Vendor Honesty

I just got back from VMWorld 2008 in Las Vegas and want to comment on how many honest vendors I met while there. I like it when the company reps don’t try to scam me with marketing hoo ha or flat-out lies about their products. I’m far more likely to recommend my colleagues and readers to them if they’re honest with me about shortcoming, bugs, or missed delivery dates. Inclusion in the list doesn’t mean you made some confession to me about flaws in your product but it means that you took the time with me to explain your product, give me a demo, and give me honest expectations.

So, to assist you in seeking out those honest vendors, I’m making this public list available of folks I spoke with who were up front and honest with me. Now, this list is incomplete so don’t be offended if your company isn’t listed–it means that either I didn’t speak to your reps, forgot that I spoke to you, or you were inadvertently missed somehow. However, inclusion in this list means that I did speak to you and was impressed enough that I am making it public.

Novell - SuSE Studio demo – Awesome demo.
StoneWare – WebOS – The future of Virtual Desktops.
Ubuntu – VM Studio – The nicest guys and the coolest OS – buy me a drink next time.
BlueBear – Kodiak and Koala – Hip folk with super products.
nComputing – PC resource sharing hardware – nice people with the most innovative hardware I’ve ever seen.
Liquid Computing – Data Center Management (Physical and Virtual) – LiquidIQ baby!
RTO Software – Doing that VDI thing? Gotta give these guys a call.
Red Hat/Qumranet – Smart people, Smart product. I want one o’ them Red Hats.
Panologic – Put your Desktop on a diet with the Pano device.
Sun – xVM VirtualBox and xVM Server – Add those to Zones and watch that TCO shrink.

Technorati Tags: Vendors,Linux,Software,Virtualization,Hardware

Cheap Is Almost As Good As Free

I understand that some people want to stick with “accepted” technologies and that usually means Microsoft. That’s OK. I don’t have a problem with that. Fear is a great motivator in some cases. Linux is free. Service is not–not even for Microsoft products. Somehow there is a misconception that just because you buy a Microsoft product that you are somehow protected from paying someone to fix it when it breaks. Wrong!

Anyway, if you want/need to stick with that technology out of fear or familiarity, I have found a way to do it for less than you might think.

Go to ebay.com and search for Windows NT 4 Server. Right now, there are several for sale with Client Access Licenses for under $30.00. That is about $1,000 off the original retail price. I even found a Terminal Server Edition of it for under $50.00.

I found Windows 2000 Server for anywhere from $50 to $300 and Windows 2003 Standard Server for about $300.

My point is that you can find what you need for less by doing some smart shopping. Be sure to get something that is legal and licensed by buying from a reputable dealer. Look for a lot of feedback and be sure that it is over 90% positive. This is still no absolute guarantee but it helps.

This is a great way for you to get what you want (a Microsoft Server or Workstation) for much less than you would ordinarily pay. Even if you purchase an older version of a product, it can still serve you well for years to come. The hardware requirements for older versions are lower and therefore much cheaper to purchase and maintain. A lot of people are willing to give away a server that is a few years old…or again, hit ebay and purchase something good. To find a good server, you may have to ask a consultant but it will be worth the savings in the long run.

Anything You Can Do….

Generally speaking, I try to stay out of the crossfire between the two warring camps: Linux and Windows. To me it is nonsense to fight about stuff like that. It is like fighting over Ford or Chevrolet. People have their prejudices that are usually not fact-based and you just aren’t going to convince them.

That being said, I can tell you for sure by using any decent Linux distribution, I can duplicate any Windows service with Linux. This daring remark includes the following services:
Server File Shares
Web Services
Print Services
Logon Scripts
.NET programming environment
Proxy Services
Firewall Services
Email Server
Database Server
Application Server
LDAP/Active Directory Services
DNS Services
Security
and all at a price everyone can afford: FREE.

My services won’t be free but my services aren’t free for doing work on Windows servers either. And now with PCLinuxOS 2007, I can even duplicate your Desktop with something even better and, again, for that same reasonable price of FREE.

There’s no Superuser in Unix

I had an interesting dialog the other day with a colleague about the use, or misuse, of the term “superuser” when referring to the root user in Unix.  My side of the argument is that there is no such user as superuser; it is the root user.  Superuser is a misnomer that evolved from the use of the ’su’ utility.  The ’su’ utility means substitute user and any user may use it.  It is not limited to the root user.

Well, his side of the argument was simply “I don’t agree.”  He left it at that and didn’t elaborate.  Well, later I noticed that he had mistakenly used the term superuser in referring to the directory /sbin.  He stated that the directory name is from superuser binaries since only the superuser can execute them.  In reality, /sbin stands for system binaries because they are associated with the system itself and not “user-oriented” utilities.  I didn’t bother correcting him but others did in a gentle and refined fashion.  He never responded to them.

The bottom line is this: There is no superuser, super user, or super-user in Unix.  There are only ordinary users and the root user.  That is all there has ever been.  Does it matter to me that even the wisest of IT folk refer to the root user as superuser?  Not really.  Well, it bothers me a little or I wouldn’t be writing about it.  This isn’t even a matter of opinion or a “to each his own” kind of thing.  It is simply incorrect so please don’t do it. 

Frugality

My opening blog should be more exciting than just to tell you about this site but I have to start somewhere. My frugal nature is well-known to those unfortunates with whom I work and so I have gained quite a reputation as being a “cheapskate” when it comes to computing. I think everything that can be done can be done for a fraction of the original cost. Solutions need not be expensive or elaborate to be well done.

This blog is going to be the ongoing view and review of inexpensive, yet functional, solutions to problems facing small to medium-sized businesses.