SAP has been unkindly described as "corporate heroin", because it promises so much at the beginning, but then you become dependent on it, then it never seems to deliver, then it kills you. At least one or two companies have sued the makers because (they claim) their SAP programme was so bad a software disaster that it drove them into bankruptcy.
People always tend to make this mistake when talking about SAP R/3. It is true that multi-million dollar or Deutsche Mark installations have failed horribly. But that was not because of R/3 bein a bad piece of software. In most of those cases it was because of the changes to the organisational structures necessary to adapt to SAP's approach haven't been done. A company has to review it's whole lot of business processes and every single department is required to adapt to those changes. Companies that fail in this area see SAP only as 'another' IT project. Finance, HR and all the other important areas feel offended by the invasion of 'those computer geeks' into their traditional territories. ANd those are the projects that fail horribly.
Second thought: The reason that SAP programs often fail so badly is that they are the classic "Cathedral" projects. The whole thing has to be done by a bunch of (yes, hugely paid) outside consultants, who have to basically inhale the structure of an entire multinational company, and then configure an application to mirror that structure. And you thought your website was a burden.
You have to use the Cathedral approach when managing a organisation. At least that's true for most current companies. Try to imagine a company without a CEO where every employee makes its own decisions based on their picture of the situation. Btw: Except from the core of the R/3 system (which is written in C/C++) all the applications are available in their source code, although they're written in ABAP/4, R/3's interpreted 4GL.
There are a small number of countries where strong domestic controls on the use of cryptography exist. These are mostly countries where human rights command little respect.
At least Washington has a sense for irony. Death penalty anyone?
If I look at the operating systems that all my friends use I can say that the percentage of Linux is much higher than 1%. All of them use Windows in one form or another (95, 98, NT) but almost half of them also run Linux on the same machine.
It's always difficult to get good statistics without a representative group. Counting the percentage of Linux by looking at Slashdot's access statistic won't give yoy the real picture. Nerds like Linux so the number will be higher than the real picture.
Windows 95/98 is used for gaming, Linux/NT for the more serious stuff.
The Psion Series 5 is an excellent machine (disclaimer: I own one) but I really wonder what Psion/Symbian has been doing for the last two years. A faster processor, a slightly better screen and some improvements to the built-in apps? That's a little bit disappointing. There's very little that I can't do with my 'old' Series 5 right now that the 5mx can. With a CF disk I should be able to install all the new apps without a thought and Psion's even considering a ROM update for the plain 5.
So what do you get? Some more speed and a slighlty better screen. Considering the fact that speed never was a problem for me anyway (even searching my company's contact database with >3000 entries only takes a few seconds) - all that remains is the improved screen.
Hm, I really was expecting something more dramatic to wipe out the CE competition (despite the fact that the 5mx probably still is the best PDA with keynoard around). To kick MS's ass they have to do better. Otherwise the Big Bad Company's marketing power will stomp Psion sooner or later (we've seen them doing that before and everybody knows that Beta was superior to VHS;-).
[Sidenote: I sent my Psion in for repairs almost three months ago and still waiting for the machine - grr. Their customer support is really awful]
Actually I'm not really surprised. Most politicians (the German ones are no exception), like most 'ordinary' people, aren't aware of geekish stuff like Linux. All they see is the omnipresence of MS on their computers.
The DOJ isn't that big in the German news and even if the outcome doesn't favor MS - what will be the consequences for Rheinland-Pfalz (which btw is just around 10% of Germany anyway)?
Good government never depends upon laws, but upon the personal qualities of those who govern. The machinery of government is always subordinate to the will of those who administer that machinery. The most important element of government, therefore, is the method of choosing leaders.
and
Bureaucracy destroys initiative. There is little that bureaucrats hate more than innovation, especially innovation that produces better results than the old routines. Improvements always make those at the top of the heap look inept. Who enjoys appearing inept?
Slashdot Mirror
People always tend to make this mistake when talking about SAP R/3. It is true that multi-million dollar or Deutsche Mark installations have failed horribly. But that was not because of R/3 bein a bad piece of software. In most of those cases it was because of the changes to the organisational structures necessary to adapt to SAP's approach haven't been done. A company has to review it's whole lot of business processes and every single department is required to adapt to those changes. Companies that fail in this area see SAP only as 'another' IT project. Finance, HR and all the other important areas feel offended by the invasion of 'those computer geeks' into their traditional territories. ANd those are the projects that fail horribly.
Second thought: The reason that SAP programs often fail so badly is that they are the classic "Cathedral" projects. The whole thing has to be done by a bunch of (yes, hugely paid) outside consultants, who have to basically inhale the structure of an entire multinational company, and then configure an application to mirror that structure. And you thought your website was a burden.
You have to use the Cathedral approach when managing a organisation. At least that's true for most current companies. Try to imagine a company without a CEO where every employee makes its own decisions based on their picture of the situation. Btw: Except from the core of the R/3 system (which is written in C/C++) all the applications are available in their source code, although they're written in ABAP/4, R/3's interpreted 4GL.
Please ignore.
[flame bait on]
The USA is the only nation that went from barbarism straight into degeneration.
[flame bait off]
- A European.
PS: As others already pointed out there are actually a few other countries in America, not just the USA.
If I look at the operating systems that all my friends use I can say that the percentage of Linux is much higher than 1%. All of them use Windows in one form or another (95, 98, NT) but almost half of them also run Linux on the same machine.
It's always difficult to get good statistics without a representative group. Counting the percentage of Linux by looking at Slashdot's access statistic won't give yoy the real picture. Nerds like Linux so the number will be higher than the real picture.
Windows 95/98 is used for gaming, Linux/NT for the more serious stuff.
The Psion Series 5 is an excellent machine (disclaimer: I own one) but I really wonder what Psion/Symbian has been doing for the last two years. A faster processor, a slightly better screen and some improvements to the built-in apps? That's a little bit disappointing. There's very little that I can't do with my 'old' Series 5 right now that the 5mx can. With a CF disk I should be able to install all the new apps without a thought and Psion's even considering a ROM update for the plain 5.
;-).
So what do you get? Some more speed and a slighlty better screen. Considering the fact that speed never was a problem for me anyway (even searching my company's contact database with >3000 entries only takes a few seconds) - all that remains is the improved screen.
Hm, I really was expecting something more dramatic to wipe out the CE competition (despite the fact that the 5mx probably still is the best PDA with keynoard around). To kick MS's ass they have to do better. Otherwise the Big Bad Company's marketing power will stomp Psion sooner or later (we've seen them doing that before and everybody knows that Beta was superior to VHS
[Sidenote: I sent my Psion in for repairs almost three months ago and still waiting for the machine - grr. Their customer support is really awful]
Actually I'm not really surprised. Most politicians (the German ones are no exception), like most 'ordinary' people, aren't aware of geekish stuff like Linux. All they see is the omnipresence of MS on their computers.
The DOJ isn't that big in the German news and even if the outcome doesn't favor MS - what will be the consequences for Rheinland-Pfalz (which btw is just around 10% of Germany anyway)?
and