Have you considered that he might be talking about supporting student's machine and not administrative systems? Often times, IT staff at colleges end up supporting whatever the students happen to bring with them.
My organization is on a 3-year desktop replacement cycle. Just this week, we fished the last five Windows 98 machines out of our pool and are now at XP across the board.
Yeah - I considered Linux, but then I considered retraining costs, application problems and general user resistance and decided it wasn't a battle worth fighting at this point. (not that I WOULDN'T like to get MS out eventually).
If it wasn't for the regular security threats that need patching these days, Win98 could go on for a long time.
This ranks right up there with the folks that were supposed to prevent 9/11 and with doctors that let people die just because they have injuries too serious to fix! Dupes on Slashdot SHOULD ruin everyone's day - neigh - LIFE!!! Editors on Slashdot that allow dupes on a holiday should be shot, burned, and their ashes scattered over the local sewage treatment plant.
This is seriously a serious situation. A free (unless you're a subscriber) service that posts a duplicate story. I think we should outright boycott this damn site until they get things right!
Or, we could maybe - just maybe - calm the hell down a little.
Do YOU sit in front of your email client 24/7? If you do, get a life, but I bet some of you sleep sometimes, eat other times and MAYBE even go out with friends once in a while - especially around the holidays.
I see this kind of hyper-reactivity a lot on Slashdot. I'd be willing to bet a whole lot of money that each and every one of you has made a mistake at some point in your lives. If not, you're either still in college (where you are never, ever wrong and only other people mess things up) or you get paid a whole shitload of money since you're perfect.
Why is this such a big deal, anyway? Skip it and move on...
I realize that we're talking about home users for the most part, but Microsoft does in fact know how to include a feature that is off by default. An initial installation of Windows Server 2003 doesn't turn much on. File/printer sharing, IIS, DNS, Active Directory, etc, all have to be explicitly enabled.
We've been using PostgreSQL for a little over two years to drive our website. I haven't found it to be any easier or harder to install and maintain than MySQL. We use phppgadmin for administration.
As for overkill... we don't use all of its features, but they're there if we need them. We do make heavy use of views which are not yet available in production releases of MySQL and which was a major factor in choosing PostgreSQL.
As for installation, I've always uses Apachetoolbox - up to now. I moved to RPMs for our latest incarnation as the Postgres Global Development Group provides RPMs that work extremely well.
Scott
I want to skip the commercials on the DVDs that I buy. I want to watch a DVD that I purchased in Europe. I want to rip the DVD to my PC for my OWN viewing pleasure. Why shouldn't I be able to do that easily?
If you've migrated completely to WS2003, you're using Exchange 2003 since Exchange 2000 won't run under the new OS.
As for Exchange being a piece of shit... why? Take a look at the new Exchange 2003 and the new Outlook Web Access which - at least in my opinion - rocks and is FAST and works under every browser I've tried it on albeit slightly differently under non-IE browsers (but with no loss of functionality).
A lot of new stuff has been added or improved between 2000 and 2003... take a gander at it before you bash it. I didn't like Exchange 5.5... Exchange 2000 was better but I really do like 2003.
If it's determined that the courts really need to oversee the purchasing policies of every government agency, there needs to be another condition that goes along with "Someone needs to file for a public injunction against a government agency buying Microsoft products to force the question of 'were alternatives considered?'"
Someone needs to file for a public injunction against a government agency using open source products to force the question of "were alternatives considered?
The people who are in the decision making positions in government agencies are theorectically there at the behest of an elected offical (maybe not directly, but through the hierarchy).
I really don't agree with the suggestion that the courts deal with it. If someone isn't doing their job by performing a reasonable analysis it's an HR issue for which the populace can fix by voting the offending elected official out.
Keep in mind that MS sometimes IS the best solution. If the agency wants productive employees that can serve their constituents and the best solution is MS, great.
Exchange 2003 can be used on Windows 2000 SP4 as well. That said, if you're going to upgrade, just go to 2003 for the Exchange side and for AD even if you still ned 2000 for other apps that don't yet run on 2003.
We've been running Exchange 2003 on Windows 2003 (small shop) for about two months. Zero problems and my users are happy.
If you were kidding, not a problem. If you weren't, a generalization that all managers are inept is simply incorrect. Yes - some are, but a whole lot aren't and are in their positions because they're good at their jobs.
The key difference there is the line of business. In the NFL, you damn well better have people that know what they're doing to make the right calls.
The same is true for tech companies. I wouldn't expect too many executives at Microsoft or Cisco have trouble with technology. However, that's their line of business.
Now, take Krispy Kreme. The executives there had better be able to make decisions regarding delivery, production, etc. Sure - they might rely on technology to get some of this done, but their expertise is in running their doughnut (mmmm.... donuts!) business for which technology is simply a tool they use. In these situations, the executive management needs people that understand technology and how it can improve the business and they shuoldn't be afraid to ask for tech lessons from the IT staff in areas where it might be able to help them make better decisions.
If your antisocial attitude affects the organization to a point where your boss feels like he needs to go elsewhere to ask reasonable questions then it's a problem. If your boss has someone else in the organization that is happy to help then great!
The people above you may not be "better" then you technically, but they may be more capable in areas where it counts with clients and investors.
I've seen some VERY good, but socially inept and arrogant techs get laid off in the last couple of years while those with decent attitudes but with fewer technical skills get to stick around. Let's face it: given the decision to lay off the person who's willing to help vs the arrogant one, who are you going to lay off?
I completely agree that people skills can set people apart. I just find a lot of techs pretty arrogant and condescending and it doesn't inspire a great deal of confidence in the people in the field. I don't mind that they don't have people skills -- everyone has limitations -- but the arrogance can be controlled.
God yes - you hit the nail on the head. When reading some of the posts on Slashdot, I wonder how some of these people can hold a job given their holier-than-thou genius-of-all-tech attitudes.
Get over yourselves. An informed boss can make better decisions and work easier. And, if you can help them in a way that doesn't involve humiliating them, maybe it will come back and reward you.
I don't want my boss to be totally uninformed. I don't like working in a vacuum and I don't ALWAYS have the best solution. At times, believe it or not, my boss has some good ideas even though he's not as technically astute as I am in a lot of areas.
Sometimes, being a little further removed from the problem can present a great solution.
Say you've spent a little time formatting a paragraph the wat you want with the various idents, tabs, font, size, etc... now you want to apply the same formatting to a paragraph later in the document. Using the format painter, you can copy the formatting from one location and use it in another location. I use it constantly - and yes - I use Word.
I don't mean to be a troll, but I'm going to. This attitude is a problem. 90+% of the world uses Windows with certain media formats. Want more uptake to Linux, then don't have this shitty attitude about a request for a reasonable format.
I have written hundreds of technical articles - some with positive things to say about MS, some with negative things about MS, some with positive things about Linux/open source projects and some with negative things about Linux/open source projects. For EVERY article that I have written which portrayed a negative stance on a Linux/Open Source project, I got ripped to pieces, accused of being pro-MS and anti-open source, and called a whole lot worse. Never at any other time unless teh article wasn't very good (fortunately that's only happened once or twice out of the 200). It kinda sucks that people who actually enjoy working with and writing about the technology get bashed when they say something negative -- even when they back it up with hard facts.
The thing about the Constitution is that we have to take the bad with the good. Notwithstanding the crap that Ashcroft has been trying to pass recently, the Constitution has done well for us for a long time. Yeah - it sucks that free speech rights were used to potentially quash the list but -- the telemarketers might be right. Now, just like everyone else, I hate getting calls at dinner, but why should Amway or a mortgage company not be allowed to call me but the ACLU or the police benevolent association can? What needs to happen is that the do not call registry be revamped to include your phone number as well as what types of call you don't want to receieve. This way, the telemarketers can't cry free speech and equal protection since it's the individual making the choice -- not the government.
Slashdot Mirror
Have you considered that he might be talking about supporting student's machine and not administrative systems? Often times, IT staff at colleges end up supporting whatever the students happen to bring with them.
My organization is on a 3-year desktop replacement cycle. Just this week, we fished the last five Windows 98 machines out of our pool and are now at XP across the board.
Yeah - I considered Linux, but then I considered retraining costs, application problems and general user resistance and decided it wasn't a battle worth fighting at this point. (not that I WOULDN'T like to get MS out eventually).
If it wasn't for the regular security threats that need patching these days, Win98 could go on for a long time.
This ranks right up there with the folks that were supposed to prevent 9/11 and with doctors that let people die just because they have injuries too serious to fix! Dupes on Slashdot SHOULD ruin everyone's day - neigh - LIFE!!! Editors on Slashdot that allow dupes on a holiday should be shot, burned, and their ashes scattered over the local sewage treatment plant. This is seriously a serious situation. A free (unless you're a subscriber) service that posts a duplicate story. I think we should outright boycott this damn site until they get things right! Or, we could maybe - just maybe - calm the hell down a little. Do YOU sit in front of your email client 24/7? If you do, get a life, but I bet some of you sleep sometimes, eat other times and MAYBE even go out with friends once in a while - especially around the holidays. I see this kind of hyper-reactivity a lot on Slashdot. I'd be willing to bet a whole lot of money that each and every one of you has made a mistake at some point in your lives. If not, you're either still in college (where you are never, ever wrong and only other people mess things up) or you get paid a whole shitload of money since you're perfect. Why is this such a big deal, anyway? Skip it and move on...
...and it might not. Unfortunately, the point is irrelevant unless someone has developed a time machine. As long as they're finally doing it, good.
I realize that we're talking about home users for the most part, but Microsoft does in fact know how to include a feature that is off by default. An initial installation of Windows Server 2003 doesn't turn much on. File/printer sharing, IIS, DNS, Active Directory, etc, all have to be explicitly enabled.
We've been using PostgreSQL for a little over two years to drive our website. I haven't found it to be any easier or harder to install and maintain than MySQL. We use phppgadmin for administration. As for overkill... we don't use all of its features, but they're there if we need them. We do make heavy use of views which are not yet available in production releases of MySQL and which was a major factor in choosing PostgreSQL. As for installation, I've always uses Apachetoolbox - up to now. I moved to RPMs for our latest incarnation as the Postgres Global Development Group provides RPMs that work extremely well. Scott
I want to skip the commercials on the DVDs that I buy. I want to watch a DVD that I purchased in Europe. I want to rip the DVD to my PC for my OWN viewing pleasure. Why shouldn't I be able to do that easily?
Most desktop users aren't geeks. Therefore, they might want their stock portfolios - or whatever - visible.
If you've migrated completely to WS2003, you're using Exchange 2003 since Exchange 2000 won't run under the new OS. As for Exchange being a piece of shit... why? Take a look at the new Exchange 2003 and the new Outlook Web Access which - at least in my opinion - rocks and is FAST and works under every browser I've tried it on albeit slightly differently under non-IE browsers (but with no loss of functionality). A lot of new stuff has been added or improved between 2000 and 2003... take a gander at it before you bash it. I didn't like Exchange 5.5... Exchange 2000 was better but I really do like 2003.
** Why would anyone work after hours to reboot when they can use the shutdown command and the task scheduler? **
To make sure that they come back up maybe?
If it's determined that the courts really need to oversee the purchasing policies of every government agency, there needs to be another condition that goes along with "Someone needs to file for a public injunction against a government agency buying Microsoft products to force the question of 'were alternatives considered?'"
Someone needs to file for a public injunction against a government agency using open source products to force the question of "were alternatives considered?
The people who are in the decision making positions in government agencies are theorectically there at the behest of an elected offical (maybe not directly, but through the hierarchy).
I really don't agree with the suggestion that the courts deal with it. If someone isn't doing their job by performing a reasonable analysis it's an HR issue for which the populace can fix by voting the offending elected official out.
Keep in mind that MS sometimes IS the best solution. If the agency wants productive employees that can serve their constituents and the best solution is MS, great.
Exchange 2003 can be used on Windows 2000 SP4 as well. That said, if you're going to upgrade, just go to 2003 for the Exchange side and for AD even if you still ned 2000 for other apps that don't yet run on 2003. We've been running Exchange 2003 on Windows 2003 (small shop) for about two months. Zero problems and my users are happy.
Can ICANN and Commerce pull the registry from VeriSign and give it to someone else? Just curoius.
Not all managers are PHBs
If you were kidding, not a problem. If you weren't, a generalization that all managers are inept is simply incorrect. Yes - some are, but a whole lot aren't and are in their positions because they're good at their jobs.
This is an awesome post and more than a little insightful. I don't have mod points so I had to post it :-)
The key difference there is the line of business. In the NFL, you damn well better have people that know what they're doing to make the right calls.
The same is true for tech companies. I wouldn't expect too many executives at Microsoft or Cisco have trouble with technology. However, that's their line of business.
Now, take Krispy Kreme. The executives there had better be able to make decisions regarding delivery, production, etc. Sure - they might rely on technology to get some of this done, but their expertise is in running their doughnut (mmmm.... donuts!) business for which technology is simply a tool they use. In these situations, the executive management needs people that understand technology and how it can improve the business and they shuoldn't be afraid to ask for tech lessons from the IT staff in areas where it might be able to help them make better decisions.
If your antisocial attitude affects the organization to a point where your boss feels like he needs to go elsewhere to ask reasonable questions then it's a problem. If your boss has someone else in the organization that is happy to help then great!
The people above you may not be "better" then you technically, but they may be more capable in areas where it counts with clients and investors.
I've seen some VERY good, but socially inept and arrogant techs get laid off in the last couple of years while those with decent attitudes but with fewer technical skills get to stick around. Let's face it: given the decision to lay off the person who's willing to help vs the arrogant one, who are you going to lay off?
I completely agree that people skills can set people apart. I just find a lot of techs pretty arrogant and condescending and it doesn't inspire a great deal of confidence in the people in the field. I don't mind that they don't have people skills -- everyone has limitations -- but the arrogance can be controlled.
Yeah and look where it got them! Idiots. Now, instead of being a line worker, they're in charge! Oh... wait...
God yes - you hit the nail on the head. When reading some of the posts on Slashdot, I wonder how some of these people can hold a job given their holier-than-thou genius-of-all-tech attitudes.
Get over yourselves. An informed boss can make better decisions and work easier. And, if you can help them in a way that doesn't involve humiliating them, maybe it will come back and reward you.
I don't want my boss to be totally uninformed. I don't like working in a vacuum and I don't ALWAYS have the best solution. At times, believe it or not, my boss has some good ideas even though he's not as technically astute as I am in a lot of areas. Sometimes, being a little further removed from the problem can present a great solution.
Say you've spent a little time formatting a paragraph the wat you want with the various idents, tabs, font, size, etc... now you want to apply the same formatting to a paragraph later in the document. Using the format painter, you can copy the formatting from one location and use it in another location. I use it constantly - and yes - I use Word.
I don't mean to be a troll, but I'm going to. This attitude is a problem. 90+% of the world uses Windows with certain media formats. Want more uptake to Linux, then don't have this shitty attitude about a request for a reasonable format.
I have written hundreds of technical articles - some with positive things to say about MS, some with negative things about MS, some with positive things about Linux/open source projects and some with negative things about Linux/open source projects. For EVERY article that I have written which portrayed a negative stance on a Linux/Open Source project, I got ripped to pieces, accused of being pro-MS and anti-open source, and called a whole lot worse. Never at any other time unless teh article wasn't very good (fortunately that's only happened once or twice out of the 200). It kinda sucks that people who actually enjoy working with and writing about the technology get bashed when they say something negative -- even when they back it up with hard facts.
The thing about the Constitution is that we have to take the bad with the good. Notwithstanding the crap that Ashcroft has been trying to pass recently, the Constitution has done well for us for a long time. Yeah - it sucks that free speech rights were used to potentially quash the list but -- the telemarketers might be right. Now, just like everyone else, I hate getting calls at dinner, but why should Amway or a mortgage company not be allowed to call me but the ACLU or the police benevolent association can? What needs to happen is that the do not call registry be revamped to include your phone number as well as what types of call you don't want to receieve. This way, the telemarketers can't cry free speech and equal protection since it's the individual making the choice -- not the government.