How many people really think that a Windows PC, when attached to a cable/DSL internet connection, is susceptible to viruses, infiltration, malware, spyware - JUST BY BEING CONNECTED?
How many people do you think there are out there scanning IPs looking for unprotected Windows boxes to molest? And out of those, who actually attempts to sploit the sploit? How many of *those* are successful?
It takes clicking, installing, running. It's not like bareback fucking a hooker in Bangkok.
Sure, you may be open to some exploits, but honestly, why the panic?
* Does it have SP2? - If no, get it and forget it.
* Is there constant hard disk activity? - If yes, reinstall.
* Do you visit online gambling/porn sites? - If yes, reinstall periodically (evidence? what evidence?)
* Does it take longer for you to be able to do something productive with the 'Start' button than it did to boot? - If yes, reinstall.
After reinstalling, install AVG antivirus, Google up some Windows hardening/protection techniques (msconfig, services to disable, etc) **INSTALL NO SHAREWARE OR THIRD PARTY "WINDOWS FIXING" UTILITIES**, enable Windows firewall, and set Windows Update to perform weekly updates with no intervention.
If things get weird after that, you have nobody but yourself to blame. After having resurrected Windows installations dating back to 95/3.11, I can say that the only sure-fire fix is a fdisk/reinstall.
It's Windows - it *will* break in an inaccesssible or unrecoverable fashion.
Make your time, and don't get taken in by supposedly friendly utilities, banners, offers, websites, emails, etc. This advice is applicable everywhere - life included.
It's a development methodology, not a reason why an arguably major piece of Operating System functionality is making front-page news this late in the development cycle.
SCRUM may be what is enabling them to "get it in there", but it's no answer as to "why now".
Is SCRUM 'defragging' their development procedures in such a way as to uncover giant lumps of luscious, divinely productive development time?
Is it that this new-found, highly productive bonus time is appearing at a phase in development where the developers are finding themselves perched high above the traditional (UnSCRUM) time burdens?
Let's all SCRUM, in that case.
Otherwise, is it just marketing? Another way to stay viable compared to everybody else?
-- BTW, anyone notice the new BestBuy commercials dressed up as adver-mercials for the Xbox 360?
If a software package goes away, and it was the *ONLIEST ONE* with a feature you absolutely love, there will be *DESIRE* left in its wake.
If you're not the only one who loved that feature, it will pop up again - but this time, the focus on it will be more pronounced. Tabs in IE are a similar, though reversed, example.
This is an excellent opportinity for OpenSource tools to become more elegant, streamlined, and professional.
Less commercial competetion means more vacuum to pull F/OSS goodness to the top.
After they completely swallow Macromedia, and the Macradobe engineers get together - especially after Apple's transition to X86 - Software Product names will be irrelevant.
Photoshop will change in the wake of Aperture.
Illustrator will become part of the Flash Suite, which will be drastically reorganized and simplified.
GoLive will shed its skin in favor of Dreamweaver's.
ColdFusion will die a slow quiet death or be spun off into a separate organization. Possibly with an OpenSource component.
-- I, for one, welcome our new Adobromedia/Macrodobe overlords.
A body is made up of bone, muscle, connective tissue, a vascular & nervous system, with a few fat cells here and there to give a little (LITTLE) cushion, and have some stores for when things get lean.
That's it EXACTLY! There's no "Spare Tire" in the equation.. No squishy layer of blubber over everything.. There's bones. They're meant to be close to the surface, muscles, too.
If you look at your body, and you don't see muscle, bone, or bulging veins directly under their protective covering of "SKIN" not "PASTY FLESHY MUSH THAT HURTS WHEN YOU POKE IT", then something's wrong. You need out more, need to eat less or *properly*, or need to exercise and physically *WORK* the body that is *BUILT* to perform work. Pushing, pulling, running, climbing, stooping, digging, etc.
The human body was not made to sit in a chair or recline on a sofa.
Get up, man!!!
There's no excuse for a waist size larger than the diameter of your chest. Your ribcage (or codpiece) should be the thing sticking out in front of you, not a visible mound of fat. Same goes for the back.
If you can't touch your back, stop eating bread until you can. Then start stretching - you will *instantly* get in touch with the self you used to propel around the playground.
There's refined sugars, processed foods, and enriched white flour. Sloth is a physical reaction.
It's hard to stagnante without those ingredients.
If there's any genetic tie, it's bound to coincide with ancestral heraldry from areas that are heavily reliant on grains, potatoes, or mass consumption of beer.
"Is it ever ok" is a dangerous statement to begin with when you are asking for a judgement.
"Is it ever ok" for a pervert to molest a child?
"Is it ever ok" for a government to revoke or neuter its own constitution?
"Is it ever ok" to "do the right thing", "no matter what the cost"?
-- I'm just like you. We both want to "do the right thing". Sign here.
Some people, perhaps enough to constitute an entire "side", play in the gray area. They manipulate it on the knowledge that it's a gray area. Nobody owns it, and nobody can or will protect it, until it becomes either blacker or whiter.
In principle, this is a pretty stupid thing to do. Cowboys like you are how IT departments get a bad name.
Trolling? Care to back that up? How can it be "a pretty stupid thing to do in principle"? What's the difference between what was described versus changing a Shortcut or Network Drive pointer to an upgraded Application?
Just because you don't know how to admin a Windows machine doesn't mean it can't be done.
Now I know that's just simple ignorance, but I'm still concerned.
How would you go about upgrading a heterogeneous Windows network that is not equipped with Remote Desktop or VNC. Windows Login scripts?
I hate Windows and these are reasons why. Please stand up for your beloved Microsoft and educate us UNIX admins who do not comprehend the peculiarities and complexities of Windows Administration. I beg you.
"I don't know about you, but I like having things to do besides go to chain restaurants, mega multiplexes and Wal-Mart. Having a huge house full of electronic crap doesn't interest me, either."
Are you describing the city?
In the suburbs, all there is to do is consume.
In BFE, there's *nothing* to consume, which can also be a problem, unless you want to travel an hour to the nearest chain restaurant or wal-mart.
In the inner-city, you have no guarantee that you'll see like-minded people, an exhibit or film that's worth the $$, or eat food that will not disappoint or make you ill...
I just went to Frisco, TX for a job interview. Passed several cattle and hundreds upon hundreds of cookie-cutter rooftops on the way. The job paid what I'd expect to make as a 20-year-old. However, I work in Fort Worth, TX as an experienced professional, and I am compensated accordingly. Both are "BFE", neither are entirely suitable.
Live in the city, commute to BFE. Best of both worlds.
I faced the opposite in Tennessee, living in BFE, commuting to the city, which can seen as "backward" by comparison. C.O.L. is low in country, pay-rates higher in the city. Commute time, expense, all factor in.
--
It all comes down to what you want to do on off-time. If 8 o'clock comes, and you hanker to "find adventure" it's not in BFE or the burbs.
If it's not everyday that you need adventure, but would instead like to sit on the porch naked, then BFE is for you.
" It's a goddamned NAME BADGE! It's not the Illuminadi (sic), it's not the "Pentaveret" or whatever the hell secret society you think..."
Dude, the fact that there *is* an ID badge with RF/MagStripe/Data-on-board is the thing that people get so bent out of shape about. It's what makes them shout "Illuminati!". It's that my friggin ATM card is the primary way access the "dollars" in my bank account. That same ATM card has a hologram of a dove in flight, and the primary artwork on it is the "Novus Ordo Seclorum" pyramidial eye motif found on the reverse of the US dollar bill.
It's these things that appear as "hard facts" that give people cause to question the world around them. Just reach out and touch something. Anything. The UN, the President of the USA, Fox News, "U.F.Os" (if that's your bag) Chances are, something's not quite right about it, and if you're not getting the straight scoop, it's because it's someone's self-defined "truth" that they "want to believe".
The Conspiracy Hullaballoo roots from the feeling that "something is not quite right and the people who are giving cause to suspect that are not the types to inspire confidence through their actions." Everyone has them. It's why kids don't (or shouldn't) trust strangers, why dogs are protective, and people are inspired to change the world.
Look anywhere into "conspiracy theory", but look *into* it, not *at* it. Look at names, follow them to other names, think about reality and how people tend to interact on a daily basis. Events cause events. History, no matter whether viewed impartially as facts, or with a selfish determination to "find evidence" always operates the same. Cause/Effect.
Know that people are greedy, "absolute power corrupts, absolutely", and everything you ever heard about anything is either "really true" or it's something they *want* to be true, and will attempt to make it so through their belief. Steve Jobs knows this, it's the foundation of his RDF. The President of the US knows it, Karl Rove knows it, Dick Cheney, and the entire leadership of this country know it.
Someone's self-defined "truth" is the same "Secret of Success" used as the foundation of every motivational speaker, preacher, pastor, and evangelist in the world. It's "believing in yourself" or what you have to say. Seeing power in your convictions. It's also what powers Jihadist thinking, suicidal martyrs, and all types of religious zealoutry.
Facts man, facts. Facts play out as history. Facts and history both happen now. Richard Stallman is trying to have an impact on history. You should too.
Not to whin(g)e, but tweaking modelines in XF86Config(-4) is straightforward.
Learning where Microsoft stashed the things you need to click on/off *this time* is not.
Microsoft Products are the girl nobody wants to date (for a good reason). She thinks that all she needs is some more makeup, the *right* designer handbag, and some extra-pointy shoes, and then the guys will like her. She goes out in public. Some guy (who can't tell the difference between a plastic-queen and a real woman) sees her and approaches. She passes the pointy-shoe, hangbag, and makeup test.
These judgements are all rendered as "crotch-jerk" reactions at 50 feet/meters.
After three months of unraveling the faux surfaces, it becomes clear that there are serious mental and behavioural deficits that explain the need for excessive coverup, putty, and denial.
Here comes iTV (Simplified iMovie) with direct to iPod or direct upload to [iTV] or [podcast] guide.com bundled with the new iSight (video cam & mic on a wand like Bob Barker)
If every concerned citizen with these tools running on their sub-thousand-dollar notebook were to arm himself with a D.I.Y. 'Press' card, a new era of Gonzo Journalism could be ushered in -
Apple's content-enabling tools, content availability in the field (from Google: videos, blogs, gmail) in these times should let us break out of a dark age.
Companies usually pay for "bodies", not "minds". Ability and overall outcome are stressed, instead of individuality and the unique gems that arise there.
If you *can do without* some skills, while *raising* the overall ability of your unit while saving money, it's managerial effectiveness.
It may sound sterotypical in this screwy, post-P.C., post-civil rights world, but face facts: People from different regions of the world show extraordinary aptitude in differing areas. Some exhibit above average physical ability, some excel at mathematics, some at procedural thinking, some at economics and accounting, some at mechanical engineering, and specialties within those fields that may be shared by other groups.
For millions of years now, Earthlings have been specializing in their own cultures. Some of these cultures have endured for eons and flowered many, many times over. The development of social, logical, critical, and mathematical skills are common in every culture.
The distillation of abilities that have utility in this global marketplace, and their desirability based on quality and intensity is the same in essence as the Old World spice markets, fine perfumes or wines.
That in and of itself is a beautiful thing. However, like many other beautuful and powerful things, it can be used for Good or Evil. Mix politics and/or profit in there, and it can be a sour experience.
"But there is no way you are ever going to just replace the server and do nothing else"
It *shouldn't* be. It's an email client and an email server. There are other features on both ends, but that's what it boils down to.
I could be a real whiner and claim anti-competitive practices on Microsoft's part. Some features of Exchange are available to Thunderbird, some features of Outlook are available when using Groupwise, Notes, etc. I need a service platform to service *ME* not the other way around. I need this software service to *get out of my way*, not dig a deeper hole for itself.
If Exchange were an parasite, it would be one of those Amazon flies that embeds its larvae in the flesh of its victim, and as the larvae grow, they cause the decay and festering of the host. They devour the dying flesh as they grow, creating a bigger pit, bigger larvae, and bigger wound.
If you're looking at scrapping Exchange, or starting from scratch and you need to offer some of the functionality of Exchange, then these are great.
None of them are a drop-in replacement for exchange.
I'm looking at all of these in hopes of moving away from Exchange. Users want to continue to use Outlook the same way they do now. I can't put any of these in place and *guarantee* that they will have a happy time. I can upgrade this crud 5.5 box to 2003, and I *can* offer that guarantee.
This sucks for the following reasons:
I am probably going to be the only person who would have a chance at moving this company off Microsoft products, but Outlook is the clincher. This means that there will be another company running a crucial business service another 7-10 years on a Microsoft product.
I won't be the only person in the world in the position to replace proprietary crap with open software, but won't actually be able to do so due to labor contraints, the inability to handhold and retrain Executives, and the lack of convincing evidence to slap on the desk of the (gratefully) Open-minded Ops director.
There's not a singular OSS package that acts as a drop-in replacement for Microsoft Server Products (printer sharing, samba, mail, etc) in the same boring "just works" fashion. We get more configurability, but we also get more configuring to do.
I want to "Set it and forget it." From my desktop. Without having to install any additional software.
Slashdot Mirror
How many people really think that a Windows PC, when attached to a cable/DSL internet connection, is susceptible to viruses, infiltration, malware, spyware - JUST BY BEING CONNECTED?
How many people do you think there are out there scanning IPs looking for unprotected Windows boxes to molest? And out of those, who actually attempts to sploit the sploit? How many of *those* are successful?
It takes clicking, installing, running. It's not like bareback fucking a hooker in Bangkok.
Sure, you may be open to some exploits, but honestly, why the panic?
Quick checklist:
* Does it have SP2? - If no, get it and forget it.
* Is there constant hard disk activity? - If yes, reinstall.
* Do you visit online gambling/porn sites? - If yes, reinstall periodically (evidence? what evidence?)
* Does it take longer for you to be able to do something productive with the 'Start' button than it did to boot? - If yes, reinstall.
After reinstalling, install AVG antivirus, Google up some Windows hardening/protection techniques (msconfig, services to disable, etc) **INSTALL NO SHAREWARE OR THIRD PARTY "WINDOWS FIXING" UTILITIES**, enable Windows firewall, and set Windows Update to perform weekly updates with no intervention.
If things get weird after that, you have nobody but yourself to blame. After having resurrected Windows installations dating back to 95/3.11, I can say that the only sure-fire fix is a fdisk/reinstall.
It's Windows - it *will* break in an inaccesssible or unrecoverable fashion.
Make your time, and don't get taken in by supposedly friendly utilities, banners, offers, websites, emails, etc. This advice is applicable everywhere - life included.
Try 6. See what's been added to make your life easier. Get used to that, then take a look at 7. Even more!
Layer Styles! WOOOO!!!
8 & 9 don't have much to offer over 7, but 5.5? Come to 2003! We've been waiting for you!
Now *THAT* is newsworthy!
- but - it won't play for some reason. (WMP/Quicktime)
What's the lintiest room per square (cubic, even!) foot in your house?
The bathroom.
Toilet paper fuzz, towel lint, bellybutton lint, hair, bah.
(#3800? I didn't think you guys bothered anymore!)
SCRUM is no kind of answer.
It's a development methodology, not a reason why an arguably major piece of Operating System functionality is making front-page news this late in the development cycle.
SCRUM may be what is enabling them to "get it in there", but it's no answer as to "why now".
Is SCRUM 'defragging' their development procedures in such a way as to uncover giant lumps of luscious, divinely productive development time?
Is it that this new-found, highly productive bonus time is appearing at a phase in development where the developers are finding themselves perched high above the traditional (UnSCRUM) time burdens?
Let's all SCRUM, in that case.
Otherwise, is it just marketing? Another way to stay viable compared to everybody else?
--
BTW, anyone notice the new BestBuy commercials dressed up as adver-mercials for the Xbox 360?
Why do they think to do this now?
First they say that they're dropping features to make release.
Then they say they're going to release ahead of schedule.
Then they say they're now going to add a capability that *none* of the prior releases have had - six to eight months from their target release date?
Huh?!
Shake it all about..
If a software package goes away, and it was the *ONLIEST ONE* with a feature you absolutely love, there will be *DESIRE* left in its wake.
If you're not the only one who loved that feature, it will pop up again - but this time, the focus on it will be more pronounced. Tabs in IE are a similar, though reversed, example.
This is an excellent opportinity for OpenSource tools to become more elegant, streamlined, and professional.
Less commercial competetion means more vacuum to pull F/OSS goodness to the top.
After they completely swallow Macromedia, and the Macradobe engineers get together - especially after Apple's transition to X86 - Software Product names will be irrelevant.
Photoshop will change in the wake of Aperture.
Illustrator will become part of the Flash Suite, which will be drastically reorganized and simplified.
GoLive will shed its skin in favor of Dreamweaver's.
ColdFusion will die a slow quiet death or be spun off into a separate organization. Possibly with an OpenSource component.
--
I, for one, welcome our new Adobromedia/Macrodobe overlords.
"Moral of the story: technical challenges aside, your project can always be torpedoed by someone who is self-important and more powerful than you."
Amen, brother.
Self-important twats have spoiled the flowering of several potentially beautiful projects.
The problem is not many people dig a paradigm shift, and Windows to F/OSS is definately one of those.
Why do you have a knee if not to provide a place to hinge the powerful muscles of the thigh on the spring-action calf/chin combo?
"Made" like a banana is made to peel. "Made" like a tractor is made to drive in the dirt. "Made" like your stomach is not made to digest tree bark.
They needed the names of every Microsoft developer to write the code to steal the 2004 election?
I had no idea..
Exactly.
A body is made up of bone, muscle, connective tissue, a vascular & nervous system, with a few fat cells here and there to give a little (LITTLE) cushion, and have some stores for when things get lean.
That's it EXACTLY! There's no "Spare Tire" in the equation.. No squishy layer of blubber over everything.. There's bones. They're meant to be close to the surface, muscles, too.
If you look at your body, and you don't see muscle, bone, or bulging veins directly under their protective covering of "SKIN" not "PASTY FLESHY MUSH THAT HURTS WHEN YOU POKE IT", then something's wrong. You need out more, need to eat less or *properly*, or need to exercise and physically *WORK* the body that is *BUILT* to perform work. Pushing, pulling, running, climbing, stooping, digging, etc.
The human body was not made to sit in a chair or recline on a sofa.
Get up, man!!!
There's no excuse for a waist size larger than the diameter of your chest. Your ribcage (or codpiece) should be the thing sticking out in front of you, not a visible mound of fat. Same goes for the back.
If you can't touch your back, stop eating bread until you can. Then start stretching - you will *instantly* get in touch with the self you used to propel around the playground.
There's refined sugars, processed foods, and enriched white flour. Sloth is a physical reaction.
It's hard to stagnante without those ingredients.
If there's any genetic tie, it's bound to coincide with ancestral heraldry from areas that are heavily reliant on grains, potatoes, or mass consumption of beer.
"Is it ever ok" is a dangerous statement to begin with when you are asking for a judgement.
"Is it ever ok" for a pervert to molest a child?
"Is it ever ok" for a government to revoke or neuter its own constitution?
"Is it ever ok" to "do the right thing", "no matter what the cost"?
--
I'm just like you. We both want to "do the right thing". Sign here.
Some people, perhaps enough to constitute an entire "side", play in the gray area. They manipulate it on the knowledge that it's a gray area. Nobody owns it, and nobody can or will protect it, until it becomes either blacker or whiter.
By then it's too late.
In principle, this is a pretty stupid thing to do. Cowboys like you are how IT departments get a bad name.
Trolling? Care to back that up? How can it be "a pretty stupid thing to do in principle"? What's the difference between what was described versus changing a Shortcut or Network Drive pointer to an upgraded Application?
Just because you don't know how to admin a Windows machine doesn't mean it can't be done.
Now I know that's just simple ignorance, but I'm still concerned.
How would you go about upgrading a heterogeneous Windows network that is not equipped with Remote Desktop or VNC. Windows Login scripts?
I hate Windows and these are reasons why. Please stand up for your beloved Microsoft and educate us UNIX admins who do not comprehend the peculiarities and complexities of Windows Administration. I beg you.
"I don't know about you, but I like having things to do besides go to chain restaurants, mega multiplexes and Wal-Mart. Having a huge house full of electronic crap doesn't interest me, either."
..
Are you describing the city?
In the suburbs, all there is to do is consume.
In BFE, there's *nothing* to consume, which can also be a problem, unless you want to travel an hour to the nearest chain restaurant or wal-mart.
In the inner-city, you have no guarantee that you'll see like-minded people, an exhibit or film that's worth the $$, or eat food that will not disappoint or make you ill.
I just went to Frisco, TX for a job interview. Passed several cattle and hundreds upon hundreds of cookie-cutter rooftops on the way. The job paid what I'd expect to make as a 20-year-old. However, I work in Fort Worth, TX as an experienced professional, and I am compensated accordingly. Both are "BFE", neither are entirely suitable.
Live in the city, commute to BFE. Best of both worlds.
I faced the opposite in Tennessee, living in BFE, commuting to the city, which can seen as "backward" by comparison. C.O.L. is low in country, pay-rates higher in the city. Commute time, expense, all factor in.
--
It all comes down to what you want to do on off-time. If 8 o'clock comes, and you hanker to "find adventure" it's not in BFE or the burbs.
If it's not everyday that you need adventure, but would instead like to sit on the porch naked, then BFE is for you.
Ranty? Probably.
" It's a goddamned NAME BADGE! It's not the Illuminadi (sic), it's not the "Pentaveret" or whatever the hell secret society you think..."
Dude, the fact that there *is* an ID badge with RF/MagStripe/Data-on-board is the thing that people get so bent out of shape about. It's what makes them shout "Illuminati!". It's that my friggin ATM card is the primary way access the "dollars" in my bank account. That same ATM card has a hologram of a dove in flight, and the primary artwork on it is the "Novus Ordo Seclorum" pyramidial eye motif found on the reverse of the US dollar bill.
It's these things that appear as "hard facts" that give people cause to question the world around them. Just reach out and touch something. Anything. The UN, the President of the USA, Fox News, "U.F.Os" (if that's your bag) Chances are, something's not quite right about it, and if you're not getting the straight scoop, it's because it's someone's self-defined "truth" that they "want to believe".
The Conspiracy Hullaballoo roots from the feeling that "something is not quite right and the people who are giving cause to suspect that are not the types to inspire confidence through their actions." Everyone has them. It's why kids don't (or shouldn't) trust strangers, why dogs are protective, and people are inspired to change the world.
Look anywhere into "conspiracy theory", but look *into* it, not *at* it. Look at names, follow them to other names, think about reality and how people tend to interact on a daily basis. Events cause events. History, no matter whether viewed impartially as facts, or with a selfish determination to "find evidence" always operates the same. Cause/Effect.
Know that people are greedy, "absolute power corrupts, absolutely", and everything you ever heard about anything is either "really true" or it's something they *want* to be true, and will attempt to make it so through their belief. Steve Jobs knows this, it's the foundation of his RDF. The President of the US knows it, Karl Rove knows it, Dick Cheney, and the entire leadership of this country know it.
Someone's self-defined "truth" is the same "Secret of Success" used as the foundation of every motivational speaker, preacher, pastor, and evangelist in the world. It's "believing in yourself" or what you have to say. Seeing power in your convictions. It's also what powers Jihadist thinking, suicidal martyrs, and all types of religious zealoutry.
Facts man, facts. Facts play out as history. Facts and history both happen now. Richard Stallman is trying to have an impact on history. You should too.
Not to whin(g)e, but tweaking modelines in XF86Config(-4) is straightforward.
Learning where Microsoft stashed the things you need to click on/off *this time* is not.
Microsoft Products are the girl nobody wants to date (for a good reason). She thinks that all she needs is some more makeup, the *right* designer handbag, and some extra-pointy shoes, and then the guys will like her. She goes out in public. Some guy (who can't tell the difference between a plastic-queen and a real woman) sees her and approaches. She passes the pointy-shoe, hangbag, and makeup test.
These judgements are all rendered as "crotch-jerk" reactions at 50 feet/meters.
After three months of unraveling the faux surfaces, it becomes clear that there are serious mental and behavioural deficits that explain the need for excessive coverup, putty, and denial.
Nope & nope - that's a picture of all the pins on the socket where the CPU will *rest*.
A tiny bed of nails for dual core Opterons. Helps them focus! Ssh!
If every concerned citizen with these tools running on their sub-thousand-dollar notebook were to arm himself with a D.I.Y. 'Press' card, a new era of Gonzo Journalism could be ushered in -
Just when we need it most.
Apple's content-enabling tools, content availability in the field (from Google: videos, blogs, gmail) in these times should let us break out of a dark age.Will it?
Skills are skills!
Companies usually pay for "bodies", not "minds". Ability and overall outcome are stressed, instead of individuality and the unique gems that arise there.
If you *can do without* some skills, while *raising* the overall ability of your unit while saving money, it's managerial effectiveness.
It may sound sterotypical in this screwy, post-P.C., post-civil rights world, but face facts: People from different regions of the world show extraordinary aptitude in differing areas. Some exhibit above average physical ability, some excel at mathematics, some at procedural thinking, some at economics and accounting, some at mechanical engineering, and specialties within those fields that may be shared by other groups.
For millions of years now, Earthlings have been specializing in their own cultures. Some of these cultures have endured for eons and flowered many, many times over. The development of social, logical, critical, and mathematical skills are common in every culture.
The distillation of abilities that have utility in this global marketplace, and their desirability based on quality and intensity is the same in essence as the Old World spice markets, fine perfumes or wines.
That in and of itself is a beautiful thing. However, like many other beautuful and powerful things, it can be used for Good or Evil. Mix politics and/or profit in there, and it can be a sour experience.
word to those with poor eyesight: increase your system-wide font size.
You think 12pt looks good at 72dpi? Look at 16pt at 100dpi+.
It's like the difference between the CBS Eye on an 80's trinitron vs. HiDef.
"But there is no way you are ever going to just replace the server and do nothing else"
It *shouldn't* be. It's an email client and an email server. There are other features on both ends, but that's what it boils down to.
I could be a real whiner and claim anti-competitive practices on Microsoft's part. Some features of Exchange are available to Thunderbird, some features of Outlook are available when using Groupwise, Notes, etc. I need a service platform to service *ME* not the other way around. I need this software service to *get out of my way*, not dig a deeper hole for itself.
If Exchange were an parasite, it would be one of those Amazon flies that embeds its larvae in the flesh of its victim, and as the larvae grow, they cause the decay and festering of the host. They devour the dying flesh as they grow, creating a bigger pit, bigger larvae, and bigger wound.
If you're looking at scrapping Exchange, or starting from scratch and you need to offer some of the functionality of Exchange, then these are great.
None of them are a drop-in replacement for exchange.
I'm looking at all of these in hopes of moving away from Exchange. Users want to continue to use Outlook the same way they do now. I can't put any of these in place and *guarantee* that they will have a happy time. I can upgrade this crud 5.5 box to 2003, and I *can* offer that guarantee.
This sucks for the following reasons:
I am probably going to be the only person who would have a chance at moving this company off Microsoft products, but Outlook is the clincher. This means that there will be another company running a crucial business service another 7-10 years on a Microsoft product.
I won't be the only person in the world in the position to replace proprietary crap with open software, but won't actually be able to do so due to labor contraints, the inability to handhold and retrain Executives, and the lack of convincing evidence to slap on the desk of the (gratefully) Open-minded Ops director.
There's not a singular OSS package that acts as a drop-in replacement for Microsoft Server Products (printer sharing, samba, mail, etc) in the same boring "just works" fashion. We get more configurability, but we also get more configuring to do.
I want to "Set it and forget it." From my desktop. Without having to install any additional software.