Diary of a Network Geek

Ok, so it’s a thrid-party product that’s currently not supported, but still…

It exists! Really, truly, I have seen it. There is such an animal.
The GTK Client for Netware has its very own website. A word of warning, though, don’t bother to try and download it from the link at the bottom of the page. Instead, go to the “Downloads” section and get it from there.
With Novell’s new strategy of Linux support, I wonder how long it will be before they have their own client? I wonder why they don’t just grab this guy’s Novell client and “brand” it for themselves? Anyway, I thought it was cool.

I’m really enjoying my Linux+ certification.

So, last week I installed RedHat version 9. Which, incidentally, is the best version I’ve used yet. The installer is really easy and detected my hardware very well. And, the end result of the install was more than satisfactory.
But, the thing is, I do most of my work on a Windows 2000 Pro workstation and I hate having those damn switchboxes. So, what to do? I started looking around for an XWindows client that would let me have a remote desktop. Well, there were lots of pricey solutions and we have a copy of Exceed, but I wanted something free and, if possible, Open Source. There ended up being just one answer: Cygwin/XFree86. Now, I’m not going to lie and say it was a cinch to install and configure, but it didn’t take me all day. And, in fact, the trickiest part of the whole thing was getting the settings right on my RedHat machine. So, now, I have a remote desktop to my Linux machine. All this and I get paid, too! I love my job!

… And thank you very much Novell!

Okay, so it’s not shock to anyone reading this that I’m a giant Novell bigot, right? So, when Novell comes down on the side of Linux, should you be suprised that I’m gonna’ talk it up? I didn’t think so…

Of course, if you’re a Linux lover, you’ve already been following the outrageous claims that SCO has made regarding “their” code that was released via GPL into Linux. Guess what? Turns out that it was never their code at all. Novell owns the code in question and they’re all for it being in the Open Source community. In fact, some time ago, I noted that Novell is going to release their excellent OS, Netware, on a Linux kernel in addition to the current Netware kernel. So, these folks are really going after the Open Source market. And, based on what I read on Slashdot, they’re being pretty well recieved.

Hey, maybe I won’t have to sell out to the Evil Empire of Microsoft after all!

Hey, this Linux stuff is catching on!

No, seriously… Linux seems to really be picking up in popularity in smaller countries trying to get up to speed, as it were, in the computer world. It’s especially popular in the more, er, “financially challenged” countries. (I hate the whole “Third World” label.)
As an example, here’s in InfoWorld article about how the Government of Thailand has gotten behind Linux.

Cool stuff.

I just passed my Linux+ test!

I took it this morning before lunch and passed in the first try. Woo-hoo! It seemed like a kind of strange test, to me, but I figure that’s because it’s my first CompTIA test. It had a lot of hardware questions on it. And, some of the questions about Linux seemed not very “real world”. But that’s all water under the bridge now, because I passed!
And it’s about time I had something relating to networking and business, not to mention my career, to post here.

So, now I’ve gotten one of the four or five certifications that I want to get in the next year. That means that I have to start working on my CCR to update my CNE from Netware v5.x to Netware v6.x. That means reading the Novell Netware 5.x to 6 Upgrade Exam Cram 2 book and working the SelfTest Software pre-test. But, first, I’m taking a couple of days R&R for good behavior!
And, I’ve been thinking about getting Novell’s Linux Certification, too. Hmmm…. The path of certification never seems to end.

Time for a little Novell propaganda.

As a Certified Netware Engineer, I always appreciate hearing stories about how people are moving from WindowsNT to Novell. Here’s an example of a hospital that moved to Novell for the stability. Frankly, it frightens me how many hospitals run on an operating system, WindowsNT, that needs to be rebooted on a regular basis.
Also, there’s an announcement on Novell’s Main Certification page about their new certification program: the Novell Certified Linux Engineer. Now, this is cool. A big name, known for being a leader in certification programs, getting behind Linux. I think that’s great. I hope this really takes off. I won’t be able to worry about it for a year or so, but I look forward to pursuing this certification, too. Way cool.

Wanna’ be the next Red Hat?

Well, here’s a site called Linux From Scratch that will help you do it. The whole site is dedicated to creating a Linux distribution from the ground up. And, if you have a particular application in mind, like a firewall, you can go to Beyond Linux From Scratch and get info there.
Of course, Red Hat has all the marketing and support stuff knocked out already, but still, you could have your very own distro. Hmmm, imagine that, the Official Diary of a Network Geek Linux Distro. Sounds yummy, doesn’t it?

Well, enough dreaming, back to studying for my Linux+ test!

What search terms get the best results?

My site is fairly well optimized for Google on the terms “CNE Resume“. It’s mainly what I do. My primary area of expertise is Novell Netware and I am a Certified Novell Engineer. But, that’s not all I do. I know a little Linux and, of course, the never escapable WindowsNT and Windows2000. I even have a little experience with WindowsXP, though it’s just the client side. So, while it makes sense that my resume is optimized for Novell products, I’d like to reposition myself to be more of a generalist Network Engineer.
Right now, I show up on the first page of a Google search for “network engineer resume houston“, but not for “network engineer resume“. I suppose I should be happy. After all, I don’t plan on leaving Houston anytime soon, but it just isn’t good enough for me. I need to be on that first page for “network engineer resume”. So, I’m going to work at it. I managed to get that top spot for “CNE Resume”, so I ought to be able to get it for “network engineer resume”, too!

Well, I guess I’m right on topic this week….

On Sunday, I questioned how long Novell, and Netware, was going to last. Well, it seems that with BrainShare, Novell’s user conference, this week, Computerworld was asking the same questions. They ran two articles: NetWare community insists their NOS will live and NetWare Stalwarts Remain Loyal Despite Dwindling Market Share. So, it seems that I’m pretty much in the mainstream of Novell Netware enthusiasts. But, like a lot of other Network Engineers, I’m looking toward other solutions, like Linux, for instance. Well, guess what? So is Novell! According to this article, also at Computerworld, Novell adopts Linux as NetWare migration path! I guess Linux, and the Linux+ certification, really isn’t a bad thing for me to do at all! (On a side note, this story got a mention on Slashdot, a news website for geeks. The posting is here.)

I guess I really have been in this business long enough to see the writing on the wall. Go figure.

Well, it’s new to Linux, anyway.

Opera Software announced on the 11th, that they have a a beta version of their browser for Linux! Now, that’s pretty cool because they once said that they wouldn’t do that. Or, at least that they didn’t plan to do that. I think the fact that yet another company is designing Internet software for the client side of Linux is a great sign. It really validates my choice of focusing on a Linux+ certification.

The world is changing and so is IT. I really think Linux is the next big thing for the desktop, still. It’s just taking longer than we’d anticipated.