Microsoft is most likely finding a gateway between their technology and everyone else's to create a migration path towards MS products. Once everyone has flocked over, the usual grab-you-by-the-balls policies apply. What I think they're missing is that the technology works the other way too. You can use this interoperability to get off the MS train. Look at Services for Unix... it created a path that goes both ways between *NIX and MS. MS probably designed it as a one-way tunnel, but in return we got a pathway to migrate off.
Conspiracy theorize all you want to, but MS may have just handed linux the keys to the desktop.
I can rattle off a list about ways of going about it. The question is, how the hell do I backup 500 PCs in an efficient manner on a regular basis? I agree that there are some cool techniques (including the one you mentioned) but getting a setup that works well would take far more time than our current method. Not to mention that doesn't solve the original problem, user issues and hardware upgrade.
Oh, and I should also mention that something like telling users to save their data on the server makes sense, but there are folks above me that have fundamental issues with this.
I am by no means an industry analyst, but here's my observations.
We started off here at work with a System 36 and dumb terminals at everyone's desk. Everyone got their work done, and aside from hardware problems, there was no need to get up and walk to somone's desk. If anyone had problems, it was all centralized. All my work was done from my desk.
We then moved off dumb terminals and replaced everything with PCs. Trips to people's desk are frequent (probably 20 a day) and the rest of the time is spent building replacement PCs. Users store their own data, and if their drive crashes without a backup, they're SOL. How do you get a user to backup their data on a regular basis? Got me.
Now we start looking at server based solutions like Citrix and $300 Wyse terminals on the desk. Hmm.. minimized trips to the desk, all management centralized, hey, didn't we used to have that?
It looks to me like we have a trend. We got off the diskless/helpless workstations in favor of robust, useful boxes. Now we're heading back that helpless box stage and centralize our configuration, installation, and data. I predict that diskless will always be, and in fact will be favorable in reduced admin costs. because of that I welcome a market that is competitive at the thin client level.
At least you're not waiting for your new Christmas present to arrive, and find a note on your door that the package was again not delivered because you weren't home, despite the fact that you were home all day and they dind't bother ringing the doorbell.
To respond to the grandparent threads: IIRC UPS insures everything for $100 by default.
I knew when we went all weekend without a SCO story that things were a little off. Now the only SCO news we get are dupes. Are you feeling OK?
You haven't said much in awhile. Either the ESR response cornered you (doubtful) or you've run out of things to say (more likely). Darl, please issue a new press release. We haven't heard from you in awhile and I want to make sure you're still OK. You were innovating so much with all those press releases, one right after another, and now with this lack of press releases I wonder, have you stifled your own innovation? Also, I haven't fallen on my ass laughing boisterously since Friday, and I need some inspiration. Thanks!
Your friend
PS I still owe you a SCO license. The check is in the mail, I promise.
I and others mentioned this awhile back in the article about MS trying to overtake Google. In all honesty, this may just be a flaw in their search algorithm. It's obvious that they're accepting payola for rankings, so if their algorithm looks like:
1. Return results on top payer (Amazon?) 2. Return results on other payers (Ebay, etc) 3. Return results from a search of Microsoft's site 4. Return the reults from a search of the internet
Then linux isn't singled out. Of course we can speculate all we want to, since this is Slashdot and everything is a conspiracy. In all honesty it looks fishy, but if my above theory about their algorithm is true it makes perfect sense. Sorry MS, but if you want to replace Google on the internet, you need to be OBJECTIVE. Right now you're just another search engone, and a crappy one at that.
While this does seem like a cool project, the very premise is a bit skewed. Libraries used to be quite places, talking was always frowned upon, and the librarian was some old 90 year old hag who cared more about smacking people around than passing on knowledge.
Times, my friend, are changing.
It's often acceptible to socialize in libraries now. There are usually designated quiet portions of the library, but for the most part interaction between patrons is allowed. In fact, larger libraries set up study groups and so forth where interaction is ENCOURAGED among patrons who are interested in a similar topic.
This is weird because I was asking a guy just today on why so many hams DON'T use linux. Most of them have at least heard of it, if not tried it.
Hams are technically literate folks who don't pay for anything if they don't have to. If you can build it, why pay someone for it? I'm shocked that most of them can make a radio out of some wire and a resistor because it's cheap, yet choose to pay $200 for a Windows license.
And as for the poll, I assume the same rules apply on eham.com as/., I quote::
This whole thing is wildly inaccurate. Rounding errors, ballot stuffers, dynamic IPs, firewalls. If you're using these numbers to do anything important, you're insane.
So whether or not we should put any stock into a poll on another website and make an article out of it makes me wonder.
Hams do lots of things. Most of the time it's general banter, contacting whoever you can contact. Often times it's used as a telephone replacement, since it's easy (and free) to talk to many people at once (aka conference calling). There's also contesting, if you check out the events calendar on the ARRL site I linked to you'll see a bunch of "try to contact as many people in the allotted time according to these rules" type events. While it may seem silly at times, it gives us practice.
Often times contests require us to run on our own power, give us a limited set of hardware, and the objective is to make contacts. Hmm.. sound like an emergency drill? Hams respond quickly because in all our non-emergency downtime we get practice so jumping on the air in a moment's notice is almost second nature.
It's mostly covered in the article, but the things that set hams apart are:
* We always have our own power * We know how to conduct ourselves on the radio for maximum efficiency (everyone knows how to take turns reporting etc) * We know how our radios work so when they break, we can fix them quickly * We can make damn near anything from a coil of wire and a battery in the middle of nowhere
The only way to spread this is to open the attachment and run it
Older versions of OE like to auto-open attachments, especially those that spoof their MIME type (I'm a TXT document, open me! Oh wait, I'm an EXE, HAH I fooled you!).
The real problem is that it's too easy for a user to open an attachment. Especially if the attachment is using the notebook icon and the whitespace trick (lots of white space between file.text and its real.exe extension). If OE was smarter about flagging executable file types and even able to quarantine it so the user couldn't open it without REALLY wanting to that'd go a long way.
To answer your original question, how is this MS's fault, it's all about marketing. Microsoft products (desktop and server) are marketed for simplicity. You don't have to be smart to use a Windows machine or set up a server. They build up confidence in users who shouldn't be anywhere near this stuff, then when stuff like this happens they blame the user for not knowing any better. Well MS, you were the ones who said they didn't have to, now you're blaming them. Make up your minds!
Slashdot Mirror
My neighborhood didn't lose power ... or phone service, but the cable and internet have been solidly down since the storm.
/. without internet.
You know you're good when you can post on
Services for Unix
Microsoft is most likely finding a gateway between their technology and everyone else's to create a migration path towards MS products. Once everyone has flocked over, the usual grab-you-by-the-balls policies apply. What I think they're missing is that the technology works the other way too. You can use this interoperability to get off the MS train. Look at Services for Unix... it created a path that goes both ways between *NIX and MS. MS probably designed it as a one-way tunnel, but in return we got a pathway to migrate off.
Conspiracy theorize all you want to, but MS may have just handed linux the keys to the desktop.
I've been around here way too long. No one even remembers
I'ev proued hto gtris dwon ym ptans. Tnahk Yuo.
Sad, really.....
I can rattle off a list about ways of going about it. The question is, how the hell do I backup 500 PCs in an efficient manner on a regular basis? I agree that there are some cool techniques (including the one you mentioned) but getting a setup that works well would take far more time than our current method. Not to mention that doesn't solve the original problem, user issues and hardware upgrade.
Oh, and I should also mention that something like telling users to save their data on the server makes sense, but there are folks above me that have fundamental issues with this.
I am by no means an industry analyst, but here's my observations.
We started off here at work with a System 36 and dumb terminals at everyone's desk. Everyone got their work done, and aside from hardware problems, there was no need to get up and walk to somone's desk. If anyone had problems, it was all centralized. All my work was done from my desk.
We then moved off dumb terminals and replaced everything with PCs. Trips to people's desk are frequent (probably 20 a day) and the rest of the time is spent building replacement PCs. Users store their own data, and if their drive crashes without a backup, they're SOL. How do you get a user to backup their data on a regular basis? Got me.
Now we start looking at server based solutions like Citrix and $300 Wyse terminals on the desk. Hmm.. minimized trips to the desk, all management centralized, hey, didn't we used to have that?
It looks to me like we have a trend. We got off the diskless/helpless workstations in favor of robust, useful boxes. Now we're heading back that helpless box stage and centralize our configuration, installation, and data. I predict that diskless will always be, and in fact will be favorable in reduced admin costs. because of that I welcome a market that is competitive at the thin client level.
I've seen these and I'm intrigued, but the question remains, where do you get that much used grease? Black clothing and a nightly trip to McDonald's?
At least you're not waiting for your new Christmas present to arrive, and find a note on your door that the package was again not delivered because you weren't home, despite the fact that you were home all day and they dind't bother ringing the doorbell.
To respond to the grandparent threads: IIRC UPS insures everything for $100 by default.
Am I the only one who read "Co-founder of Joy to leave Sun" and thought this was about dishwashing soap?
started using Google because of the "more evil than satan himself" index?
Before the news hit about that, I wasn't even aware of Google. Happy Birthday!
Yes, it compiles vaporware in half the time.
Wait for the RIAA to mandate DRM for your brain. Then the confusion will be cleared up.
It's ok. They'll be /.'d to hell and learn not to advertise here.
Dear Darl,
I knew when we went all weekend without a SCO story that things were a little off. Now the only SCO news we get are dupes. Are you feeling OK?
You haven't said much in awhile. Either the ESR response cornered you (doubtful) or you've run out of things to say (more likely). Darl, please issue a new press release. We haven't heard from you in awhile and I want to make sure you're still OK. You were innovating so much with all those press releases, one right after another, and now with this lack of press releases I wonder, have you stifled your own innovation? Also, I haven't fallen on my ass laughing boisterously since Friday, and I need some inspiration. Thanks!
Your friend
PS I still owe you a SCO license. The check is in the mail, I promise.
I have this overwhelming desire to hang out with fags, do faggotly things, stick foreign objects in my anus, etc. Is this normal?
Yeah, they fixed this in the 2.6 kernel tree. Try upgrading, you'll feel much better afterwards.
I and others mentioned this awhile back in the article about MS trying to overtake Google. In all honesty, this may just be a flaw in their search algorithm. It's obvious that they're accepting payola for rankings, so if their algorithm looks like:
1. Return results on top payer (Amazon?)
2. Return results on other payers (Ebay, etc)
3. Return results from a search of Microsoft's site
4. Return the reults from a search of the internet
Then linux isn't singled out. Of course we can speculate all we want to, since this is Slashdot and everything is a conspiracy. In all honesty it looks fishy, but if my above theory about their algorithm is true it makes perfect sense. Sorry MS, but if you want to replace Google on the internet, you need to be OBJECTIVE. Right now you're just another search engone, and a crappy one at that.
While this does seem like a cool project, the very premise is a bit skewed. Libraries used to be quite places, talking was always frowned upon, and the librarian was some old 90 year old hag who cared more about smacking people around than passing on knowledge.
Times, my friend, are changing.
It's often acceptible to socialize in libraries now. There are usually designated quiet portions of the library, but for the most part interaction between patrons is allowed. In fact, larger libraries set up study groups and so forth where interaction is ENCOURAGED among patrons who are interested in a similar topic.
Hams are technically literate folks who don't pay for anything if they don't have to. If you can build it, why pay someone for it? I'm shocked that most of them can make a radio out of some wire and a resistor because it's cheap, yet choose to pay $200 for a Windows license.
And as for the poll, I assume the same rules apply on eham.com as
So whether or not we should put any stock into a poll on another website and make an article out of it makes me wonder.
There's still a good number of homebrewers below 30Mhz. The lower you go, the easier parts are to find and less guesswork is needed.
Digital circuitry is being taught in the extra exam prep courses, I'm hoping it flows downward.
We don't have the ability to resolder SMPs on the fly, no, but simple stuff like power problems and antnenna loss are easily fixed.
Most non hams (CB, FRS) can't do that very effectively.
Gawd I love QRZ's callsign lookup.
Congrats Ben, I didn't realize you had your license. Are you tech only?
-KC0IOG
A few sites of interest:
American Relay Radio League
QRZ
Hams do lots of things. Most of the time it's general banter, contacting whoever you can contact. Often times it's used as a telephone replacement, since it's easy (and free) to talk to many people at once (aka conference calling). There's also contesting, if you check out the events calendar on the ARRL site I linked to you'll see a bunch of "try to contact as many people in the allotted time according to these rules" type events. While it may seem silly at times, it gives us practice.
Often times contests require us to run on our own power, give us a limited set of hardware, and the objective is to make contacts. Hmm.. sound like an emergency drill? Hams respond quickly because in all our non-emergency downtime we get practice so jumping on the air in a moment's notice is almost second nature.
It's mostly covered in the article, but the things that set hams apart are:
* We always have our own power
* We know how to conduct ourselves on the radio for maximum efficiency (everyone knows how to take turns reporting etc)
* We know how our radios work so when they break, we can fix them quickly
* We can make damn near anything from a coil of wire and a battery in the middle of nowhere
Yes, McGyver was definitely a ham radio op.
The only way to spread this is to open the attachment and run it
.exe extension). If OE was smarter about flagging executable file types and even able to quarantine it so the user couldn't open it without REALLY wanting to that'd go a long way.
Older versions of OE like to auto-open attachments, especially those that spoof their MIME type (I'm a TXT document, open me! Oh wait, I'm an EXE, HAH I fooled you!).
The real problem is that it's too easy for a user to open an attachment. Especially if the attachment is using the notebook icon and the whitespace trick (lots of white space between file.text and its real
To answer your original question, how is this MS's fault, it's all about marketing. Microsoft products (desktop and server) are marketed for simplicity. You don't have to be smart to use a Windows machine or set up a server. They build up confidence in users who shouldn't be anywhere near this stuff, then when stuff like this happens they blame the user for not knowing any better. Well MS, you were the ones who said they didn't have to, now you're blaming them. Make up your minds!
Cringely, unfortunately, is the Latoya Jackson of the computer industry.
We can only hope he doesn't publish photos of him riding naked on a horse *shudder*
I think someone screwed up the headline. It should read:
GPL Declares SCO Attorney Invalid
Much better.
...a story about a top notch reverse engineer (Ben Affleck) who, after a quick memory wipe, finds trying to piece together the mystery of his past.
After seeing Gigli, I wished for a quick memory wipe.