Diary of a Network Geek

Oh, yeah!
Man, Linux is just getting a massive boost this week! Yahoooooo! According to this announcement on Nero’s webiste, they’re now offering Nero for Linux. If you don’t understand how cool that is, then you’ve either never used Linux or Nero or both. This is the coolest thing since sliced bread, at least in the Linux world. And, if you’re already a Nero Ultra user, they’re GIVING Nero for Linux to you for FREE! How cool is that?!
Jeez, I remember ten or twelve years ago when this plucky, little OS was something that hard-core geeks were into and no one in the business world had even heard of it before. Now, major corporations are supporting it and some even live or die by how well Linux fares in the marketplace. Back then, the idea that anyone would give away an entire operating system for free was just, well, unheard of. No one thought it would amount to much. No one but us hard core geeks. And, now, here we are. Linux is a player in the Big Game and doing better every day.
We’ve come a long way, baby!

Wow, there’ve been a lot of stories about Novell in the past two days!

Let’s see, where to start…. First off, Novell whupped Micro$oft to the tune of $536 Million, according to this press release from the networking giant. Apparently, Novell and Micro$oft agreed to “settle potential antitrust litigation related to Novell’s NetWare operating system in exchange for $536 million in cash.” Hmm, not a bad deal. I wonder what that will do to their stock? What’s even more interesting to me, is that Novell also announced it will file “an antitrust suit against Microsoft in the United States District Court in Utah seeking unspecified damages in connection with alleged harm to Novell’s WordPerfect application software business in the mid-1990s.” More cash? One can only hope.

In other Novell news, my favorite Open Source company has released a “new” Linux desktop. Yes, that’s right, they’ve got a Linux desktop, with the option to purchase support. I guess there really are advantages to living way out in Orem and not having anything else to do during the winter months but think! If you follow that link, by the way, you can download a free trial. I know I will be!

Yea, Novell! You go!

Could it be true?

Well, according to this article on AustralianIT, that’s just what they’re doing! They’re allegedly opening up their operating system and the technology for their SPARC chip to the OpenSource community.
I’m assuming that they hope to generate more interest and, therefore, sales. Also, I’m sure they’re hoping that making it open will make it easier for programmers to develop new tools and utilities for their OS. More tools equals bigger market. It makes sense, really, but I wonder what it means for the Unix market and the industry…

Hey, that’s not cool.

Look, I think SCO are a bunch of blood-sucking bottom-feeders, but hacking their website is just not cool. And, it doesn’t help anyone but SCO in court, either. But, according to this story on Australia IT, some, un-named hacker hit SCO with a very directed DOS attack. (That’s Denial Of Service, not Disk Operating System, BTW.) C’mon, they’re going to be proven wrong in court, so why stoop to their level? It just shows some real “fuzzy thinking” on someone’s part. Linux deserves better press than this.

Now, here’s a good use for a Beowulf cluster….

Researchers are using low-cost “super computing” ala Linux to figure out how species differentiate, according to this article on Wired News. They’re also investigating the relationship all these sub-species have to each other currently. It sounds so simple that I think it’s deceptive. They’re inputing tonnes of data, including habitat, diet, and reproduction statistics. Then, they’re analyzing all that for subtle relationships that might not be obvious to human researchers.
But, what’s cool is that they’re doing it on a budget using an Open Source operating system! Truly, we are all standing on the shoulders of giants as we march into this new century of high-technology. And, that, as far as I am concerned, is very, very cool.

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.

It’s duck season!

It started Friday night, right before my parents were going to take us all out to dinner. I get a call about a server crash in Birmingham. When they reboot, the message comes up “No Operating System Found”, which, to me, sounds like a hard drive that’s gone South. So, we’ll send stuff back and work on it Tuesday. Okay, sounds good. I don’t hear any more and figure all’s well. So, based on that, I agree to go help out another company with some small things on Monday(today), after I take my parents back to the airport.
Oh, somewhere in here, we decided that no one really wanted to go tramp through the mud in Old Town Spring, so we just stayed home and ate pot roast. Yummy! I think that wife of mine is fattening me up so I can’t chase her as well!!
Anyway, I get a call this morning with people all in a panic about the server not being up and not being able to get payroll done. AAIIEEEE! So, now, I’m trying to scramble around to find out what’s going on, what happened on Friday, and who knows what. To make long story short, the old server was actually not dead, but the new server is now named the same as the old server, so they can’t exist on the same network. Which means, it’s into the office to try and restore from tape to the new server. And, in fact, that’s what’s happening as I write this entry. Unfortunately, ArcServe takes at least an hour to merge a tape back into the database, so I had to call my other site and tell them it didn’t look like I would make it out after all. Damn!
Well, at least I’m making money. Of course, I expect the second gig to get tired of this fast and not really be interested in maintaining a relationship with me, but I’ll work, and bill, as long as they’ll put up with it.

All in all, I feel rather like Daffy Duck when he’s up against Bugs Bunny. It’s network engineer season!! *sigh*