Diary of a Network Geek

I got an interesting phone call yesterday…

It seems that I’m so popular a hit on Google for “CNE Resume” that now people are asking me to help them find CNEs in other cities. A poor, frustrated small-business owner called me yesterday, out of the blue at my day-job, looking for help finding a CNE in Dallas. First of all, I was suprised to get that kind of call at my work. I guess she traced me down by way of my resume and the helpfull operator at my job. Anyway, she had apparently been looking for someone to come in and help her get something done on her network, but couldn’t find anyone. What’s more, she seemed to be having trouble getting through to the Novell sales office in Dallas. In any case, I wasn’t able to help her much, since everyone I know who’s a CNE is in Houston these days, and maybe back in Chicago. I’ve lost touch with everyone in Dallas that I used to know from Harbor Financial.
So, I finally got her connected to the Novell website Partner Locator. That seemed to pull up a number of options that might work for her. I felt really bad for her because there really aren’t too many good resources for people in her position. Maybe that’s why so many small business seem to favor Micro$oft these days? Maybe this is an opportunity Novell to get some market pentration… You know, if they started to market to the smaller businesses and encouraged the smaller IT consulting firms to have CNEs on staff to support them, maybe Novell would get into some markets that they hadn’t thought of before. Maybe…

So, you CNEs out there, if you want to be seen, join the CNE Resume Webring! It really could get you noticed!

Well, I hope she got her help. Good luck!

Novell is getting right on it!

Just a few months ago, Novell bought SuSE, the leading LINUX company in Europe. Well, now they’ve announced that they’re going to be letting loose some new versions of their distro. At least, according to this article on Wired News, they are. Frankly, all I can say is “Horay!!” I really hope Novell follows through on what they’ve started here. I know they have a whole section of their website dedicated to the Novell\Linux intersection.
I really, really like the idea of running Novell products on a Linux kernel. For instance, I can’t think of a better sounding e-mail solution for corporate envrionments than GroupWise on Linux. (Okay, I’m a little biased, but still….) I mean, this just sounds like a bulletproof setup to me. None of the hassles of Exchange/Outlook bugs, exploits, viruses or worms and the reliability of Linux. C’mon, let’s face it, Unix-based servers so very rarely crash that it’s almost a non-issue.
Now, if someone would just offer me a Novell job where they’re starting to use Linux…. Ah, well, a guy can dream, right?

On a happier foreign note…

Open Source projects in Germany. Accoding to this article on Wired News, Munich is going forward with thier migration to Open Source software. They’re not the first, but they’re the first I know of in Europe. And, they’re the first I’ve heard about in a long time. That combined with the whole Novell purchase of SUSE makes me really glad to be of German descent! Seriously, it really looks like Germany is getting cranked up on the latest technology and that’s cool. Hopefully, they’ll pull some of the rest of Europe along! Go, Tux, go!

Let’s talk “license”.

It looks like SCO’s attempt to extort money for alleged proprietary pieces of Linux code is slowly failing. At least, according to this article on AustralianIT, which says that the Australian government is basically just ignoring them. They apparently got their Linux solution via IBM, so they just refer any issues to IBM. Which, frankly, makes sense. Besides, IBM is already bringing suit against SCO for, well, basically for being stupid, I think.

The more I read about stuff like this the more I think the way to go is Novell and SUSE. An integrated solution, right down to the desktop, that has a better, less expensive licensing program than Micro$oft and has global support. Seems like a better option to me. But, what do I know? I’m just a Network Geek.

Two great tastes that taste great together.

I only wish I was going to get to taste them. I was reading the article in this month’s Novell Connection Magazine about all the cool new things that Novell is rolling out for Netware and Linux in a mixed envrionment. It really makes me sad that my current company is phasing out Novell. Especially now that Novell has bought SUSE! Yow! I can only imagine the things that will be coming down the pike! I mean, things like Linux-only Groupwise just really makes me drool. And, with all the web-based administration tools, managing servers from home on the weekend would be a dream with Linux. *sigh* Well, maybe one day I’ll get the chance to be in a Linux/Novell shop. Until then, I have to content myself with running Linux servers and nursing the old Novell servers through end-of-life.
At least it pays the mortgage.

Well, I’ve done it now!

Okay, so I’ve been messing around with PERL for Netware and I came up with at least one thing that I thought was useful. I call it “dfmail.pl”, which is short of DiskFreeE-Mail. It’s a simple little script that will check the available space on all the volumes of a server and e-mail the results to the user of your choice. You will have to edit the script to set the e-mail address, but otherwise, it should run okay. Oh, I tested it on Netware 5.1 servers, with the latest service pack, so I have no idea how well it will work on Netware 6. If anyone tries it, let me know!

Download DFMail.ZIP

Jack Messman opens LinuxWorld.

Well, based on this story from WiredNews, Novell is really serious about their commitment to Linux. Jack Messman, who is the CEO of Novell, said that we need more OpenSource projects and applications. I really think his opening the biggest Linux show in the country show just how much Novell has committed to Linux. They’re really betting on the fact that enterprise computing is looking for a more robust, more stable, system than we’ve gotten used to recently. Certainly, I’d like a system that has fewer crashes and more uptime than most of the Windows servers I’ve worked on! And, Unix, which is still what runs the Internet, no matter what Micro$oft would like you to believe, is the most stable OS that I’ve ever worked on, Netware included. So, it seems like a good match for Novell. A series of products that integrate Novell’s easy-to-use tools and Linux’s stability seems like a good idea. At least, I think it’s the right move, obviously since I got my Linux+ certification. I just hope the rest of the IT world sees it our way!

I know why the PERL developer cries…

Sometime ago, I wrote an entry about PERL on Netware. At the time, I wondered why no one used PERL for Novell System administration. Now, I know. Novell has virtually no documentation on how PERL interacts with Netware. There are a few, simple example scripts and a couple of suggestions for things to do with it, but that’s about it. How frustrating! Here I am, having actually gotten a little bit of PERL savy and to what end? My favorite server OS supports it, technically, but they offer virtually no information about how to actually make use of it! Argh!

Ah, well, now that they’re getting into the Linux arena maybe we’ll start to see more support for Open Source and “hackerish” tools, like PERL. I sure hope so…

WOW! Talk about a blast from the past!

So, I’m just sittin’ there, minding my own business, trying to look casual while reading e-mail and the boss walks in and starts firing questions about Netware licensing at me. Naturally, I’m suspicious from the start, but I listen and answer questions as best I can.
Not too long ago, we bought a company on the East Coast that had, well, an “interesting” mix of technology in their IT department. It seems a couple of these sites are have problems with the number of licensed connections available. The office has about 30 people, but they only have a 10 user license. Talk about 10lbs. of crap and a 5lbs. bag. But, wait, it gets better!! They’re running, yep, you guessed it, Netware 3.2. Oh, God, what did I do in a past life to deserve this?
Well, wailing and gnashing of teeth aside, I’m gonna’ have to deal with this. Somehow. Without spending any money. Yeah, right.
So, I dig into Uncle Jim’s Magical Bag O’ Tricks™ and pull out not one, but two copies of unserialized server.exe that I had from way, way back by way of a guy who was a developer at a Novell channel partner or some such. (Don’t worry, he’s since turned rogue and been seduced by the Evil Micro$oft Empire, so I’m not getting him in trouble.) But, you know what? The boss says to me, “That just doesn’t sound ‘right’.”
What’s this? A boss who actually cares about doing things the Right Way™ ? Whoda’ thunk it!
So, the work may not always be challenging and the pay can always be better, but at least I have a pretty damn good boss these days. That’s something. Hell, somedays, it’s the only thing.

No, really, an actual gift.

Back in October, you may recall, I wrote about updating my Novell certification. Well, Monday night I got a package from Novell. At first, I thought it was going to be some kind of “Welcome Aboard” kit like they’ve sent in the past. Basically, just a bunch of product literature and ID cards and such. But, this was different. They sent me an actual thank you gift for updating my CNE to version 6. In fact, there was a letter in the box telling me precisely that.
Now, the “gift” itself isn’t that great. It was one of those single-strap, “Metrosexual”-style backpacks, with Novell logos strategically placed all over it. But, it was the idea that they sent me something as a reward for sticking with them during hard times in the tech world. That’s a pretty big shift in thinking from Novell, and every one else who has a certification program. It used to be that they pretty well expected the certification candidate to kiss their butt, even after we put in the work to get the cert. But, now, there seems to be a different attitude, which I welcome.

So, I may not actually use their “gift”, but I appreciate the sentiment behind it.
Thanks, Novell!