Actually, I think 2000 is pretty darned good stuff, if not a little bit over-featured. As long as one is working for someone who pays the bills, there's a lot to be said for it. If it were my company, though, I think I'd be looking at Open Source for the long-term strategy. I think MS still gets way too much money for what it delivers. Where I work, it's predominantly Win2K, with a sprinkling of Linux. But the CEO seems more and more interested in Open Source with every passing financial quarter. I know we're not alone in that respect. Keep those *nix skills honed, my brother!
Agreed, 100 percent. Our experience mirrors yours. When I first arrived to manage this all-Windows shop, mention of the word "Linux" caused other admins to frown as if someone had cut the cheese. Admittedly, the first GUIs for Linux didn't immediately help change this situation. But when Linux "servers" - - which is to say, junked PCs - - started turning in amazing uptimes, doing their small but helpful jobs day after day, everyone took notice. Now, people want to know what ELSE I can move from NT to Linux. In too many cases, I have to say that I can't move proprietary software from its intended OS, but we CAN start looking for Open Source solutions when we're choosing new software packages.
Change comes slowly, but a good value will eventually get the attention it should. In the meantime, RedHat 8 just loves all these formerly-retired Proliant 1600s running hardware RAID5 . . ..
"...companies have turned to Linux and other open-source software programs, seeing them as cheap but adequate alternatives."
I'd amend this to say companies find that Linux and Friends aren't just "cheap but adequate." Instead, we find on the server side that they are cheap, rock solid, effective, and simple. In my opinion, Microsoft does do many things well. But MS continues to believe that "featurization" is what companies want, and that corporate types will see additional features as being worth additional time, trouble, and money. What MS might finally be seeing is that more feature-laden, more trouble-prone, and more expensive is NOT what we're looking for. Open Source code should serve as a model for Microsoft, at least in the back office, because it's written by geeks, for geeks. And, obviously, it works.
-In our server room, which, admittedly, is a little crowded, a Windows 95 box was disconnected from the network but accidently left running. It stayed up for more than a year. No load, of course, but it stayed up. It made the hair on my neck stand on end.
-In the same server room, a clone PC running Suse Linux 7.0 ran for just short of two years without a reboot. It would have gone longer had the old, 2 gig hard disk not died a clunking death. Fortunately, the web data was on a different disk. We loaded another system drive and had our departmental web/Samba server up in minutes.
-We have a Compaq Prosignia 200 running NT4 and Raptor 6.0 Firewall. It has seen uptimes exceeding 9 months on more than one occasion. Would have gone longer, I think, were it not for some memory leaks in the Raptor management console snap-in.
I point these things out so as to ask the question: how stable is stable? Hey, *nix has been my passion for years, but I've seen for myself that NT4 and, now, Windows 2000, can perform well if they are set up by someone who knows what s/he is doing. I believe impressive uptimes can be attributed to many things, but I do not always blame the OS code for the bad things that happen.We all know what bad firmware and drivers can do. I'll take NT4 on an Alphaserver over Linux on a Packard-Bell any day.
Of course, Linux on the Alphaserver is better yet . . . . : )
Hey, WatchGuard has been running on a Linux 2.x kernel for a while now - - sure would be nice to be able to put their software on a box of my choosing. Their stuff is pretty pricey . . ..
Too bad I'm not a real coder, maybe I'd try it myself. As firewalls go, WatchGuard's a pretty good one.
"Innovation is not something that is easy to do in the kind of distributed environment that the open-source/Linux world works in. I would argue that our customers have seen a lot more innovation from us than they have seen from that community." - Ballmer
Oh, now I get it - - innovation is better fostered in the isolation and seclusion of a monopolist citadel where developers churn out adopt-and-extend application code that locks users into ever more expensive - - and buggy - - products. Why didn't I see this before?
Is there anyone among us who would not bet money that when SCO - - as a corporate entity unto itself - - bites the big one, it will more resemble a puff of breath than an explosion? I see SCO making its way, slowly but surely, into the Bozos Inc. Hall of Fame. I've rarely seen such a series of boneheaded maneuvers as that which has come from Caldera and its permutations. I mean, shouldn't they have sued Redhat first? If they'd won, they might have had a warchest to use against IBM. But to take on IBM first . . . . now THAT'S idiotic.
If you are, then, as a consultant, you want to work with people who value your opinion. They might not always do everything you recommend, but, on the other hand, they'll hold it against you if you let them crash and burn. People pay consultants for what they know. You can always offer your best opinion, preferably in writing, and preferably with more than one viable option. Then take payment for what you're asked to do.
Too bad we can't jail congressmen for stupid remarks. Then again, maybe it's for the best. The prisons are overcrowded enough as it is, and the last thing these people need are more free meals.
Actually, SuSE and RedHat are not separate entities, but part of all Linux. And Linux is part of all operating systems.
So there is no "either/or" - - all are the same. The one you have before you in this moment is the only one, and at the same time, it is every one. Give your full attention to the OS before you, and see all that it is. When you run Redhat, everything is Redhat; when you run SuSE, everything is SuSE. There is no quality that is "SuSE." There is no quality that makes RedHat "RedHat." What will you take away from SuSE to make it not-SuSE? So there is no identity to take away, or to give. There is no form to take away. In emptiness, we are all one.
My mother was an educator, and this was one of her favorite sayings - - that the greatest gift you can give a student is an interest in continued learning. Learning how to learn is of the utmost importance. So, in the situation described here, one might put forward the idea that the potential for exploration through contact with Open Source software is inherently greater than that from working with restrictive, proprietary products. With Microsoft software, you have a tool. With Open Source software, you own a foundry.
How many times have you heard the saying, "Money Talks,and Bullshit Walks"?
Well, here we have a story in which a smart administrator has become fed up with Microsoft's assertion that "the more you spend, the more you save." "Software Assurance" is an insult to even the feeble minded, let alone astute individuals in IT and upper management.
The economic crunch is getting very crunchy now, and the more people hear about the virtues of Open Source software, the more they ask themselves, "Could it work for us?" We will be seeing many more stories, soon, in which IT managers tell Microsoft to take their BS for a long walk. But be ready - - Microsoft WILL respond with lower prices because they can, and have, used predatory pricing before. You can't underprice Linux, but you can make people think twice about switching. Still, it's going to be fun to watch.
Can it be anything other than a sign of desperation when tech-gadget companies begin throwing together as many vaguely-related features as possible in the hope that some pocket-sized combination of dissimilar appliances will fire the imagination of the buying public and drive sales for a financial quarter or two? That said, does anyone make a good portable label maker with a built-in PDA?
And to think that, all this time . . . ..
on
Server In A Fly
·
· Score: 1
. . . . I've been trying to get a fly OUT of my server.
In case Slashdot readers have not been paying attention, Microsoft now promotes trustworthy computing. Trust is a two-way relationship; therefore, now that we are able to compute with MS products in confidence, it stands to reason that the same level of trust extends from Microsoft to users. The writer of this article evidently has not kept up with recent news.
However, I plan to wait for the release of the mag-lev iPod which will float elegantly around to each board member at the table, taking orders for half-caf/half-decaf lattes, then waft down the stairs to speak to the kitchen crew's iPods, which will . . . . oh, hell, you get the idea.
"....employee morale is generally down when net controls are in place."
Administrator morale is generally down when employees are free to download every spyware app known to man, then complain to IT about their Windoze boxes blowing up while they were entering their network passwords into Gator.
The vastness of space . . . . .
on
Baked Apple
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
. . . is nothing compared to the boundlessness of stupidity.
Hey, I love to hear people crack on MCSEs, but maybe not for the reasons you'd expect. Yeah, I'm an MCSE. And yeah, maybe I'm no genius, because I had to work hard to pass those exams. But I won't apologize for being an NT admin, because it has paid me well. The fact is that I was doing Linux networking when Slackware ruled and nobody had heard of Redhat. When I took the NT classes, I had a better view of the "big picture" than most of my classmates, I think, thanks to the Unix exposure. But when it came time for interviews, the MCSE was what everyone wanted to talk about - - that, and Novell. So I took that first job as an NT admin making the usual $40k starter. And you know what? The training I'd had turned out to be totally worthwhile. Day after day, I was glad I'd been through the exams, because I was using what I'd learned.
Lastly, let me say that it took me four years to take my boss's job - - a comfy little spot where I don't work weekends or nights unless I want to, and I put *nix wherever it makes sense. The money's just fine: I drive a nice car, live in a waterfront property, get four weeks of vacation, plus the usual perks. What got me through the door wasn't what I could do with Linux, comrades. It was the MCSE. And the ability to spell most words correctly. So laugh hearty - - I'll be laughing,too.
Slashdot Mirror
Why? Why?
Actually, I think 2000 is pretty darned good stuff, if not a little bit over-featured. As long as one is working for someone who pays the bills, there's a lot to be said for it. If it were my company, though, I think I'd be looking at Open Source for the long-term strategy. I think MS still gets way too much money for what it delivers. Where I work, it's predominantly Win2K, with a sprinkling of Linux. But the CEO seems more and more interested in Open Source with every passing financial quarter. I know we're not alone in that respect. Keep those *nix skills honed, my brother!
. . . I must say, this one's pretty cool. You've got to appreciate the craftsmanship if nothing else.
Agreed, 100 percent. Our experience mirrors yours. When I first arrived to manage this all-Windows shop, mention of the word "Linux" caused other admins to frown as if someone had cut the cheese. Admittedly, the first GUIs for Linux didn't immediately help change this situation. But when Linux "servers" - - which is to say, junked PCs - - started turning in amazing uptimes, doing their small but helpful jobs day after day, everyone took notice. Now, people want to know what ELSE I can move from NT to Linux. In too many cases, I have to say that I can't move proprietary software from its intended OS, but we CAN start looking for Open Source solutions when we're choosing new software packages.
Change comes slowly, but a good value will eventually get the attention it should. In the meantime, RedHat 8 just loves all these formerly-retired Proliant 1600s running hardware RAID5 . . .
"...companies have turned to Linux and other open-source software programs, seeing them as cheap but adequate alternatives."
I'd amend this to say companies find that Linux and Friends aren't just "cheap but adequate." Instead, we find on the server side that they are cheap, rock solid, effective, and simple. In my opinion, Microsoft does do many things well. But MS continues to believe that "featurization" is what companies want, and that corporate types will see additional features as being worth additional time, trouble, and money. What MS might finally be seeing is that more feature-laden, more trouble-prone, and more expensive is NOT what we're looking for. Open Source code should serve as a model for Microsoft, at least in the back office, because it's written by geeks, for geeks. And, obviously, it works.
These are true statements:
-In our server room, which, admittedly, is a little crowded, a Windows 95 box was disconnected from the network but accidently left running. It stayed up for more than a year. No load, of course, but it stayed up. It made the hair on my neck stand on end.
-In the same server room, a clone PC running Suse Linux 7.0 ran for just short of two years without a reboot. It would have gone longer had the old, 2 gig hard disk not died a clunking death. Fortunately, the web data was on a different disk. We loaded another system drive and had our departmental web/Samba server up in minutes.
-We have a Compaq Prosignia 200 running NT4 and Raptor 6.0 Firewall. It has seen uptimes exceeding 9 months on more than one occasion. Would have gone longer, I think, were it not for some memory leaks in the Raptor management console snap-in.
I point these things out so as to ask the question: how stable is stable? Hey, *nix has been my passion for years, but I've seen for myself that NT4 and, now, Windows 2000, can perform well if they are set up by someone who knows what s/he is doing. I believe impressive uptimes can be attributed to many things, but I do not always blame the OS code for the bad things that happen.We all know what bad firmware and drivers can do. I'll take NT4 on an Alphaserver over Linux on a Packard-Bell any day.
Of course, Linux on the Alphaserver is better yet . . . . : )
Hey, WatchGuard has been running on a Linux 2.x kernel for a while now - - sure would be nice to be able to put their software on a box of my choosing. Their stuff is pretty pricey . . .
Too bad I'm not a real coder, maybe I'd try it myself. As firewalls go, WatchGuard's a pretty good one.
Is it a geek thing?
"Innovation is not something that is easy to do in the kind of distributed environment that the open-source/Linux world works in. I would argue that our customers have seen a lot more innovation from us than they have seen from that community." - Ballmer
Oh, now I get it - - innovation is better fostered in the isolation and seclusion of a monopolist citadel where developers churn out adopt-and-extend application code that locks users into ever more expensive - - and buggy - - products. Why didn't I see this before?
Is there anyone among us who would not bet money that when SCO - - as a corporate entity unto itself - - bites the big one, it will more resemble a puff of breath than an explosion? I see SCO making its way, slowly but surely, into the Bozos Inc. Hall of Fame. I've rarely seen such a series of boneheaded maneuvers as that which has come from Caldera and its permutations. I mean, shouldn't they have sued Redhat first? If they'd won, they might have had a warchest to use against IBM. But to take on IBM first . . . . now THAT'S idiotic.
. . . . such a waste of living brain tissue.
If you are, then, as a consultant, you want to work with people who value your opinion. They might not always do everything you recommend, but, on the other hand, they'll hold it against you if you let them crash and burn. People pay consultants for what they know. You can always offer your best opinion, preferably in writing, and preferably with more than one viable option. Then take payment for what you're asked to do.
Too bad we can't jail congressmen for stupid remarks. Then again, maybe it's for the best. The prisons are overcrowded enough as it is, and the last thing these people need are more free meals.
Actually, SuSE and RedHat are not separate entities, but part of all Linux. And Linux is part of all operating systems.
So there is no "either/or" - - all are the same. The one you have before you in this moment is the only one, and at the same time, it is every one. Give your full attention to the OS before you, and see all that it is. When you run Redhat, everything is Redhat; when you run SuSE, everything is SuSE. There is no quality that is "SuSE." There is no quality that makes RedHat "RedHat." What will you take away from SuSE to make it not-SuSE? So there is no identity to take away, or to give. There is no form to take away. In emptiness, we are all one.
My mother was an educator, and this was one of her favorite sayings - - that the greatest gift you can give a student is an interest in continued learning. Learning how to learn is of the utmost importance. So, in the situation described here, one might put forward the idea that the potential for exploration through contact with Open Source software is inherently greater than that from working with restrictive, proprietary products. With Microsoft software, you have a tool. With Open Source software, you own a foundry.
How many times have you heard the saying, "Money Talks,and Bullshit Walks"?
Well, here we have a story in which a smart administrator has become fed up with Microsoft's assertion that "the more you spend, the more you save." "Software Assurance" is an insult to even the feeble minded, let alone astute individuals in IT and upper management.
The economic crunch is getting very crunchy now, and the more people hear about the virtues of Open Source software, the more they ask themselves, "Could it work for us?" We will be seeing many more stories, soon, in which IT managers tell Microsoft to take their BS for a long walk. But be ready - - Microsoft WILL respond with lower prices because they can, and have, used predatory pricing before. You can't underprice Linux, but you can make people think twice about switching. Still, it's going to be fun to watch.
Out, out, brief candle . . .
Can it be anything other than a sign of desperation when tech-gadget companies begin throwing together as many vaguely-related features as possible in the hope that some pocket-sized combination of dissimilar appliances will fire the imagination of the buying public and drive sales for a financial quarter or two? That said, does anyone make a good portable label maker with a built-in PDA?
. . . . I've been trying to get a fly OUT of my server.
The blonde, however, will be missed in some respects.
In case Slashdot readers have not been paying attention, Microsoft now promotes trustworthy computing. Trust is a two-way relationship; therefore, now that we are able to compute with MS products in confidence, it stands to reason that the same level of trust extends from Microsoft to users. The writer of this article evidently has not kept up with recent news.
. . . . I really DO have a life.
Hey, great!! Apple saves the world yet AGAIN!!
However, I plan to wait for the release of the mag-lev iPod which will float elegantly around to each board member at the table, taking orders for half-caf/half-decaf lattes, then waft down the stairs to speak to the kitchen crew's iPods, which will . . . . oh, hell, you get the idea.
"....employee morale is generally down when net controls are in place."
Administrator morale is generally down when employees are free to download every spyware app known to man, then complain to IT about their Windoze boxes blowing up while they were entering their network passwords into Gator.
. . . is nothing compared to the boundlessness of stupidity.
Right on, my friend.
Hey, I love to hear people crack on MCSEs, but maybe not for the reasons you'd expect. Yeah, I'm an MCSE. And yeah, maybe I'm no genius, because I had to work hard to pass those exams. But I won't apologize for being an NT admin, because it has paid me well. The fact is that I was doing Linux networking when Slackware ruled and nobody had heard of Redhat. When I took the NT classes, I had a better view of the "big picture" than most of my classmates, I think, thanks to the Unix exposure. But when it came time for interviews, the MCSE was what everyone wanted to talk about - - that, and Novell. So I took that first job as an NT admin making the usual $40k starter. And you know what? The training I'd had turned out to be totally worthwhile. Day after day, I was glad I'd been through the exams, because I was using what I'd learned.
Lastly, let me say that it took me four years to take my boss's job - - a comfy little spot where I don't work weekends or nights unless I want to, and I put *nix wherever it makes sense. The money's just fine: I drive a nice car, live in a waterfront property, get four weeks of vacation, plus the usual perks. What got me through the door wasn't what I could do with Linux, comrades. It was the MCSE. And the ability to spell most words correctly. So laugh hearty - - I'll be laughing,too.