The Real Deal
What Lori MacVittie is proposing in her column "How Much Is That?" (July 24, 2003) typically is called RFQ (Request for Quotation). In it, we usually specify the hardware, software or services functionality we need and ask vendors to tell us the cost.
As for vendors' various pricing models, they're provided to help us avoid sticker shock--a state that too many buyers enter when they see real prices and haven't done the necessary ROI calculations.
Let me also address the issue of open source being free. I would suggest doing a life-cycle cost analysis before buying into the "free" theory. The old adage, "There's no such thing as a free lunch," still stands; nothing is free.
Alexander J. Polack
Sr. Engr. Specialist; The Aerospace Corp.
Alexander.J.Polack@Aero.org
Senseless Certs
Regarding Mike Lee's column "Business Certification for IT" (June 13, 2003), if you want to learn that end of the business, ask your boss for guidance. Chances are he has to work out the budgets for your department, and though he may not have CapEx (Capital Expenditures) or P&L (Profit and Loss) for the division, he probably can direct you to someone knowledgeable in those areas. Perhaps you should take a bean counter to lunch--I have yet to meet someone who doesn't like to talk about him or herself (I'd recommend ordering a double-shot espresso because this stuff invariably causes my head to nod). Failing all else, check out a library book or break down and ask your MBA brother-in-law what you want to know; chances are he'll be able to loan you the books and offer some useful advice even if he doesn't know a Gigabit Etherswitch from his left elbow. Sometimes CPAs can be kind of fun (especially when inebriated). But the last thing we need is yet another useless certification. Certs are a revenue stream for vendors and serve only to show potential employers who's gullible enough to buy into that nonsense.
Duke Walls
CTO; Ellipsis...
dukew@pacbell.net
Easy Linux
I read Lori MacVittie's article "Xandros Propels Desktop Linux" (Dec. 1, 2002) and am curious to know if she has encountered any other Linux distros that "attach" themselves to a Windows 2000 or NT network environment as easily as Xandros does.
I have tried various distros and couldn't get any of them to see our Windows NT and 2000 shares and servers. Editing all those darned config text files was way too confusing for an old fossil like me!
I am hoping that Xandros and maybe one or two other Linux distros might give me something I could demo on some older PCs and hopefully start weaning my company off the Micro$oft tyranny. Any recommendations?
Barry Jones
Senior analyst; Gametime
BarryJ@gametime.com
Lori MacVittie replies: Mandrake does an excellent job of dealing with a W2K/NT network. Point and click, just like Xandros. The problem is that you have to force it to not install the developer kernel (with all the debug stuff in it) or it will periodically hang for a few seconds. Other than that, it handles things like fonts (you can install Windows fonts directly from the Mandrake control center) and has "network neighborhood" type functionality out of the box.
There's also Lindows. I haven't tried it, but it appears to have the same basic functionality Xandros offers when interoperating with W2K.
Lycoris, another option, has been reviewed by many and is said to be a "desktop dream." SuSE also is often hailed as an excellent choice, but community support for SuSE is declining so I don't think I'd go that route.
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