Practical Technology

for practical people.

June 29, 2008
by sjvn01
3 Comments

Avoiding Server 2008 Password Troubles

I was setting up Windows Server 2008 on a test system today to get a better grip on Microsoft’s just released Hyper-V virtualization when I ran into a completely unexpected problem: I couldn’t set up the system’s initial password

I expected to have some trouble integrating Server 2008 into my network. My LAN, while it used AD (Active Directory), relies on Samba and LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) so I expected to have some trouble with, at a minimum, some authentication issues. And, indeed, I did run into that kind of problem, but first I had to get logged into my server. This is not a problem I ever expected to have with a modern operating system.

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June 27, 2008
by sjvn01
1 Comment

A Print Server to Avoid: the Linksys WPS54GU2

Generally speaking for consumer/SMB grade network equipment, I swear by Linksys hardware. I’ve been using he Linksys WRT54G family of access points since 2002 ever since Linksys open-sourced the firmware for many WRT54G models and they’ve never let me down. But, then there’s the Linksys print servers. If I had met these devices first, I’d be swearing at Linksys and using D-Link, Netgear, heck, anyone’s else equipment.

What’s really ticked me off is the Linksys WPS54GU2 Wireless-G Print Server for USB 2.0. All I wanted was a simple print -server for my wife’s upstairs studio. What I got was one of the most annoying network devices I’d ever worked with.

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June 27, 2008
by sjvn01
0 comments

Using Vista instead of XP is dumb

Far be it for me to disagree with my esteemed colleague Robert Mitchell that XP downgrade are dumb but ah… eh… gosh, Mitchell you are so wrong on this one!

Sure, I agree, boy do I agree, that if users dislike Windows they should move to desktop Linux or Mac OS X, but I’m also realistic enough to know that many of them won’t do it. Microsoft’s mind-control ray is finally weakening, but I know darn well that most people would still use a Windows machines even if you put – sob! — that Rolls Royce of latops, the Mac Air into their hands.

So while I certainly think that would-be business Windows PC buyers should check out say the Lenovo R61 ThinkPad with SLED (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop) 10 SP1, I know darn well most of them will still buy a Windows powered PC.

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June 26, 2008
by sjvn01
2 Comments

When is an open-source project ready?

I’ve been getting told that my recent review of KDE 4 wasn’t fair because KDE 4 isn’t really ready for prime time. My response: “When is any program, especially an open-source program, ready?”

I’m not making light of this criticism of my review. WINE, everyone’s favorite way to run Windows programs on Linux, just reached 1.0 status after 15-years in the making. Its developers freely admit that while it’s very, very good at what it does, it’s far from perfect. None-the-less, many of us, including yours truly, have been using WINE for more than a decade.

Is it ready? It’s not only been ready, it’s been useful for years. It’s also only now a 1.0 release.

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June 26, 2008
by sjvn01
1 Comment

Mobile Linux has real trouble ahead

If you had asked me where the mobile phone operating system was heading last week. I would have said something like: “Symbian will continue its gradual decline, Apple’s iPhone special mix will continue to grab the headlines, and Linux-LiMo, Google Android, etc.–would continue its slow, but unstoppable, march to victory.That was last week.

This week, Nokia announced that it was buying Symbian. That wouldn’t have changed what I saw in my crystal ball. Then, Nokia announced they were going to open-source Symbian OS and its development tools and its GUI (graphical user interface) and, OK, Nokia and its partners were going to open-source the whole Symbian ball of wax.

Ka-Boom! Sorry, that was the sound my crystal ball made made as it fell off its stand and smashed into a million pieces.

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