I'm ready to do something about climate change / global warming, but it's not important enough to either side:
One side says it's not important enough to:
If you want chipset and driver stability, buy the right model. It costs a bit more.
For instance, Dell has Inspiron and Latitude laptops. The Inspiron is the consumer model. The chipset, video and network may change weekly. The (Windows) drivers that come on it will work, but may not be in the base Windows XP or Vista CD. They may or may not have Linux drivers available. It is the highest performance for the money.
On the other hand, the Latitude line is built for business. They rarely change the chipset, video or network in a given model line. We have been using the Latitude d600/610/620 line at work for three years. The same (Windows) image loads on all of them. Linux seems to run quite well on it - the standard distros (Gentoo, Ubuntu) seem to find the wired and wireless network drivers and drive the video well. You get slightly less perfomance and it costs $50 to $100 more for the same unit.
The major vendors (Lenovo, HP) do the same thing.
I have worked for two Fortune 200 companies and this is what we asked the vendors for. They have delivered exactly what we wanted.
Travel light. Any laptop (Windows, Linux or Mac) will get heavy.
Go with a GSM BlackBerry Pearl or 8800. Cingular or T-Mobile in the US, or in-country SIM cards. An unlimited worldwide data account from Cingular is, I think $79/month. Not bad for worldwide data.
This can be an MP3 player as well as browser and keep you on email.
Yes, and the Wright Brothers' first flight was 120 feet - less than the wingspan of a MEDIUM-sized plane today. Everyone said (even for the first ten years or so) "why bother flying" when the railroads were the way to travel.
Read Clayton Christensen's book "Innovator's Dilemma" for more ideas on how 'small' technologies can end up taking over.
I carefully checked the IBM website (for Lotus Notes r6 client versions) before posting. I also asked our Lotus Notes rep FOUR YEARS AGO for a Linux version, and she told me that there was not one, and there were no plans to develop.
Running under WINE is not my idea of a Linux client, whether supported or not. Did they ever release a client that worked in any fashion on Solaris, AIX or Linux, other than under a Windows emulator?
The Lotus Notes client never ran on Solaris, AIX or even LINUX. According to the forums on ibm.com, they never will. So, all their excuses about developing their own UI to be rabidly cross-platform are so much smoke and mirrors.
Note that the Lotus Domino server does run on all the platforms you mention as well as OS/400. It is rather cross platform.
That's partially right. Shops in general are partial to the architecture their top management have chosen (be it MS, OSS, Sun or IBM Mainframes).
If you're not in charge, you need to go with the standards the shop management have put forth. It's OK to suggest something else, but, if you're turned down, either get on with the standards or find another job.
You're not doing yourself or the other people in the shop any favor if you're always singing that we're doing it the wrong way.
It boils down to this: do you want to be the world's greatest Unix admin, or do you want to be extremely employable at a good salary in a place that's not a sweatshop?
I've been a Unix sysadmin/engineer. I've managed the Windows/email group in a large corporation. I manage the network architecture group in another large corporation.
I look for demonstrated technical ability (expertise). I also value cross plaform ability. I also look for someone with a open mind, who can work well with others.
Someone who comes in and says 'there's no way a corporation can run Windows systems and survive' doesn't last through the interview - even for the Unix group. The answer I'm looking for is: UNIX is more securable in an Internet-facing environment. If you have to run Windows (even IIS) for business reasons, you will have to patch more often. You may get rooted more often. You may have to look harder for Windows admins who can properly secure the environment, but we can do that, if it's imperative.
The Windows groups also need people who understand scripting, remote shell and managing fleets of servers through systems rather than putting a CD in each box and running setup. Gee.
Small shops also have a lot of crossover between Unix, Windows and network groups.
If you want to be the most employable person, learn some of all of these. You will be more valuable to more organizations.
Certifications are also useful. I get ten resumes on my desk, all from people who *say* they are great admins. I only have time to interview in person 3-4 of these. If one has taken the time to get Red Hat (or Sun) certified, that may mean he considers himself a professional, and wants to do more. It may also mean he's a paper RHSE, but the interview will pick that up. He/she is more likely to make the short list. And, if he/she has an MCSE as well, it makes it even more likely.
> If you don't like that format, use a different website - that's your choice.
I do. When I see a Flash lead (like many movie sites), I do go on to something else. But, a company paid some high-paid designers to produce a commercial website. One would think they want the widest possible audience. Instead, they only reach people that work the way they do.
I don't care if they use tools, like VStudio, etc. to produce the sites, but I shouldn't need a plug-in (QT, Flash, whatever) to get to the main idea of the content.
I've always disliked Flash/Shockwave for similar,but different reasons. Yeah, I know. I don't belong on/. with that sentiment.
Open source is not important to me. It's OK, but I'm happy with Windows/IE also. Only supporting common hardware is OK.
But, I take the cross platform/standards stuff up a level. The web is built on HTML/XML/CSS. All standards that are implemented in IE, Mozilla, Opera and other browsers. I shouldn't need to download anything else to view pages.
Shockwave/Flash don't index.
Also, I noticed long ago that the web pages that I don't like (for style/presentation) are usually Flash. They are typically noisy, busy and quite creative - but contain less unique content (meaning text and ideas) than standard web pages.
The movie sites are the worst. Typically done by Mac designers who like QuickTime for a video format. So, unless I download TWO plugins, I can't even see the site.
Web designers should go for standards and least common denominators. That means using CSS and XML. Put video out in QT, Real AND Windows Media. Let me choose what tools I want to present it.
Hopefully, the Yahoo toolbar will lead a migration off Flash (or at least limit it to games and niche content.
From the RedHat/Fedora page:
http://fedora.redhat.com/about/
No formal Web or phone support for The Fedora Project will be available from Red Hat. Red Hat's supported product line will be based in part on The Fedora Project, and our development will be done externally as part of the project as much as possible. Each new release of our supported products will be based in part on a recent release of Fedora Core.
From the RedHat page:
So, how is this different from the policy RedHat put in some time ago that they require a *paid* subscription (and login info) to download *any* fixes?
Slashdot Mirror
Encourage better gas mileage for cars
Subsidize efficent inter-city transit (electric railways)
Tax hydrocarbons
Cut the farm subsidy
Encourage smaller family sizes (voluntary)
The other side says it's not important enough to: Build more hydropower (dams)
Build more nuclear power (zero CO2 emissions)
Limit population growth (which in the US and Europe come from migration/immigration)
Encourage smaller family sizes (voluntary)
Limit urban sprawl by crime control and urban renewal
And because of the opposition to these points, we will go on discussing this forever.
If you want chipset and driver stability, buy the right model. It costs a bit more. For instance, Dell has Inspiron and Latitude laptops. The Inspiron is the consumer model. The chipset, video and network may change weekly. The (Windows) drivers that come on it will work, but may not be in the base Windows XP or Vista CD. They may or may not have Linux drivers available. It is the highest performance for the money. On the other hand, the Latitude line is built for business. They rarely change the chipset, video or network in a given model line. We have been using the Latitude d600/610/620 line at work for three years. The same (Windows) image loads on all of them. Linux seems to run quite well on it - the standard distros (Gentoo, Ubuntu) seem to find the wired and wireless network drivers and drive the video well. You get slightly less perfomance and it costs $50 to $100 more for the same unit. The major vendors (Lenovo, HP) do the same thing. I have worked for two Fortune 200 companies and this is what we asked the vendors for. They have delivered exactly what we wanted.
Press release from the borg marketing machine: The number of bugs in the OpenBSD system is doubling every year!
Travel light. Any laptop (Windows, Linux or Mac) will get heavy. Go with a GSM BlackBerry Pearl or 8800. Cingular or T-Mobile in the US, or in-country SIM cards. An unlimited worldwide data account from Cingular is, I think $79/month. Not bad for worldwide data. This can be an MP3 player as well as browser and keep you on email.
Yes, and the Wright Brothers' first flight was 120 feet - less than the wingspan of a MEDIUM-sized plane today. Everyone said (even for the first ten years or so) "why bother flying" when the railroads were the way to travel. Read Clayton Christensen's book "Innovator's Dilemma" for more ideas on how 'small' technologies can end up taking over.
I carefully checked the IBM website (for Lotus Notes r6 client versions) before posting. I also asked our Lotus Notes rep FOUR YEARS AGO for a Linux version, and she told me that there was not one, and there were no plans to develop.
Running under WINE is not my idea of a Linux client, whether supported or not. Did they ever release a client that worked in any fashion on Solaris, AIX or Linux, other than under a Windows emulator?
The Lotus Notes client never ran on Solaris, AIX or even LINUX. According to the forums on ibm.com, they never will. So, all their excuses about developing their own UI to be rabidly cross-platform are so much smoke and mirrors. Note that the Lotus Domino server does run on all the platforms you mention as well as OS/400. It is rather cross platform.
That's partially right. Shops in general are partial to the architecture their top management have chosen (be it MS, OSS, Sun or IBM Mainframes). If you're not in charge, you need to go with the standards the shop management have put forth. It's OK to suggest something else, but, if you're turned down, either get on with the standards or find another job. You're not doing yourself or the other people in the shop any favor if you're always singing that we're doing it the wrong way.
Do you mean he was the chosen one?
The end result of this is not learning ANYTHING about Windows, but just increasing your experience at accessing Windows from UNIX.
It boils down to this: do you want to be the world's greatest Unix admin, or do you want to be extremely employable at a good salary in a place that's not a sweatshop?
I've been a Unix sysadmin/engineer. I've managed the Windows/email group in a large corporation. I manage the network architecture group in another large corporation.
I look for demonstrated technical ability (expertise). I also value cross plaform ability. I also look for someone with a open mind, who can work well with others.
Someone who comes in and says 'there's no way a corporation can run Windows systems and survive' doesn't last through the interview - even for the Unix group. The answer I'm looking for is: UNIX is more securable in an Internet-facing environment. If you have to run Windows (even IIS) for business reasons, you will have to patch more often. You may get rooted more often. You may have to look harder for Windows admins who can properly secure the environment, but we can do that, if it's imperative.
The Windows groups also need people who understand scripting, remote shell and managing fleets of servers through systems rather than putting a CD in each box and running setup. Gee.
Small shops also have a lot of crossover between Unix, Windows and network groups.
If you want to be the most employable person, learn some of all of these. You will be more valuable to more organizations.
Certifications are also useful. I get ten resumes on my desk, all from people who *say* they are great admins. I only have time to interview in person 3-4 of these. If one has taken the time to get Red Hat (or Sun) certified, that may mean he considers himself a professional, and wants to do more. It may also mean he's a paper RHSE, but the interview will pick that up. He/she is more likely to make the short list. And, if he/she has an MCSE as well, it makes it even more likely.
I do. When I see a Flash lead (like many movie sites), I do go on to something else. But, a company paid some high-paid designers to produce a commercial website. One would think they want the widest possible audience. Instead, they only reach people that work the way they do.
I don't care if they use tools, like VStudio, etc. to produce the sites, but I shouldn't need a plug-in (QT, Flash, whatever) to get to the main idea of the content.
Open source is not important to me. It's OK, but I'm happy with Windows/IE also. Only supporting common hardware is OK.
But, I take the cross platform/standards stuff up a level. The web is built on HTML/XML/CSS. All standards that are implemented in IE, Mozilla, Opera and other browsers. I shouldn't need to download anything else to view pages.
Shockwave/Flash don't index.
Also, I noticed long ago that the web pages that I don't like (for style/presentation) are usually Flash. They are typically noisy, busy and quite creative - but contain less unique content (meaning text and ideas) than standard web pages.
The movie sites are the worst. Typically done by Mac designers who like QuickTime for a video format. So, unless I download TWO plugins, I can't even see the site.
Web designers should go for standards and least common denominators. That means using CSS and XML. Put video out in QT, Real AND Windows Media. Let me choose what tools I want to present it.
Hopefully, the Yahoo toolbar will lead a migration off Flash (or at least limit it to games and niche content.
From the RedHat/Fedora page: http://fedora.redhat.com/about/ No formal Web or phone support for The Fedora Project will be available from Red Hat. Red Hat's supported product line will be based in part on The Fedora Project, and our development will be done externally as part of the project as much as possible. Each new release of our supported products will be based in part on a recent release of Fedora Core. From the RedHat page:
So, how is this different from the policy RedHat put in some time ago that they require a *paid* subscription (and login info) to download *any* fixes?