thaeger's blog

Why Does Active Directory Matter?
It still causes me uncomfortable dispepsia to admit that Microsoft’s directory coup worked so well. Since Windows desktop systems are so challenging to own without it, Microsoft succeeded at pushing Active Directory into wide deployment in the business world. As advocates for desktop Linux promote fitness and readiness for use in the business world, few seem to surmise what a strong fortress Microsoft has built around Windows. It’s not just about the platform; the enterprise infrastructure matters, too. When it comes to business information technology, the subtext beneath “just replace the desktops of the types of user for whom Linux is ready” reads “change your management system for all these user’s desktops, too.” Such a proposition is unsavory to the already change-averse IT culture. (more…)

Just before the U.S. holiday weekend, we posted an edition of Novell Open Audio featuring the boy wonder Robert Love and News from Support. That was pretty much our six month “semi-anniversary” show.

Over the course of 35 shows, we have done a lot in order to to the show according to what our listeners have requested, as well as a lot of “what if we did this?” ideas that Erin and I have batted back and forth. It feels to us like we’ve come a long way, but rather than getting all self-congratulatory, we want to know what our listeners think of the show.

So, we have put up an online survey for our listeners to tell us what’s what. If you are a listener and you haven’t taken the survey yet, please do! It’s fewer than 10 questions, and we will award two limited edition green Novell backpacks–possibly stuffed with some other cool schwag–to two of the respondents. We’ll announce who after September 30th.

Presenting Cool Blogs, now formatted for your screen's full width!

(It took some cajoling, but the web team let us stray from the standard template.)

--T

Novell is giving away fifty–count ‘em! fifty!–one year activation codes of SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop to members of the open source community. Fifty activations at a list price of USD$50 means fifty squared. That’s almost a $2500 value.

Thanks to an insightful (as in, “Why didn’t we think of that?”) comment from alert reader Liquidat, we’re upping the ante, raising the stakes, and sweatening, make that sweetening, the pie for putting yourself on the Your Linux is Ready map.

The site doesn’t mention it yet, so because you read my blog, I’m giving you a head start because a head start is supposed to be one of the best ways to win in a random drawing.

Fifty activations! Thats like, seven squared!

Wait a minute…seven squared? That’s only forty-nine! Where did the other one go?

LIQUIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!!!!

Novell has a frappr thing up through which you can get some free stuff.

Don Marti seems to think I’m perhaps a bit over-the-top about SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop:

Ted Haeger (owner of a tricked-out SUSE-fanboy Dell) was in full Demo Madman mode yesterday, showing off a Novell contribution to OpenOffice.org that enables VBA macros to run (with an appropriate security warning) – then he and his team put up a brave iguana[sic]-throwing effort at Golden Penguin Bowl, narrowly losing to the Ubunteros [sic].

Point taken, Don. The effectiveness of the sad clown archetype is badly underrated and due for a comeback anyway. From now on my advocacy role models shall be Droopy Dog and recently deposed Senator Joseph Lieberman.