'Novell is going to own the most popular Linux distribution in a few years. That's not too shabby of a deal. I fail to see what you're failing to see about this deal'
NovelSOFT Linux is *NOT* Open Source. Tell us precisely what Novell got out of the deal. MS and Novell exchange paper and MS gets NOVL to agree that NOVL is violating MS intelluctual property in Linux.
'Novel/SUSE becomes the only version of Linux that MS officially supports to work with Windows'
Exactly, easier to crack the one chesnut at a time. Ms can also use the agreement to dissuade people from doing business with other Open Source companies. For instance get Novell to trash Redhat amd agree the Windows has lower TCO than Linux.
'SUSE becomes the most popular distribution used in commercial settings by a large margin'
And if that happens MS launches a takeover/merger, results being real Open Source being reduced to the non-profit sector. If SUSE don't take off, then no great loss, just the exchange of a few vouchers. A Win/Win for you know who.
'I can only assume you're referring to the IIS 5.0 buffer overflow which exploited systems, and here is the key, which were never intended to be web servers'
Then please tell us what IIS 5.0 was actually designed for.
'As IIS 5.0 was installed and operational on all Windows 2000 Servers unless specifically disabled this led to a huge number of web servers which Netcraft can't account for (as they're internal)''
And can you produce some evidence that most of the hacks were on non-operational Servers that Netcraft didn't account for. And if Netcraft didn't count these non-operational non-web servers then how did they turn up in the count. And how did they get hacked if they were internal. And... aaahhh.. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it.
'If you put computers on a network and open that network to the outside world via the Internet, you're going to have security problems, regardless of whether you're running Windows, Mac OS, Linux'
Ok, given the number of web servers out there as reported by Netcraft, why aren't there 56% Linux breeches as against 31% MS.
'Microsoft is purchasing and redistributing Suse Linux Enterprise Server certificates under the deal'
So basically certain companies are paying Microsoft to use their own SuSE software. What Novell are doing is legitimizing MS claim to Linix IP rights. A precident of gigantic and enormous consequences. Novell basically gave away their business under vague threats of IP violations. I can see what Microsoft got out of the deal, but I can't for the life of me see what Novell gets out of it.
An analogy, I'm the CIO of Corleone olive oil business and out of the blue the New Jersey Mob phones me up and say I am violating their patented recipe . But they say, lets do a deal, we'll promise not to sue and give you the rights to continue to distribute our patented recipe and in return we'll purchase 'certificates' to distribute Corleone olive oil.
Next thing I know people are ringing me up asking why they should be paying me for New Jersey olive oil. Before ya know it I am out of the olive oil business. The Jersey crew offer to buy out my business at a rock bottom price and to let me stay on as CEO, if I don't go squealing to the the FEDs. Years later people would ask me why I gave away the family business to a shister extortionist - without raising a finger.
'Why does Dell have to purchase Suse Linux Enterprise Server certificates from Microsoft?'
It's to pollute Novell Suse with Windows and get people used to the idea of 'purchasing' SuSE Linux licenses from Microsoft. Not a lot of revenue in the mean time but ultimatly it will open up an avenue to buying out Novell and then suppressing non-Microsoft Linux.
billg: look see Novell is paying us revenue to sell SuSE, must be something in the litigation claims:)
Hey, Novell: being f***d over by MS the once shame on MS, being f****d over the twice shame on you.
'Open Source projects can be more expensive than their equivliant out of the box vendor specific solutions.. assuming you actually give them time to roll the software and train on it'
This is how most people use Open Source. Decide on a particular distro and sign a support contract. Any problems are dealt with upstream, by the software developers themselves. They are interested in bug reports but that is the sum total involvment of your IT staff in rolling software.
Open Source is about control of your IT and independence from vendors as well as reduced TCO, up to 90% according to the French DGI.
'it allows us to cut our software costs We are trying to evaluate the software TCO implied by our policy. It's probably a bit more than an overall factor of 10'
'Companies with at least 2,000 employees can reduce their total cost of ownership (TCO) by as much as 26 percent over three years by using Linux servers over Windows'
'The largest cost in many of these packages is the services and support component'
support fud..
'Do they have the staffing and budget to fly technicians and trainers out same day or next day?'
support fud..
'The reporting requirements in many states are so elaborate that it is only by economies of scale that a vendor can afford to provide and support compliant implementations'
compliance fud..
Sounds to me like that was written by a lawyer rather then a software 'engineer'..
was Re:As a "costly commercial package" engineer... (Score:2)
Since most people can't share the same desk, nevermind the same screen I don't know how this is going to work. If it is a matter of a shortage of desktops then invest in a diskless workstation server. It should work out at a fifth of the cost of the same number of fat clients. Besides which hardware is relatively cheap nowadays.
'Right-click on the Control panel icon you wish to run, whilst holding down the shift key, and 'runas' will be an option in the context menu'
Hey, it works. I have tried to lock down this Windows box. But a lot of things don't work right if you do, or need fiddling with. Eg, for standard-user, increase privacy settings in IExplorer, install apps as admin and give standard-user read-only access to the app directory.
Results is, a lot of the time certain web sites (Airline and Banks) won't run and there are certain menu items disabled, for instance the estimated ink level is missing on the printer tools box except logged in as admin.
Another example, a Usenet reader that can't add new options as it presumably can't write to the Registry. Have to raise rights, install, reduce rights.
Also I have normal.dot set read only for standard-user and Word Viewer set as the default DOC viewer. I forgot to mention, I disabled the AV software as it made opening docs take ages.
Baring unknown zero day hacks, it is possible to make Windows reasonably secure, the question is why isn't it. The answer is the average user hasn't the time or the inclination and shouldn't need to jump through hoops to do so.
If they banned television remotes and wired everyones couch to the grid, then every time someone got up to change the channel they would generate power.
quick say something negative about OpenBSD ..
on
OpenBSD 4.1 Released
·
· Score: 0, Redundant
I really like OpenBSD except for, they don't make their own ISO images, they disown you if you install Edgy and er.. they don't make their own ISO images..:)
'he seems to be one of these developpers who write GPL drivers for Linux (also GPL) but then refuse to have them included in the mainline kernel for some mystical reason'
Well I emailed him and got this reply:
'It is not "mystical reason", but a physical one: The mainline kernel did not
allow video decompression. Gspca decompress the video in the kernel'
'So we're expecting a flood of people complaining about how they are offering one specific distro'
Don't be so negative. The average user is happy with the one distro. The rest of us install five different distros in an evening - just for fun for the fun of it.
'I was under the impression that the idea behind getting linux pre-loaded was that you simply aren't paying for an OS you don't want'
No, the idea of pre-loaded linux was so the average user could work his computer without having to install an Operating System. How many people install their own Windows. They don't - it comes already installed on the computer.
'can we be happy just to not have windows pre-loaded, and not be paying for something that is going to get deleted?'.. Do we really have to argue about whether or not Ubuntu was the way to go?'
This is not aimed at the average \.dotter but the average Windows user. As such it's a good idea. From all reports Ubuntu is an ideal choice for a high spec ease of use desktop computer. Ximian or SuSE would have been another good choice. I suspect the MS patent deal had something to do with Dell not choosing them.
'if the argument is that it will introduce linux to the masses, well, I just don't see that happening'
Until they can walk into the high street shop and buy one then it won't. See my post re the Dell high street Store
'Then they'll do one of two things:
Ask you to show them how to use it (ugh)'
Click on Browser, click on Emailer etc. Personally I don't offer free tech advice anymore. I did install a Dell/BT wireless laptop solution a while back for £80.00. I have been back in four times to fix it - at no charge ( talk/talk stopped working, Yahoo msnger audio won't work under non-admin account/ modem forgets DMS settings unless reset once a forthnight, anti-spam software freezes in Outlook.. etc). This is one of the reasons I got out of the Windows business - I got fed up fixing things for free.
'pirate/buy windows'
If people want to pirate windows then they'll do like everyone else would and go down the market and get any software/DVD they want from Mahmood the trader.
'So, my original question: We're happy because this primarily means not paying for windows when we're not using it, right? What other benefits are there?'
As someone who has worked in the IT field for yonks, my primary reason for choosing Linux is reliability and security. On the desktop it doesn't crash as often as Vindows, no viruses or phishing attacks. If it does crash then it's because I done something. I have a Suse Box functioning as an SMB file server and it hasn't crashed in two years. The ISA server has to be rebooted once a week or it forgets what hardware is attached (IS_NOT_EQUAL bla, bla..).
'i remember seeing dell machines that offered linux instead of windows in the past.. but the prices were the same or HIGHER for linux!'
That's because the OEMs has to contract to sell a minium number of per system 'licenses' per quarter. If they fail then the short fall goes onto next quarters bill.
'COMPANY hereby agrees to pay MS for each Period (A) the minimum commitments amounts for the Period as set forth in Exhibit B, and (B) the amount by which cumulative royalties during a Period exceed minimum commitment amounts for that Period'
'(iv) To the extent that cumulative minimum commitment payments during a Period exceed cumulative royalties for such Period, such excess shall be known as "prepaid" royalties" and shall be recoupable against future royalties only during the initial Term of this Agreement and only for the Product(s) licensed herein. Prepaid royalties are not recoupable against payments made to Authorized Replicator.
was Linux needs no Windows Tax (Score:5, Interesting)
'What? If servers are where the money is, why not start there? If I was a stockholder I'd be concerned about that approach'
A Dell/Ubuntu desktop gets higher visibility. What would really allow it to take off is when the average users can walk into the high street computer shop and buy one. Dell should create franchises around 'Dell shops' something like the Apple stores and sell a total stack from the desktop to the server. They should also consider getting into the Digital Multimedia market.
'More important than the source code is an Open Format.. Flash is a proprietary, binary format and the Specification [adobe.com] forbids you from building an alternative player'
According to this Adobe is releasing Flex under the Mozilla Public License (MPL) which states:
'The Initial Developer hereby grants You a world-wide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license.. to make, have made, use, practice, sell, and offer for sale, and/or otherwise dispose of the Original Code'
How is 'Open Format' defined in the current context and do you have a citation for the Silverlight license.
If you consider how many non desktop devices run on 'Open Source' than you can still consider it hasn't reached its full potential. TiVo Inc, Sky+, and the BBC all sell a DVR although I'm not sure what's under the hood. The question is why Dell , Compaq and the rest haven't moved into this lucrative embedded market.
'Slick, well organised presentation rooms are an important issue when selling to enterprises. Hell, so is coffee and biscuits delivered to the room every couple of hours on a full day visit, instead of walking your visitors to the vending machine:)'
I believe you that RedHat made a presentation to an enterprise sized company using a cardboard prop and then marched the visitors to the vending machine for the coffee and biscuits break. I bet they even used pre-owned broken biscuits.
Content is more important then presentation. I worked for a Fortune 500 company that provided consultancy services to top companies. They had standerdised on Win2003 and were for ever restoring broken Exchange profiles and rebooting the FAX server, which used to go down on the weekend. A Fortune 500 company that can't receive faxes ??
The sum total of their expertise being a Macro that generated unique file names based on initials+dept-code+project-no. Eg CG.GR.VF.ppt. GR being the graphics dept. I forgot to tell you all their reports were in PowerPoint. Actually a consultant is someone who predicts what happened last year.
''I was trying to sell a bank on Linux, and my boss was a typical head of IT type - he's used to being woo'd by the vendors... Tickets to sporting events, slick presentations''
He sounds like the typical non-techie manager, if you don't mind me saying so. Who in his right mind would decide IT policy based on 'slick presentation' and bribery. You would find out who else was using the technology and could you see a working example.
''There's also a lot to be said for having the media on a disc should you need to quickly build a machine''
Are you seriously telling us you gave RedHat £300K and they didn't even give you the media?
''there just isn't a Linux vendor who can play in the enterprise space in the way that these people are used to being treated''
Alllow me to describe how the average company is treated. I once worked for a company that sold a CAD system based around Windows and a third party CAD design, to be used in kitchen design. The software would freeze at rendering a view. Microsoft said talk to the CAD company, the CAD company said it's a Microsoft problem. End results, loss of the contract and end of our attempt to get into the small office business. Contrast that with this. A while back I emailed the lead developer on mpeg4ip and you know what, I actually got a response.
'I am both AIX and Red Hat certified so I kinda know what I'm talking about'
I would believe you even if you didn't invoke your credentials to support your claims. Personally, I only have a Diploma in IT from some RedBrick technical college. I have worked at ISPs and a fortune 500 company. The ISPs invariably used BsdUnix and *never* had a crash. The fortune 500 used Windows2000/05/06 and were for ever remaking broken exchange profiles and rebooting the servers as the Fax service had crashed over the weekend and no one could send them a fax. Is there anyone here that has had a good expericence with Linux.
Generally the job market tells you what is the current hot technology. Luckly I never bothered to learn Java, like I'm not going to bother to learn dot.whatever.they.are.going.to.call.it.next
Slashdot Mirror
'Novell is going to own the most popular Linux distribution in a few years. That's not too shabby of a deal. I fail to see what you're failing to see about this deal'
..
NovelSOFT Linux is *NOT* Open Source. Tell us precisely what Novell got out of the deal. MS and Novell exchange paper and MS gets NOVL to agree that NOVL is violating MS intelluctual property in Linux.
'Novel/SUSE becomes the only version of Linux that MS officially supports to work with Windows'
Exactly, easier to crack the one chesnut at a time. Ms can also use the agreement to dissuade people from doing business with other Open Source companies. For instance get Novell to trash Redhat amd agree the Windows has lower TCO than Linux.
'SUSE becomes the most popular distribution used in commercial settings by a large margin'
And if that happens MS launches a takeover/merger, results being real Open Source being reduced to the non-profit sector. If SUSE don't take off, then no great loss, just the exchange of a few vouchers. A Win/Win for you know who.
'and Novell laughs all the way to the bank'
That's what this guy thought too
'I can only assume you're referring to the IIS 5.0 buffer overflow which exploited systems, and here is the key, which were never intended to be web servers'
... aaahhh .. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it.
Then please tell us what IIS 5.0 was actually designed for.
'As IIS 5.0 was installed and operational on all Windows 2000 Servers unless specifically disabled this led to a huge number of web servers which Netcraft can't account for (as they're internal)''
And can you produce some evidence that most of the hacks were on non-operational Servers that Netcraft didn't account for. And if Netcraft didn't count these non-operational non-web servers then how did they turn up in the count. And how did they get hacked if they were internal. And
was Re:Not exactly
'If you put computers on a network and open that network to the outside world via the Internet, you're going to have security problems, regardless of whether you're running Windows, Mac OS, Linux'
Ok, given the number of web servers out there as reported by Netcraft, why aren't there 56% Linux breeches as against 31% MS.
'Microsoft is purchasing and redistributing Suse Linux Enterprise Server certificates under the deal'
So basically certain companies are paying Microsoft to use their own SuSE software. What Novell are doing is legitimizing MS claim to Linix IP rights. A precident of gigantic and enormous consequences. Novell basically gave away their business under vague threats of IP violations. I can see what Microsoft got out of the deal, but I can't for the life of me see what Novell gets out of it.
An analogy, I'm the CIO of Corleone olive oil business and out of the blue the New Jersey Mob phones me up and say I am violating their patented recipe . But they say, lets do a deal, we'll promise not to sue and give you the rights to continue to distribute our patented recipe and in return we'll purchase 'certificates' to distribute Corleone olive oil.
Next thing I know people are ringing me up asking why they should be paying me for New Jersey olive oil. Before ya know it I am out of the olive oil business. The Jersey crew offer to buy out my business at a rock bottom price and to let me stay on as CEO, if I don't go squealing to the the FEDs. Years later people would ask me why I gave away the family business to a shister extortionist - without raising a finger.
'Why does Dell have to purchase Suse Linux Enterprise Server certificates from Microsoft?'
:)
It's to pollute Novell Suse with Windows and get people used to the idea of 'purchasing' SuSE Linux licenses from Microsoft. Not a lot of revenue in the mean time but ultimatly it will open up an avenue to buying out Novell and then suppressing non-Microsoft Linux.
billg: look see Novell is paying us revenue to sell SuSE, must be something in the litigation claims
Hey, Novell: being f***d over by MS the once shame on MS, being f****d over the twice shame on you.
Re:Am I missing somethign???
'Open Source projects can be more expensive than their equivliant out of the box vendor specific solutions .. assuming you actually give them time to roll the software and train on it'
This is how most people use Open Source. Decide on a particular distro and sign a support contract. Any problems are dealt with upstream, by the software developers themselves. They are interested in bug reports but that is the sum total involvment of your IT staff in rolling software.
Open Source is about control of your IT and independence from vendors as well as reduced TCO, up to 90% according to the French DGI.
'it allows us to cut our software costs We are trying to evaluate the software TCO implied by our policy. It's probably a bit more than an overall factor of 10'
'Companies with at least 2,000 employees can reduce their total cost of ownership (TCO) by as much as 26 percent over three years by using Linux servers over Windows'
was Reply to: Open Source != Lower TCO
'The largest cost in many of these packages is the services and support component'
..
..
..
..
support fud
'Do they have the staffing and budget to fly technicians and trainers out same day or next day?'
support fud
'The reporting requirements in many states are so elaborate that it is only by economies of scale that a vendor can afford to provide and support compliant implementations'
compliance fud
Sounds to me like that was written by a lawyer rather then a software 'engineer'
was Re:As a "costly commercial package" engineer... (Score:2)
Since most people can't share the same desk, nevermind the same screen I don't know how this is going to work. If it is a matter of a shortage of desktops then invest in a diskless workstation server. It should work out at a fifth of the cost of the same number of fat clients. Besides which hardware is relatively cheap nowadays.
Vista mentioned eighteen times on the informationweek main page ..
'Right-click on the Control panel icon you wish to run, whilst holding down the shift key, and 'runas' will be an option in the context menu'
Hey, it works. I have tried to lock down this Windows box. But a lot of things don't work right if you do, or need fiddling with. Eg, for standard-user, increase privacy settings in IExplorer, install apps as admin and give standard-user read-only access to the app directory.
Results is, a lot of the time certain web sites (Airline and Banks) won't run and there are certain menu items disabled, for instance the estimated ink level is missing on the printer tools box except logged in as admin.
Another example, a Usenet reader that can't add new options as it presumably can't write to the Registry. Have to raise rights, install, reduce rights.
Also I have normal.dot set read only for standard-user and Word Viewer set as the default DOC viewer. I forgot to mention, I disabled the AV software as it made opening docs take ages.
Baring unknown zero day hacks, it is possible to make Windows reasonably secure, the question is why isn't it. The answer is the average user hasn't the time or the inclination and shouldn't need to jump through hoops to do so.
And then mod down posts that say something positive.
was (Score:1, No sense of humor)
If they banned television remotes and wired everyones couch to the grid, then every time someone got up to change the channel they would generate power.
I really like OpenBSD except for, they don't make their own ISO images, they disown you if you install Edgy and er .. they don't make their own ISO images .. :)
How can I use this to run the control panel as admin while logged in as standard user.
'he seems to be one of these developpers who write GPL drivers for Linux (also GPL) but then refuse to have them included in the mainline kernel for some mystical reason'
Well I emailed him and got this reply:
'It is not "mystical reason", but a physical one: The mainline kernel did not allow video decompression. Gspca decompress the video in the kernel'
'So we're expecting a flood of people complaining about how they are offering one specific distro'
.. Do we really have to argue about whether or not Ubuntu was the way to go?'
.. etc). This is one of the reasons I got out of the Windows business - I got fed up fixing things for free.
..).
Don't be so negative. The average user is happy with the one distro. The rest of us install five different distros in an evening - just for fun for the fun of it.
'I was under the impression that the idea behind getting linux pre-loaded was that you simply aren't paying for an OS you don't want'
No, the idea of pre-loaded linux was so the average user could work his computer without having to install an Operating System. How many people install their own Windows. They don't - it comes already installed on the computer.
'can we be happy just to not have windows pre-loaded, and not be paying for something that is going to get deleted?'
This is not aimed at the average \.dotter but the average Windows user. As such it's a good idea. From all reports Ubuntu is an ideal choice for a high spec ease of use desktop computer. Ximian or SuSE would have been another good choice. I suspect the MS patent deal had something to do with Dell not choosing them.
'if the argument is that it will introduce linux to the masses, well, I just don't see that happening'
Until they can walk into the high street shop and buy one then it won't. See my post re the Dell high street Store
'Then they'll do one of two things: Ask you to show them how to use it (ugh)'
Click on Browser, click on Emailer etc. Personally I don't offer free tech advice anymore. I did install a Dell/BT wireless laptop solution a while back for £80.00. I have been back in four times to fix it - at no charge ( talk/talk stopped working, Yahoo msnger audio won't work under non-admin account/ modem forgets DMS settings unless reset once a forthnight, anti-spam software freezes in Outlook
'pirate/buy windows'
If people want to pirate windows then they'll do like everyone else would and go down the market and get any software/DVD they want from Mahmood the trader.
'So, my original question: We're happy because this primarily means not paying for windows when we're not using it, right? What other benefits are there?'
As someone who has worked in the IT field for yonks, my primary reason for choosing Linux is reliability and security. On the desktop it doesn't crash as often as Vindows, no viruses or phishing attacks. If it does crash then it's because I done something. I have a Suse Box functioning as an SMB file server and it hasn't crashed in two years. The ISA server has to be rebooted once a week or it forgets what hardware is attached (IS_NOT_EQUAL bla, bla
was Call me crazy.. (Score:5, Interesting)
'i remember seeing dell machines that offered linux instead of windows in the past.. but the prices were the same or HIGHER for linux!'
That's because the OEMs has to contract to sell a minium number of per system 'licenses' per quarter. If they fail then the short fall goes onto next quarters bill.
'COMPANY hereby agrees to pay MS for each Period (A) the minimum commitments amounts for the Period as set forth in Exhibit B, and (B) the amount by which cumulative royalties during a Period exceed minimum commitment amounts for that Period'
'(iv) To the extent that cumulative minimum commitment payments during a Period exceed cumulative royalties for such Period, such excess shall be known as "prepaid" royalties" and shall be recoupable against future royalties only during the initial Term of this Agreement and only for the Product(s) licensed herein. Prepaid royalties are not recoupable against payments made to Authorized Replicator.
was Linux needs no Windows Tax (Score:5, Interesting)
'What? If servers are where the money is, why not start there? If I was a stockholder I'd be concerned about that approach'
A Dell/Ubuntu desktop gets higher visibility. What would really allow it to take off is when the average users can walk into the high street computer shop and buy one. Dell should create franchises around 'Dell shops' something like the Apple stores and sell a total stack from the desktop to the server. They should also consider getting into the Digital Multimedia market.
was Re:What?
The problem is that Flash doesn't integrate in with anything ASP or .NET
.. Passing values from ASP to Flash
'Below is shown the Diagramatic Representation of how Flash interacts with the database via an Active Server Page (ASP)'
Returning a valid string from ASP
Re:Really. (Score:5, Interesting)
'More important than the source code is an Open Format .. Flash is a proprietary, binary format and the Specification [adobe.com] forbids you from building an alternative player'
.. to make, have made, use, practice, sell, and offer for sale, and/or otherwise dispose of the Original Code'
According to this Adobe is releasing Flex under the Mozilla Public License (MPL) which states:
'The Initial Developer hereby grants You a world-wide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license
How is 'Open Format' defined in the current context and do you have a citation for the Silverlight license.
was Re:Xaml v/s Flex, Format is the key
If you consider how many non desktop devices run on 'Open Source' than you can still consider it hasn't reached its full potential. TiVo Inc, Sky+, and the BBC all sell a DVR although I'm not sure what's under the hood. The question is why Dell , Compaq and the rest haven't moved into this lucrative embedded market.
. htmlt e/DM7020.phpl
http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT4612631999
http://www.dream-multimedia-tv.de/Bereiche/Produk
http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS7385804211.htm
http://freevo.sourceforge.net/about.html
Shouldn't security be built into these Web 2.0 application from the ground up and not added on as an afterthought.
'So you would believe some random /.er, but not someone who has credentials'
/.er and an anonymous coward who claims to have credentials.
No, I would give equal credence to some random
'Slick, well organised presentation rooms are an important issue when selling to enterprises. Hell, so is coffee and biscuits delivered to the room every couple of hours on a full day visit, instead of walking your visitors to the vending machine :)'
..
I believe you that RedHat made a presentation to an enterprise sized company using a cardboard prop and then marched the visitors to the vending machine for the coffee and biscuits break. I bet they even used pre-owned broken biscuits.
Content is more important then presentation. I worked for a Fortune 500 company that provided consultancy services to top companies. They had standerdised on Win2003 and were for ever restoring broken Exchange profiles and rebooting the FAX server, which used to go down on the weekend. A Fortune 500 company that can't receive faxes ?? The sum total of their expertise being a Macro that generated unique file names based on initials+dept-code+project-no. Eg CG.GR.VF.ppt. GR being the graphics dept. I forgot to tell you all their reports were in PowerPoint. Actually a consultant is someone who predicts what happened last year.
''I was trying to sell a bank on Linux, and my boss was a typical head of IT type - he's used to being woo'd by the vendors... Tickets to sporting events, slick presentations''
He sounds like the typical non-techie manager, if you don't mind me saying so. Who in his right mind would decide IT policy based on 'slick presentation' and bribery. You would find out who else was using the technology and could you see a working example.
''There's also a lot to be said for having the media on a disc should you need to quickly build a machine''
Are you seriously telling us you gave RedHat £300K and they didn't even give you the media?
''there just isn't a Linux vendor who can play in the enterprise space in the way that these people are used to being treated''
Alllow me to describe how the average company is treated. I once worked for a company that sold a CAD system based around Windows and a third party CAD design, to be used in kitchen design. The software would freeze at rendering a view. Microsoft said talk to the CAD company, the CAD company said it's a Microsoft problem. End results, loss of the contract and end of our attempt to get into the small office business. Contrast that with this. A while back I emailed the lead developer on mpeg4ip and you know what, I actually got a response.
was Re:Redhat cardboard ©
Anonymous Coward said:
e xt=aix+unix&lastndays=0&location=&minsalary=0&maxs alary=&submit.x=405&submit.y=12">aix unix 1 vacancy found. Linux 10 vacancies found.
Re:well (Score:5, Interesting)
'I am both AIX and Red Hat certified so I kinda know what I'm talking about'
I would believe you even if you didn't invoke your credentials to support your claims. Personally, I only have a Diploma in IT from some RedBrick technical college. I have worked at ISPs and a fortune 500 company. The ISPs invariably used BsdUnix and *never* had a crash. The fortune 500 used Windows2000/05/06 and were for ever remaking broken exchange profiles and rebooting the servers as the Fax service had crashed over the weekend and no one could send them a fax. Is there anyone here that has had a good expericence with Linux.
Generally the job market tells you what is the current hot technology. Luckly I never bothered to learn Java, like I'm not going to bother to learn dot.whatever.they.are.going.to.call.it.next
http://jobs.guardian.co.uk/browse/index.jsp?freet