It has been quite some time since I last added to this weblog. I moved (as stated I think many times before) most of my personal commentaries to a different area of the web to try and divide personal interests from my technical and business interests. Work has kept me so busy lately that I have not been able to get much further on my stevenfettig.com v. 3a project. I would like to transform the incoming page into a totally MT based site instead of the phpNuke/MT combination. I do like phpNuke, but am finding it a bit unwieldy at times and since my ability to spend large amounts of time on computer projects has diminished in proportion to the passing of time, I want something a little simpler... Now, if I could only pay someone a reasonable amount of money to do the work for me!
One reason for writing today, however, was not to simply rehash old news in the world of the web, but to mention a project I have been working on for Tankcraft relating to the slow, slow, slow transition from Windows machines to Linux. After much debate, I finally downloaded and installed a copy of RedHat (Linux) 8.0 and have honestly been impressed... very impressed. Some things do frustrate me - like the subtle differences between FreeBSD and RedHat Linux that make installation and modification of packages like Apache extremely frustrating and time consuming* - but for the most part, I am impressed with the interface. I gave up on using FreeBSD as a desktop alternative (although I will never give it up on the servers running this whole 'thang) because of lack of time, lack of patience and again, lack of time. I would really enjoy switching everything to the Mac platform, because that would be really easy and I could continue to use all of my favorite Unix apps, but I am not about to spend the money on the hardware (unless someone wants to buy a PowerEdge 1300 and Intellistation M Pro Dual PII 450 from me for about $2000.00 for the pair). I'll wait until what I have simply won't run anymore - which will be quite a while from now. By that time, maybe (just maybe) FreeBSD will have made it to where I want it to be for the desktop... and then I won't care about using the Mac platform.
As I write, I am installing Windows and FreeBSD on the RedHat R&D machine using VMWare... ya' just can't beat that kind of power. Actually, if I could get VMWare to run on FreeBSD, then I might have actually endured the Destop configuration pain and never have tried RedHat. (Yet another indication of why FreeBSD simply won't cut it for me on a desktop machine.) I digress... What this was all going to be about was what RedHat has done for me lately. Well, in essence it has freed me of Windows. Now, you may ask (if you aren't already a hater of Windows), why would I want to do that? Because of cost. Period. As a student, Windows was a great bargain. I could buy licenses and copies for less than 1/3 of what it costs Tankcraft to buy those same licenses. I am incensed that XP Pro licenses cost upwards of $300.00 a piece. Is XP Pro useful and helpful, and all of those other things? Yes, but it is not worth $300.00. Even if I want to go out and buy a 5-pack of the licenses, I only get a nominal discount that amounts to about $10.00 a copy. Nonsense. It is time to move. The only thing holding me back is using Access. I have some great 'ol databases that are Access based and I don't have the time or will to switch them over (because they are so damn simple to do in Access and all but impossible with mySQL and PHP/perl, etc.). Come up with an Access-for-Unix and I leave Microsoft Windows on the shelf to collect dust. At some point, I will have the time and energy to learn more about mySQL and php/perl to move these little programs to that platform, but until that time, I'm stuck. Oh, did I forget to mention that Office is also around $500.00 per license for a company our size? C'Mon... this is really getting ridiculous considering that I know Microsoft uses its license pricing to subsidize money losing business ventures like MSN and the X-Box project. This reminds me of the airlines shafting the business man because he/she has no choice but to travel last minute. So, instead of reducing the ticket prices to clean the shelves (like any retail outfit would do), the prices are raised because they know that in some cases, the use-need quotient is not elastic. Just like flying, I am forced to use Office (not literally, but subjectively, because I usually do not have the gonads to tell my customer that I will not and do not want to receive a Microsoft Word formatted document) and basically stuck with using it and paying for it...
As for things I can use on Linux that is also available for Windows, take pretty much any CAD, CD Burning, Image viewing, etc software. There are plenty of alternitives or same-name packages that allow me to do what I need with Linux. Now my only fear is that some company like RedHat will decide to make stupid rules regarding licensing their product (or collection of Linux/Unix freeware programs). I think the sheer weight of competition will keep them from doing so, but you never know. I have seen more unintelligent choices made before.
So, the tide is changing and the tables are being turned. Microsoft just may have priced themselves out of the market and created a wide open door for companies like ours -- which by the way, is not the type of company Microsoft thinks it is going to lose! We are too small by their estimates... well, think again. The big guy switches because of stockholder interest in profit, we switch because it simply does not make sense to keep paying big bucks for something that has so little payback.
End rant and time to go back to work... er' wait for FreeBSD to finish installing itself.
Life is good.
* Oh yeah, this is really because I am not used to it... give me a few weeks to fool around with this and maybe my current feelings will go away.
