsers (I still don't understand how having more browsers available on Linux makes it worse) and Office - sure MS Office is superior to OpenOffice and KOffice in every way imaginable (except compatibility with other Offices, for some reason), but 99% of users will never use or need 90% of that "superiority" - I still haven't found a text document that I could type with MS Word, but not with KWord, or Writer or AbiWord.
At my last company we ran a heterogeneous mix of Sun, Tru64 and Linux for the "real" (ie, core-business related apps, it was a Biotech) stuff and then were an MS bitch on the desktop and for all the "supporting infrastructure" - email/PIM, etc - in other words Exchange, etc. Which meant the only thing we had in the DMZ was the webmail thing - running on IIS.
Which of course handily got hacked, giving access to the entire network - databases, fileservers, the source tree - everything. I can just imagine all the "not ready" head-shaking if that was a Linux box.
So anyway, I would just love to see an "Is MS ready for entermprise/prime-time/mainstream?" article. (I just hate that word btw - mainstream - what does that make me? some sort of dirty, stagnant, out of the way puddle or something?)
I haven't done any large scale Linux desktop administration, but I can say this: Don't let them run the systems as cowboy admins. A user should never, ever ever install their own distro - what we always did with Win2K support was setup several "classes" of systems (including minimum hardware specs and the initial software), eg "office user" (your basic, average, day-to-day email, word and pictures), "managerial", "developer", etc. If you put a bit of thought into this, the vast majority of users will never need to install software themselves (or bug you to do it). Save the RPM configs, put them on a CDR, will make installations that much easier.
And that goes for most of the other stuff as well - most of what you've listed, should just not be left up to the user, under any OS (except Mac - those you just plugin, turn on and replace every 4-6 years - I love those things! As long as I don't have to use one)
Definitely agree about the package management, but here's what I want to know:
Why do people think that admin tools should be "easy to use" (I hate that term)?? Sure a nice GUI for priting or DHCP management would be cool, but that's trivial. Usually people are whining for "easy to use/user frienly, etc." tools for servers, system config and security - does it ever occur to anyone that if you know what you are doing you don't need pretty icons, and if you don't, you should stay the hell away from those configs? This just could be part of the reason why most MS installations can be hacked (and repeatedly are) by anyone with an IQ of at least 70 and enough fingers to type with.
(before I start - this isn't flamebait;) )
Who actually uses software mirroring? Striping I can at least understand - your geekier home users might gain some performance that way. But the purprose of mirroring is data integrity, which (at least to me) means that
a) you are doing this in a corporate environment and b) it's obviously important to you
in which case I can't see why you wouldn't shell out the extra couple hundred $ (an imperceptable figure for a business, in the grand scheme of things) to do it properly (ie in hardware).
From what I can understand it's the whole "if you want it, you'll come to us, pay what we want, and do what we tell you with it" mentality, that will increase sales (as well as profits through higher pricing) once it is achieved. For that to work, you would need (or at least really want, if you are in their position) both a vertical and a horizontal monopoly.
Of course I could be an alarmist, hysterical geek, and all they are really trying to do is protect themselves from piracy. But somehow I can't see a multi-MUTLI-billion dollar international conglomerate being that stupid, or naive, or whatever. Time will tell I suppose...
Somone made an excellent point though - it's really reassuring to know that I will never need or want 99.9% of what they are offering. So if the Harry Potter DVD release - $59.99 for the disk, plus $4.95 per play (or just $14.95 monthly) is playable only on MPAA approved, MS produces DVD players ($299.99, plus $2.99 per play, or $29.99 monthly; and obviously your monthly "player license and upgrade" fee) - well, I just wouldn't feel terribly deprived for not being able to watch it.
Re:Another one for the bad guys!
on
DMCA 2, Freedom 0
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
The rag-tag bunch of a couple dozen geeks (that being us Linux users) users and a handful of blind people aren't enough to outweigh the benefits of complete content control.
If the companies behind this considered what you listed to be legitimate uses for their content (for use of which you buy a "license" from them - in the ideal world, of course) then encryption preventing those uses and the laws protecting that encryption would not be there - because let's face it, it doesn't stop real piracy.
That would be kinda like saying that MS WPA is designed to stop software piracy, rather than casual copying.
Xine isn't illegal (they don't distribute DeCSS code/binaries spcifically because of DMCA), but watching DVDs on Linux is illegal, not because that's the artifact of some not too well thought out copy protection system, but because you are not supposed to play DVDs on Linux until there is a "proper" player for it.
It will change the way scientists think about them
on
Giant Black Hole Found
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· Score: 4, Funny
If it's interntational, why did they call it "America On Line" then?
Autmatically associating women with "fucktoys" because of how they choose to dress (and in fact even having that word in your active vocabulary) says more about your misguided value system, than mine. Regardless of what street you might find yourself on.
That was a happy-shiny freedom rant? I would sooner call it a sarcasm-tinted, gently unassuming comment about international politics... same thing I supose.
No, there isn't an absolute good or evil (in fact even the non-absolute kinds are artifacts of religious dogma) but the religious fervor you described is similar to what I was talking about only in intention - the crucial difference is their actual actions.
It is also somewhat ironic for me to be told to go away by someone who won't back up their words with as much as a name.
Umm.. I was pretty much going on the assumption that such silly notions as "Christian Nation" are there simply to amuse us, and no one should spend the time and energy to refute them - I am sorry to have made you do that.
Slashdot Mirror
It's beyond me as well since it, very reasonably, was in fact not modded up.
btw, for some reason, pointing out what I say about myself just doesn't seem like a useful contribution.
but then, neither was this.
And I can't imagine having much fun with only unencrypted .vobs
Most pr0n DVDs are unencrypted and I've had a lot of fun with those.
OH MY GOD!! You got rejected?? and this joker's submission was ACCPETED???? That's it, I am writing to my senator and making up some picket signs for a protest... of something or other.
get a life
(i guess I should as well)
That's a common mistake, when trying to please everyone with "common ground" you end up doing some half-measure that no one likes - for those who want to actually store files on this thing, 20 gigs is obviously not enough, for those who just want to use it to playback stuff from the "basement server" (like me) it's just an extra, uncesessary component that generates heat and noise, and just one more thing to break.
"Scheduling... think out? Unpossible!"
Have you ever actually tried screaming at BEA? It's one of the most frustrating and fruitless endeauvers you can find yourself in. I can't speak for IBM, but in BEA's case, screaming at them is useless. Couple that with their shitty JDBC implementation, and you've got yourself days of fun for the entire family.
(I know some people said this already, but I figured this is something where every vote counts.)
My point was more about the people unlike you, who don't know DHCP or DNS, but when presented with a pretty GUI think that it looks "easy" and just check every second option, and feel good about themselves because the've "set up" something.
Of course making something easier to use doesn't automatically make it less secure (or efficient for that matter) but there is a difference between making life easier for those who know what they are doing, and helping those who don't fool themselves into thinking that they don't have to RTFM.
I've got nothing against conveniences (hell I am a lazy bastard as it is), I just don't think they matter greatly in the grand scheme of things - on the server market, that is.
You are precisely right - J2EE is a great platform, and its here to stay, .NET or no .NET (Just try to take WebLogic + Cafe away from someone who's used it for a while), WL runs great on Linux ( I haven't done/seen any speed comparisons, but it's stable as all get out) as does Oracle. And running big UNICES (and their indigenous hardware) is becoming less and less appealing simply from the bang/buck perspective. (I was recently pricing out a database server, it's amazing how little your get from Sun vs. Linux on Intel - and even more so on AMD) - I don't think there is any question remaining as far feasability of Linux as a server platform. It's the desktop that most peole are talking about nowadays.
And that's the point where the article was especially devoid of substance. Apart from making some things up about browsers (I still don't understand how having more browsers available on Linux makes it worse) and Office - sure MS Office is superior to OpenOffice and KOffice in every way imaginable (except compatibility with other Offices, for some reason), but 99% of users will never use or need 90% of that "superiority" - I still haven't found a text document that I could type with MS Word, but not with KWord, or Writer or AbiWord.
At my last company we ran a heterogeneous mix of Sun, Tru64 and Linux for the "real" (ie, core-business related apps, it was a Biotech) stuff and then were an MS bitch on the desktop and for all the "supporting infrastructure" - email/PIM, etc - in other words Exchange, etc. Which meant the only thing we had in the DMZ was the webmail thing - running on IIS.
Which of course handily got hacked, giving access to the entire network - databases, fileservers, the source tree - everything. I can just imagine all the "not ready" head-shaking if that was a Linux box.
So anyway, I would just love to see an "Is MS ready for entermprise/prime-time/mainstream?" article. (I just hate that word btw - mainstream - what does that make me? some sort of dirty, stagnant, out of the way puddle or something?)
I haven't done any large scale Linux desktop administration, but I can say this: Don't let them run the systems as cowboy admins. A user should never, ever ever install their own distro - what we always did with Win2K support was setup several "classes" of systems (including minimum hardware specs and the initial software), eg "office user" (your basic, average, day-to-day email, word and pictures), "managerial", "developer", etc. If you put a bit of thought into this, the vast majority of users will never need to install software themselves (or bug you to do it). Save the RPM configs, put them on a CDR, will make installations that much easier.
And that goes for most of the other stuff as well - most of what you've listed, should just not be left up to the user, under any OS (except Mac - those you just plugin, turn on and replace every 4-6 years - I love those things! As long as I don't have to use one)
Definitely agree about the package management, but here's what I want to know:
Why do people think that admin tools should be "easy to use" (I hate that term)?? Sure a nice GUI for priting or DHCP management would be cool, but that's trivial. Usually people are whining for "easy to use/user frienly, etc." tools for servers, system config and security - does it ever occur to anyone that if you know what you are doing you don't need pretty icons, and if you don't, you should stay the hell away from those configs? This just could be part of the reason why most MS installations can be hacked (and repeatedly are) by anyone with an IQ of at least 70 and enough fingers to type with.
(before I start - this isn't flamebait ;) )
Who actually uses software mirroring? Striping I can at least understand - your geekier home users might gain some performance that way.
But the purprose of mirroring is data integrity, which (at least to me) means that
a) you are doing this in a corporate environment and
b) it's obviously important to you
in which case I can't see why you wouldn't shell out the extra couple hundred $ (an imperceptable figure for a business, in the grand scheme of things) to do it properly (ie in hardware).
I could of course, as always, be wrong.
From what I can understand it's the whole "if you want it, you'll come to us, pay what we want, and do what we tell you with it" mentality, that will increase sales (as well as profits through higher pricing) once it is achieved. For that to work, you would need (or at least really want, if you are in their position) both a vertical and a horizontal monopoly.
Of course I could be an alarmist, hysterical geek, and all they are really trying to do is protect themselves from piracy. But somehow I can't see a multi-MUTLI-billion dollar international conglomerate being that stupid, or naive, or whatever. Time will tell I suppose...
Somone made an excellent point though - it's really reassuring to know that I will never need or want 99.9% of what they are offering. So if the Harry Potter DVD release - $59.99 for the disk, plus $4.95 per play (or just $14.95 monthly) is playable only on MPAA approved, MS produces DVD players ($299.99, plus $2.99 per play, or $29.99 monthly; and obviously your monthly "player license and upgrade" fee) - well, I just wouldn't feel terribly deprived for not being able to watch it.
The rag-tag bunch of a couple dozen geeks (that being us Linux users) users and a handful of blind people aren't enough to outweigh the benefits of complete content control.
If the companies behind this considered what you listed to be legitimate uses for their content (for use of which you buy a "license" from them - in the ideal world, of course) then encryption preventing those uses and the laws protecting that encryption would not be there - because let's face it, it doesn't stop real piracy.
That would be kinda like saying that MS WPA is designed to stop software piracy, rather than casual copying.
Xine isn't illegal (they don't distribute DeCSS code/binaries spcifically because of DMCA), but watching DVDs on Linux is illegal, not because that's the artifact of some not too well thought out copy protection system, but because you are not supposed to play DVDs on Linux until there is a "proper" player for it.
"We now think they are bigger!"
Are /.ers all about bitching and whining or what? I've selectively read a few posts to this thread and it's nothing but moaning.
You want his answers directly? Call him yourself!
I am not sure I want the good name of sodomy sullied by refernces to something as detestible as the SDMI.
Americans can and will be shocked by anything and everything! They just like being shocked a lot - it's an attention thing.
If it's interntational, why did they call it "America On Line" then?
Autmatically associating women with "fucktoys" because of how they choose to dress (and in fact even having that word in your active vocabulary) says more about your misguided value system, than mine. Regardless of what street you might find yourself on.
"SDMIze their Rio"
hmm.. that sounds a lot like "sodomize" - I wonder if that was the intention?
Guess I won't be taking it outside much during the winter here in Montreal :)
Thanks (Oh and I think it's pretty much a given that any CD based MP3 player plays "legacy" CDs as well)
That was a happy-shiny freedom rant? I would sooner call it a sarcasm-tinted, gently unassuming comment about international politics... same thing I supose.
No, there isn't an absolute good or evil (in fact even the non-absolute kinds are artifacts of religious dogma) but the religious fervor you described is similar to what I was talking about only in intention - the crucial difference is their actual actions.
It is also somewhat ironic for me to be told to go away by someone who won't back up their words with as much as a name.
Umm.. I was pretty much going on the assumption that such silly notions as "Christian Nation" are there simply to amuse us, and no one should spend the time and energy to refute them - I am sorry to have made you do that.
Apparently the iPod is an exception, not the rule.
I've been looking at getting one of those (eXpanium) - anyone have experience with them?