Diary of a Network Geek

Is free e-mail a threat to the free world?

According to this article on the Austrailian News Interactive site, the Austrailian Federal Police seem to think it is. If I understand who they are, the AFP is like the US FBI, so they’re national security heavy-weights. Anyway, they are working with free e-mail providers to make it easier to track anonymous threats, fraud and other crimes that are carried out via e-mail. That’s all well and good, but at least one “former NCA member”, whatever that is, by the name of Greg Melick said “Do away with free internet (email) accounts…” Which seems a little too harsh. On the other hand, he also said “Microsoft and others who provide these services have to be brought to heel.” And, I’m all for putting the screws to the Evil Empire.

Anyway, all you YahooMail and HotMail users might think about all that. Enjoy it while you can.

Novell buys Ximian!

There were two press releases yesterday about this. One on Yahoo!News and one on Novell’s Website. Now, you may ask, why is this cool? Because, along with Novell’s other products, this could produce a Microsoft free environment. Okay, just savor that thought for a moment. “Microsoft free”. Aaah…
It’ll be interesting to see how that effects Novell’s stock price.

Also in the news, this time on Australia IT, is a story about how RedHat is sueing SCO. It looks like a preemptive strike, but who knows what it really all means. SCO has really muddied the waters around Linux and, it seems to me, is cutting of their nose to spite their face. Well, only time will tell how this one will play out!

A great news week for Novell and Linux. (Man, I got to get my CNE updated!) Keep those peepers peeled for more info!

Well, looks like more American jobs will be lost over-seas.

According to this article on Wired News, Microsoft (AKA The Evil Empire) is going to cut jobs in the US and send more programming work to India. I wonder if that will raise or lower the percentage of bugs in the code? Probably lower it, but only because they can work non-Americans harder for less pay. Though, I wonder how long that will be true?

You know, I’m all for the global economy and all, but I have to say that I still hate to see the loss of American jobs. I don’t have trouble buying products from other countries, but I hate to see American companies screwing the American worker. Does that make me a “bigot” or a “racist”, as an anonymous coward suggested? No, but it does make me a nationalist. I still do believe in promoting our own country’s interestes first. Why do I feel like the only one these days?

Okay, here it comes!

For some time now, Novell has been talking about releasing their Nterprise tools on a Linux kernel instead of their standard Netware kernel. Well, according to this press release, they’ve done it! You can get more information about Novell’s Linux offerings here.

I really can’t say enough about how exciting this is. I mean, to have such a huge company with such a great networking reputation backing Linux is just too cool. And, the news media is really talking it up. Slashdot.org had all kinds of stuff about Novell’s move to include Linux in their stable of products. Also, I’m pretty stoked because I just recently got my Linux+ certification and, of course, I love Novell products. Maybe, just maybe, I can avoid certifying on Microsoft products and instead ease into a Linux/Unix SysAdmin gig, with Novell on the side. Oh, man, that would be so cool! Ah, well, I guy can dream!

… 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!

Playing a little catchup here.

I’ve read two books in about as many weeks and I’m just now getting to put something up about them.
The first is Beneath an Opal Moon by Eric von Lustbader, who also wrote the excellent book The Ninja, though it’s not related. His fantasy work is not quite as good as his modern fiction, but it’s pretty good. Okay, it’s not bad, but it’s not quite as good as I remembered it as a kid. Kind of pulp-fiction feeling, but a little less purple prose than a lot of things from that genre. Beneath an Opal Moon is about a navigator/adventurer tyring to find a way home, but getting entangled in someone else’s adventure. It ends up being a quest to prevent the end of the world. I know, I know, it sounds terrible, but it’s really not that bad. It makes nice Summer reading, anyway.

Another Summer read that suprised me was
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling. I’ve been resisting reading this series simply because it’s so popular and because my wife and daughter have read it and are likely to sneak out spoilers on me. But, it, too, was a good, light Summer read. It really is a kid’s book, in spite of how it was billed, but, it still was engaging enough to capture my attention for a couple of days. And, thanks to studying for my certifications, my brain is a little fried and all I really wanted was some simple escapist fantasy, which this provided quite well. Of course, by now, everyone in the world knows the story of the “boy who lived”. If not, read the book or rent the video or just ask any kid under 15 who happens to be walking by a bookstore.

Now, I’m about to start
Novell Netware 5.x to 6 Upgrade Exam Cram 2. Updating my CNE is pretty darn important to me, since it’s sustained me all these years. Besides, it’s kind of a niche market these days and I’ll take any niche I can! And, honestly, I really love working with Novell products. They pretty much work as advertised, unlike my experience with Microsoft’s products. In any case, updating my CNE is my next goal, so that means I’ll need to read this book. Ah, well, back to work for me!

Until next time!

Is Novell dying?

I’ve heard a lot of people say that Novell and Netware are on the way out. Of course, I’ve been hearing that since 1995 and they’re still around, so there’s no telling. But, I have to admit, this last time I was out of work it sure took a long time to find a job. Sure, the economy is hurting, especially in Houston, but I’m a CNE with ten years experience. I’ve been a supervisor for several years, though I’m not supervising anyone at the moment. And, still, even with that, and all the other varied experience on my resume, it still took a year to find a job.
So, how is Novell doing? Look at the charts. Not a great picture, is it? But, compare them to Sun, for instance. Now, it doesn’t seem quite as bad, does it? And, I’d say that Sun is an “up and comer” still, or again, depending on your point of view. In any case, Sun doesn’t seem like they’re going away any time soon, and I’d say Novell has kept pace with them, at least. So, how much danger is Novell really in?
They’re advertising everywhere at the moment, including Yahoo, TechTV, Slashdot and the SciFi Channel. And, I know that it’s registered with me, but I’m already a Novell Geek.
They continue to win awards. But, then, Microsoft’s popularity never had anything to do with awards. Windows is a pretty ubiquitous OS, but it’s fairly buggy and insecure, no matter what Microsoft says about their “security initiatives”. And, of course, history is littered with “better” products that never made it very far. Like the Tucker, for instance.

In any case, I’m not comfortable keeping all my eggs in one certification basket anymore. So, I’m studying for my Linux+ cert and next I’ll work on Security+, then my CCNA. Wish me luck!

Keep your certifications current!

Well, at least, try. And, I found something that will help: CBTNuggets. More specifically, the free CBTs they offer.
They run off the Internet in your browser, and you have to register to get to them, but they’re still free. So, if, like me, you need to shift your carreer from Novell to Microsoft, here’s a place to get some very basic knowlege to get you started. And, did I mention that it’s free? Well, except for the registration, but so far, they haven’t used my personal information against me, so even that is basically free.
I’ve only watched one on Active Directory, but it was pretty good. Sure, it’s just the basics, but that’s a fairly good place for me to start anyway.

Check it out!

I can’t remember what the first thing is!

For the past week or so, I’ve come up with several ideas for blog entries and forgotten them before I could get to a web interface and make the actual entry! Just now I sat down to write an entry that I’d thought of yesterday and drew a complete blank. How terrible! I’m sure that it would have been enlightening and horribly important, too. No doubt it would have made comment on current events and Linux and Microsoft vs. Novell. Or, maybe it would have mentioned certification and Cisco. Or, possibly even debated the merits of the CNE vs. the MCSE vs. the CCNA.
Or, it could have been total dribble about how pretty my ponds are.
Who knows? Damn early senility. See what working in the IT industry does to you?!?

Being out of work sucks.

I could just about end this entry there, but that would be cheating. Thankfully, I am employed now, but I haven’t been for all that long, so I remember how bad it sucks to be out of work.
I remember when I first got into IT. I was sure that I’d never have to worry about being employed again. Wrong! But, then, at the time, I never would have expected to move to Houston. And, I never would have expected that a company like Enron would go bankrupt. Not to mention the fact that the mere concept of HP and Compaq “merging” was so far from being a possibility that it was inconcievable. But, the only constant is that things change. And change they did.
So, last year at this time, I was out of work and I didn’t know when I’d get hired. I figured that it would be no sooner than mid-January, because that’s when most everyone gets their new budget. Wrong again. It took almost an entire year for me to get a new job. Now, I’ll admit that part of that is my fault. I’ve got my Novell certification, but I never really wanted to get my Micro$oft certification. Guess what everyone was hiring this year? Yeah, primarily MCSEs (that’s MicroSoft Certified Systems Engineers, to you, buddy!). And that left me high and dry for most of the year. But, eventually, a Novell shop went looking and found me. Of course, even they are converting to Windows 2000, so I’m going to end up getting my MCSE after all. At least, the next time I’m out of work, I’ll be able to use that to my advantage.

Now, don’t get the wrong idea, I’m not going to rely on either certification to get me a gig. No, sir, I’ve learned my lesson. Marketing is going to get me a job. Yep, that’s right. Marketing is the key. Marketing is the answer.
Marketing myself is what I mean, of course. Why else would I set up a blog like this? I get to use all the nice keywords and technical terms that keep me listed high in the search engines. Yep, I can write about being a CNE, then explain that CNE mean Certified NetWare Engineer. Buzzwords. Ah, I love the sound of buzzwords. Every MicroSoft and Windows reference cranks me up a notch. Each time I link to Novell’s website, I improve my search ranking. And, the last time I checked, it was working. If I do a search for CNE Resume on Google, I find myself as the number one hit. Sweet!
So, keep hitting those links, children. Keep Uncle Jim’s website ranked high. make sure the nice recruiters can see me, so that the next time I’m over loaded with free time and not enough paying work, they can fix that. Ah, the power of technology….

Now, back to work for me, before I’m unemployed again.