Diary of a Network Geek

Linux is certified to be a civil servant!

No, really, according to this article on Wired News, at least one vendor has gotten a US Federal Government certification. Sure, it’s only one, and only on a particular hardware set, but still, it’s a start!
Yep, feelin’ good about that Linux+ cert now!

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!

The “art” connection may not be obvious, at first.

But, I’ve always equated print layout with art, so, there you go. As an amatuer writer, I’ve been interested in design and layout for quite some time, but the price of layout programs has kept me from doing much about it. That’s where Linux comes in. Again.
The folks at Scribus have developed a free, Linux-based layout program. And, according to this article on Graphics.com, it’s pretty darn good, too! I haven’t looked at this myself, yet, but I probably will. It might be a chance to expand my skill-set.

Man, these guys are like a rabid dog!

They haven’t won their case against, well, anyone, regarding their allegedly copyrighted code being in Linux, but now they’re trying to sell licenses for it! When I read this article on Wired News, I couldn’t believe the chutzpah these guys were displaying. I doubt too many people will bite on this, though. At least, they’ll stall until the other litigation is worked out. Frankly, I think this is a giant crock of you-know-what. It’s just another kind of spammer-esque, bottom-feeding, predatory business practice that someone with real ethics wouldn’t engage in at all. Based on things that Novell has said, not to mention hordes of other Linux geeks, SCO hasn’t a leg to stand on regarding their copyright claims, but still they pull a stunt like this! What scumbags!
So, go out and install Linux in protest!! Even if you don’t run it for anything, just install it to thumb your nose at the money-grubbing blood-suckers.

Oh, and I hope the Novell ad still shows up on this article when you get there. The irony was just delicious!

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.

Is it possible?

Well, I know that Apple has a tiny market-share, but I just don’t see a lot of Linux desktops. I don’t even really hear that much in the news about Linux desktops. But, according to this article on Slate, that’s just what Alex Salkever has predicted. Personally, I doubt it, but I also have to admit that it sure would be nice. After all, I recently got my Linux+ certification, so anything that makes me more marketable has got to be good!
Well, here’s hoping.

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!

Oh, boy, this looks like it’s going to get ugly.

At least, I sure hope so! Let’s get Novell’s name in the media as much as possible, eh? Let them talk about their product and how they plan to use Linux as much as they can stand. Let’s keep the love alive.
Really, the latest volley is that SCO is going to sue Novell. And, so far, that seems okay with Novell. Oh, and SCO has finally agreed to specify what code is in question so experts can look at it.
Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, has suggested Chris DiBona of Slashdot.org and The Screen Savers fame, as a third-party expert to evaluate the code. You can see what he has to say about it on his blog.

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!