[SGVLUG] OT: reminder for those who went to MS Heroes event togetSQL NOW

[Chris Louden]

On Wed, Jun 4, 2008 at 12:00 PM, Charles N Wyble <charles at thewybles.com> wrote:
>
> So how many people on this list actually use/develop/support Microsoft
> applications? Further more how many people use/develop/support Linux
> applications? How many people do both?

I guess I would say I do both. Windows at my primary employer with a
small dabble of Linux. Anything but Windows for side projects and my
personal stuff.

>
> I fall in the category of someone who does both. I use/develop/support
> Microsoft and Linux applications for a wide variety of organizations and
> needs.
>
> I have done everything from build a complete custom systems management
> solution for a Windows desktop environment, to maintain a presentation
> graphics package for Linux before OpenOffice was available. Speaking of
> OpenOffice I devoted hundreds of man hours to making
> Word/Excel/Powerpoint file support better.

Good for you.

>
> On the infrastructure side I have provided system engineering and
> administration for large Linux and Windows server and desktop farms.

When I think of a Desktop Farm I picture chickens in tiny cages that
only exist for egg production. Just like people crammed in tiny cubes
in a large room or call center. The company cares nothing for them
only the profit they can bring. One of my very first jobs after high
school was working in such a place.

My first Enterprise task was migrating 2000+ users from Groupwise to
Exchange/Outlook. Not by myself. There were 6 of us. Followed up by
being the Desktop/Server admin for 115 of those 2000 in a mixed
NT/Netware environment. It was an Engineering group that used a lot of
CAD apps for design and structural analysis. That i did do by myself.
Then I went back to residential service. Removing SoBig and other
viruses from family PCs paid the same for considerably less hours and
I was able to regain my sanity. Now I work in the R&D dept for a
company that provides software, hardware and various other services to
most of the 9-1-1 centers in the US.

>
> Both systems have there strengths and weaknesses.
>
> On the infrastructure side, Linux lacks the incredibly powerful and rich
> management tools that Windows has. Group policy/System Center/Power
> Shell/Active Directory is so incredibly powerful. It lowers the cost of
> systems management by a huge amount.

I guess...I use GP/AD almost daily. I have nothing nice to say about either.

>
> Fortunately tools like ControlTier ( http://www.controltier.com/ ) are
> now available which bring capabilities like this to Linux. However its
> not nearly as easy to use as the MS suite.

I'll have to check into that one.

>
> On the development side, both Windows and Linux have very solid and
> mature systems. I have used Visual Studio a fair amount, and I also use
> Eclipse and Netbeans.

Agreed

>
> SQL Server 2005/2008 is a very powerful system. It has very powerful
> data warehouse/reporting utilities and all sorts of OLAP/OLTP
> functionality etc.

My needs are satisfied my Postgre/MySQL. However for work I use the MS
versions.

>
> A powerful opensource alternative is called BizGres (
> http://www.bizgres.org/home.php ). I have yet to use it, but I plan to
> deploy it in a few months for a several hundred TB per day data warehouse.

Sounds like a place that likes to put chickens er people in small
cages er cubes. ;-)

>
> Sun sells a hardware/software solution at about $25,000 a TB that uses
> GreenPlum/KETL/Jasper Reports. We may end up purchasing that solution if
> it gives us significant cost savings.
>
> One of the problems that I have with the Linux community in Southern
> California, is that many of them who participate on the mailing lists
> aren't large scale enterprise users, or even supporting a small to
> medium sized growth company. The people who are qualified to make a lot
> of these software decisions aren't discussing them.

The problem is that your looking in the wrong place. Or that you are
expecting something to be somewhere because its logical to you that it
should be there.

Their just not discussing those decisions here. They are still being
discussed. Enterprise users IMHO are not attracted to the "community"
of a mailing list. Their concern is making it work and making it work
as soon as possible. They go directly to the vendor for that. Places
like Sempra (large enterprise that came to mind) use Sun and RedHat.
Not Debian.

>
> So you have a whole lot of home/hobbyist users saying "use open source
> software" as the end all to be all, when they haven't managed more then
> a 10 node network on a DSL line.  Speaking of networking, don't even get

Ok... I'm a little insulted by that comment. No wait perhaps I am
unqualified to to speak in a LUG. Perhaps I should unsubscribe. I'll
be sure to only refer _ONLY_ Enterprise users to subscribe in the
future.

Sarcasm aside...I got what you are trying to say (i think). I think
you are just too focused on the Enterprise side of things (perhaps as
that is logical to you). Not that there is anything wrong with that.

The Enterprise is concerned with one thing. Generating revenue. The
enterprise does not care if a solution is FOSS or not. The Enterprise
just wants it to work. Faster, Better, Cheaper as they say. People in
the Enterprise don't make decisions based on the personal feelings or
personal preferences (well generally). Decisions are made based on
whats good for the Enterprise. While there are some similarities
between the Enterprise and Home/Hobbyist as far as the desire to make
it work. The urgency and survival of the project to the Home/Hobbyest
is not a crucial as it is to the Enterprise.

I bet that all kinda made me sounds like a hippie conspiracy freak.

> me started on the power of cisco devices vs Linux routing (awesome
> packages like Quagga non withstanding).
>
> Charles
>
>
>