Reply to Message
depends on your goals
The topic of the thread still stands; someone who knows Windows and Linux equally should have little issue building a general use workstation. Specialty needs still dictate the underlying platform of course but outside of specialty needs, it's all pointy clicky GUI.
You do offer some interesting points to discuss seporately though. For those points, it does depend on your goals. There are those who love the work and those who will make whatever work so they can get through to the pay cheque. I don't say that as a bad think; I have little interest in cooking or cars but other people live and breath those topics.
I still believe that a workstation can be built for the end user. The staff may be friends but they are still end users working with a business tool. The data on the system does not belong to them. The software and computer on the desk is company provided. What they use at home is not relevant.
I don't mean that the users should be pushed into something they are not familiar with just for the sake of change but with all the on the job training that goes on; it's still just a GUI tool. Familiar with the workstation because it's the same OS they use at home; ask the users who have to run a dumb terminal emulator into an AS400; you know many folks using those at home? I know the only thing that made it familiar for me was years of BBS and ascii interfaces long before any business environment.
If you can config a workstation providing the same functions as the position needs on various platforms then it is worth evaluating the benefits of those platforms.
Do you have illistrators in the office who require Apple hardware and software? If so, it's already a mixed environment. Oddly enough, most OS play very nicely together outside of the MS ecosystem also. Windows even plays nice if you use a standards respecting LDAP. That could even be Suse with it's support for MS-LDAP.
I think this is the bit where you trip up a little though; change for the sake of change isn't the point. If you have an infrastructure in place that dictates what systems you can add in then you stick within those limits. Actually, these days, you could probably look at Suse until MS-LDAP support is more widely adapted. No one is saying you should go out and overcomplicate your information systems for a trendy buzword. If your able to duplicate all required functions on various platforms and still find no additional benefits then what's the issue?
You'll also find my opinions on "Cloud" far less than complimentary. Joining the latest trend or buzword is not the point. It's also not about pushing something to keep a contract consulting gig going. A job well done is the point though and that requires knowing the various potential solutions and what benefits they may provide then recommending the best one.
(Sidenote: My latest full time position is actually due to knowing various OS platforms with a focus on information security. I'm pretty happy about that with the mess that is the Toronto job market. Sadly, too many people think that "Linux" on a resume means you can't work equally well with Windows; as if it's one or the other only.)
You do offer some interesting points to discuss seporately though. For those points, it does depend on your goals. There are those who love the work and those who will make whatever work so they can get through to the pay cheque. I don't say that as a bad think; I have little interest in cooking or cars but other people live and breath those topics.
I still believe that a workstation can be built for the end user. The staff may be friends but they are still end users working with a business tool. The data on the system does not belong to them. The software and computer on the desk is company provided. What they use at home is not relevant.
I don't mean that the users should be pushed into something they are not familiar with just for the sake of change but with all the on the job training that goes on; it's still just a GUI tool. Familiar with the workstation because it's the same OS they use at home; ask the users who have to run a dumb terminal emulator into an AS400; you know many folks using those at home? I know the only thing that made it familiar for me was years of BBS and ascii interfaces long before any business environment.
If you can config a workstation providing the same functions as the position needs on various platforms then it is worth evaluating the benefits of those platforms.
Do you have illistrators in the office who require Apple hardware and software? If so, it's already a mixed environment. Oddly enough, most OS play very nicely together outside of the MS ecosystem also. Windows even plays nice if you use a standards respecting LDAP. That could even be Suse with it's support for MS-LDAP.
I think this is the bit where you trip up a little though; change for the sake of change isn't the point. If you have an infrastructure in place that dictates what systems you can add in then you stick within those limits. Actually, these days, you could probably look at Suse until MS-LDAP support is more widely adapted. No one is saying you should go out and overcomplicate your information systems for a trendy buzword. If your able to duplicate all required functions on various platforms and still find no additional benefits then what's the issue?
You'll also find my opinions on "Cloud" far less than complimentary. Joining the latest trend or buzword is not the point. It's also not about pushing something to keep a contract consulting gig going. A job well done is the point though and that requires knowing the various potential solutions and what benefits they may provide then recommending the best one.
(Sidenote: My latest full time position is actually due to knowing various OS platforms with a focus on information security. I'm pretty happy about that with the mess that is the Toronto job market. Sadly, too many people think that "Linux" on a resume means you can't work equally well with Windows; as if it's one or the other only.)
Posted by Neon Samurai
15th Oct 2008
