http://linux.sys-con.com/ Latest articles from Jon Walker Copyright 2008 LINUX Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:36:00 GMT LINUX 10 http://backend.userland.com/rss http://linux.sys-con.com/read/382947.htmhttp://linux.sys-con.com/read/382947.htm Sun, 10 Jun 2007 13:45:00 GMT Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking with Anton Chuvakin, Director of Product Management at LogLogic. We had an interesting discussion about log management and the open source project he's involved in that collects Windows event logs. Here's an overview of our chat. http://linux.sys-con.com/read/336874.htmhttp://linux.sys-con.com/read/336874.htm Sat, 17 Feb 2007 12:00:00 GMT Customers have high expectations that their software solutions have been stress-tested thoroughly in advance for every conceivable combination of events that might occur in production and that vendors who put out buggy products are exposed quickly. http://linux.sys-con.com/read/336873.htmhttp://linux.sys-con.com/read/336873.htm Fri, 16 Feb 2007 12:00:00 GMT For the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC), using technology to further the education of its 21,000 graduate and undergraduate students is nothing new. In 1983, UNCC became the first U.S. university to electronically categorize its library, and for the past 10 years the school has offered numerous degree programs online. http://linux.sys-con.com/read/209172.htmhttp://linux.sys-con.com/read/209172.htm Thu, 20 Apr 2006 14:30:00 GMT Over the last few years, we've seen and heard some pretty visceral reactions from the Linux community to Microsoft-funded reports about Linux. Rightfully so - some of the 'facts' in Microsoft's 'Get the Facts' campaign have been outright false and most have been misleading at the very least. http://linux.sys-con.com/read/166297.htmhttp://linux.sys-con.com/read/166297.htm Tue, 27 Dec 2005 14:45:00 GMT As Linux continues to make significant inroads into the data center, I think it's important to look under the hood of a leading Linux server product and compare it to its rival, Microsoft. Whether I'm looking to buy a car, a stereo, or even a refrigerator, I've always loved comparison shopping. That said, I want to drill down feature by feature and directly compare Novell Open Enterprise Server (OES) with Windows 2003 Server. http://linux.sys-con.com/read/162129.htmhttp://linux.sys-con.com/read/162129.htm Sun, 11 Dec 2005 13:15:00 GMT Here is a long justification I ran across that argues that the real problem with Linux adoption is that it is different from Windows. In other words people coming from Windows to Linux just have the wrong expectations. I don't quite buy the argument which I feel boils down to 'the problem is the users'. http://linux.sys-con.com/read/117911.htmhttp://linux.sys-con.com/read/117911.htm Fri, 12 Aug 2005 15:00:00 GMT There's been some interesting debate in the Open Source community regarding Open Source applications that run both on Linux and Windows. One camp feels most users select an operating system based on its available applications. If the applications people want are on Windows, they will tend to stick with Windows. Conversely, if the applications they want are only on Linux, they will eventually end up using Linux. By porting free software to Windows one increases the valuable applications on that platform. If Windows has Microsoft applications plus a stable of free software apps while desktop Linux has only the free software apps, why would anyone switch to Linux (and incur the training and data migration costs) when they already have all the software they need and want right? And as long as Microsoft can keep people on Windows Microsoft will gain the time needed to improve its applications and, most importantly, the supporting software stack. http://linux.sys-con.com/read/108662.htmhttp://linux.sys-con.com/read/108662.htm Wed, 13 Jul 2005 20:45:00 GMT Most organizations provide their users with the ability to print, store, and access files on network servers. Accessing and saving files to network drives and printing to shared network printers is probably something administrators don't spend much time thinking about unless it's to help users install print drivers or assist them in accessing shared network directories. If your organization has moved to Linux in the data center (or in some of your business workgroups), migrating Windows file and print services to Linux is a good next step. Obviously, before embarking on a migration, you'll want to make sure your technical staff has the necessary skills to implement and maintain file and print services in a Linux environment. For any migration, consider professional consulting and training options. Oftentimes, the money spent on consulting and training outweighs the man-hours and productivity costs of a migration gone to hell. As a preamble, let's briefly make a case for migrating file and print services to Linux. According to a PC Magazine lab test, Linux print serving provides up to 60% better throughput than printing under Windows and that, from a performance perspective, Linux has more than 100% better average response time than printing under Windows. http://linux.sys-con.com/read/86032.htmhttp://linux.sys-con.com/read/86032.htm Sat, 25 Jun 2005 12:45:00 GMT In Part 1 ('Why Are You Waiting?', Vol. 2, issue 9), I discussed the business and technical considerations in migrating Microsoft IIS Web servers to Apache on Linux. Now, I'll address those who've decided that migrating to Apache on Linux is the way to go for their organization and show how to make that decision a reality. http://linux.sys-con.com/read/100264.htmhttp://linux.sys-con.com/read/100264.htm Tue, 14 Jun 2005 10:00:00 GMT As with all big conferences, LinuxWorld Boston earlier this year had a few broad themes that you couldn't help be exposed to just by walking the floor. One that caught me by surprise was the excitement around thin client Linux. At first I attributed it to a combination of the big vendors pushing blade computing and the malaise that had developed around desktop Linux. For the past few years the battle cry had been 'This is the year of Linux on the desktop.' http://linux.sys-con.com/read/86026.htmhttp://linux.sys-con.com/read/86026.htm Mon, 30 May 2005 12:15:00 GMT Open source databases running on Linux like MySQL, Ingres r3, PostgreSQL, and Firebird have aroused a lot of interest. Database developers and corporate users are heralding the anticipated the release of MySQL 5.0, which includes enterprise-level features such as stored procedures, triggers, and views. Last August Computer Associates made Ingres r3 available under the CA Trusted Open Source License and followed up with a Million-Dollar Challenge, an unprecedented offer to the open source community to develop migration toolkits for the system. Tony Gaughan, senior VP at Computer Associates, says, 'The relational database world is evolving. Enterprise customers are demanding rich, functional products that scale, while lowering the total cost of ownership. Ingres has the pedigree of one of the most seasoned and functional products in the market that can be flexible enough to meet the demands of even the largest organizations.' The publicly traded data infrastructure software company Pervasive Software now services and supports PostgreSQL. Marten Mickos, CEO of MySQL AB, as quoted in SearchEnterpriseLinux.com, is optimistic about open source databases this year betting that 'We will see increased growth, faster growth than before, in the adoption of open source in the enterprise, not just for MySQL, but across the board.' http://linux.sys-con.com/read/48127.htmhttp://linux.sys-con.com/read/48127.htm Tue, 08 Feb 2005 00:00:00 GMT International Data Corporation (IDC) released a study in December 2004 noting that the worldwide Linux market for PCs, servers, and software will hit $35 billion by 2008. There's a general industry consensus that we're at the brink of a major Windows-to-Linux migration. However, with all the high-level discussion, there has not yet been much attention paid to the practical steps of moving from a Windows desktop to a Linux desktop. http://linux.sys-con.com/read/46191.htmhttp://linux.sys-con.com/read/46191.htm Tue, 31 Aug 2004 00:00:00 GMT Why haven't you already moved your Microsoft Windows IIS server infrastructure to Apache on Linux? Does the idea that something is inexpensive (free) automatically bring to mind the old adage, 'You get what you pay for?' Do you fear that your IT staff will not be able to support the new platform? Will you be able to find competent developers to maintain, enhance, and develop new Web sites based on Apache on Linux?