Comments for The ERACC Web Log http://blog.eracc.com ERA Computers & Consulting Technical Blog Sun, 06 Jul 2008 09:09:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 Comment on More About Mandriva Linux Upgrades by Gene http://blog.eracc.com/2008/07/05/more-about-mandriva-linux-upgrades/#comment-159 Gene Sat, 05 Jul 2008 21:46:30 +0000 http://blog.eracc.com/?p=91#comment-159 One thing I should mention. Since I had to do a fresh install I changed my file system types from ext3 to xfs on all but the /home partition. While both are journaling file systems the xfs file system has some capabilities that ext3 lacks. One of these is the ability to have more than 32,000 files in a directory. If one tries that with ext3 the results are not pretty. I will change the /home partition to xfs from reiserfs with some maintenance down time after I clean off cruft and make sure I have a good backup. One thing I should mention. Since I had to do a fresh install I changed my file system types from ext3 to xfs on all but the /home partition. While both are journaling file systems the xfs file system has some capabilities that ext3 lacks. One of these is the ability to have more than 32,000 files in a directory. If one tries that with ext3 the results are not pretty. I will change the /home partition to xfs from reiserfs with some maintenance down time after I clean off cruft and make sure I have a good backup.

]]> Comment on Mandriva Linux Upgrades from Repositories Using urpmi by The ERACC Web Log » Blog Archive » More About Mandriva Linux Upgrades http://blog.eracc.com/2008/06/23/mandriva-linux-upgrades-from-repositories-using-urpmi/#comment-158 The ERACC Web Log » Blog Archive » More About Mandriva Linux Upgrades Sat, 05 Jul 2008 19:27:29 +0000 http://blog.eracc.com/?p=90#comment-158 [...] Mandriva Linux Upgrades from Repositories Using urpmi [...] [...] Mandriva Linux Upgrades from Repositories Using urpmi [...]

]]> Comment on Oh Where, Oh Where Has My OS/2 Gone? by Sergio11 http://blog.eracc.com/2008/03/29/oh-where-oh-where-has-my-os2-gone/#comment-157 Sergio11 Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:05:12 +0000 http://blog.eracc.com/?p=48#comment-157 Well, Gene, the problem is not that they are going the route of free Open Source operating systems, but they are going the route of Windows. There are four reasons for this: 1) The big issue is that the Information Technology "experts" know very little about anything that is not Windows, and consequently, they recommend Windows to their companies. 2) Since most companies already have Windows based networks, switching their thousands of computers to something else entails an expense of many millions of dollars, even if it is Open Source, because they have to change all their software, and on top of that, going through a learning curve for all their workforce is an added expense and loss of functionality. It may take years to regain the full current functionality after a switch. 3) The IT departments know that operating systems other than Windows don't need as much maintenance and therefore some of their services would not be needed any more. The IT guys at my institution have told me openly, that if they switched to another system, their jobs would be gone, that Windows gives them job security. And the director of IT Security of a very large and well known company told me that he cringes at the prospect of switching operating systems and losing his job. 4) Microsoft is very good at helping third party companies to write software for Windows and very good at making IT professionals to feel at home and protected with their help. When IT professionals call for tech support, they get royal treatment. Until other platforms get this type of support, they will have no chance of succeeding. Well, Gene, the problem is not that they are going the route of free Open Source operating systems, but they are going the route of Windows.

There are four reasons for this:

1) The big issue is that the Information Technology “experts” know very little about anything that is not Windows, and consequently, they recommend Windows to their companies.

2) Since most companies already have Windows based networks, switching their thousands of computers to something else entails an expense of many millions of dollars, even if it is Open Source, because they have to change all their software, and on top of that, going through a learning curve for all their workforce is an added expense and loss of functionality. It may take years to regain the full current functionality after a switch.

3) The IT departments know that operating systems other than Windows don’t need as much maintenance and therefore some of their services would not be needed any more. The IT guys at my institution have told me openly, that if they switched to another system, their jobs would be gone, that Windows gives them job security. And the director of IT Security of a very large and well known company told me that he cringes at the prospect of switching operating systems and losing his job.

4) Microsoft is very good at helping third party companies to write software for Windows and very good at making IT professionals to feel at home and protected with their help. When IT professionals call for tech support, they get royal treatment. Until other platforms get this type of support, they will have no chance of succeeding.

]]> Comment on Oh Where, Oh Where Has My OS/2 Gone? by Gene http://blog.eracc.com/2008/03/29/oh-where-oh-where-has-my-os2-gone/#comment-155 Gene Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:00:10 +0000 http://blog.eracc.com/?p=48#comment-155 Thank you for the comment, Sergio11. I do not believe it to be "off track" at all. I suspect the days are numbered for proprietary operating systems on ATMs. Likely in the not too far future ATM manufacturers will see the cost benefit of using a customized "free" operating system like Linux or one of the BSD variants. There is already a lot of adoption of embedded Linux in the technology sector. So, I do not expect to see eComStation make an "OS/2 comeback" on ATMs as the future generations of ATMs are created. Thank you for the comment, Sergio11. I do not believe it to be “off track” at all.

I suspect the days are numbered for proprietary operating systems on ATMs. Likely in the not too far future ATM manufacturers will see the cost benefit of using a customized “free” operating system like Linux or one of the BSD variants. There is already a lot of adoption of embedded Linux in the technology sector. So, I do not expect to see eComStation make an “OS/2 comeback” on ATMs as the future generations of ATMs are created.

]]> Comment on Oh Where, Oh Where Has My OS/2 Gone? by Sergio11 http://blog.eracc.com/2008/03/29/oh-where-oh-where-has-my-os2-gone/#comment-154 Sergio11 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:43:34 +0000 http://blog.eracc.com/?p=48#comment-154 My comment may be seen as somewhat off track, but, with a title like this one, I cannot help lamenting "Oh Where, Oh Where Has My OS/2 Gone?" every time I visit an ATM machine. They used to run on OS/2. They were safe and reliable. Solid as a rock. No longer true: They are running on Windows now. These days you never know what to expect every time you visit an ATM. A few weeks ago, a friend of mine went to the ATM and found a screen dialog box that read "Windows needs to restart. Please press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart." I experimented with OS/2 in the days of versions 2 and 3, but later got out of the OS/2 camp because it was too difficult to find drivers and applications. However, I think even today Windows isn't as good as OS/2. I am still hoping for a comeback, if Serenity Systems gets its act together. My comment may be seen as somewhat off track, but, with a title like this one, I cannot help lamenting “Oh Where, Oh Where Has My OS/2 Gone?” every time I visit an ATM machine. They used to run on OS/2. They were safe and reliable. Solid as a rock. No longer true: They are running on Windows now. These days you never know what to expect every time you visit an ATM. A few weeks ago, a friend of mine went to the ATM and found a screen dialog box that read “Windows needs to restart. Please press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart.”

I experimented with OS/2 in the days of versions 2 and 3, but later got out of the OS/2 camp because it was too difficult to find drivers and applications. However, I think even today Windows isn’t as good as OS/2. I am still hoping for a comeback, if Serenity Systems gets its act together.

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