Due out this Thursday is the latest offering from the OpenSUSE project. OpenSUSE 11.1 releases with some minor tweaks to the license agreement and removes some of the proprietary software that was originally bundled with it such as Acrobat and Java. Not surprising given Novell and Microsoft’s relationship. The modifications to the license should make it easier to distribute which in turn should allow the community to grow. It was also completely developed using the openSUSE build service which allows anyone to submit changes.

OpenSUSE has struggled in the past against the much more popular Fedora Project which is based on the popular Red Hat distro. These changes offer Novell the ability to increase collaboration and hopefully grow the community.

Some of the improvements include the latest offering of the GNOME and KDE desktop environments which offer improvements to Nautilus, F-Spot, and Totem in GNOME. KDE 4.1 will be built into 11.1 as well which now offers cube desktop effects. Other improvements include updates that allow syncing with the Google Android based phones and updates to YaST, the system administration software, including aesthetics.

The new direction is aimed in the right direction offering more of the “Open” in OpenSUSE.

The event will be marked at Stanford University with an an appearance by Douglas Engelbart and some of the other computer pioneers who worked with him.  This was truly a historic event that has allowed some of the advances in modern technology that we enjoy today.

So, Happy Birthday PC from Tech Affiliate!

Fedora 10 was built on kernel version 2.6.27, which was officially released in October. This version improved compatibility for popular webcam devices, includes the new Atheros ath9k wireless driver, and Firefox 3.0.4 is also included in the default installation.

With the latest release of Fedora comes both GNOME 2.24 and KDE 4.1, the latest versions of the two most popular Linux desktop environments.  Among some of the additions with these new releases came the empathy messaging client and tabbed browsing for Nautilus.

Overall, Fedora 10 seems solid, stable, and a great performer.  For a full list of all the enhancements and features check out the Fedora 10 Release Notes.  I recommend that you go ahead and download Fedora 10 and take it for a spin using the live cd.

There is a saying that “Your backup is only as good as your first successful recovery.”  I think this saying holds true time and time again because if you have not exercised your backup and recovery plan then how do you know it is going to work?  Most businesses today depend heavily on tape backup.  This is probably a tried and true method but, it has it’s limitations and it is often not reliable.  In no way should you depend solely on tapes unless you don’t mind losing a little data or being down for an extended period of time.  Tapes are susceptible to data corruption and it is often time consuming to rotate tapes, bring them from an off-site location (if you use one), catalog, load, and restore information from them.  As well as the cost of tapes.

I think the biggest shortfall of successful backup plans has to do with the IT Budget. If you are fortunate enough, you have a virtually unlimited budget and you can implement whatever plan your imagination can come up with!  This is often not the case and most companies have to weigh the cost of expensive backup solutions against funding for other initiatives.  Security is typically at the forefront because what good is data backup if users can’t utilize your information due to a security breach?  The gamut of disaster recovery tools is massive and can be something as simple as a script copying files, to full blown near real time replication suites.  Arguably, the best backup strategy is one that encompasses a range of strategies and does not rely on one single strategy.

If you like tape backups, use tape backups but, include some other technology to offset the potential shortfalls of tape.  A backup to disk strategy may work better utilizing the inherent redundancy of today’s SAN technology.  Carve out a 1TB lun to use as a backup to disk area (or whatever size you need) and the rest is covered.   Most SAN’s utilize some form of RAID, generally RAID 5, and then a feature such as snapshots to help recover to a point in time. Even further, that information can be replicated to another SAN over the WAN or just to another data center.  This is a simple solution that utilizes existing technologies but, could raise the price tag depending on the number of disks needed to make this solution work.  Full replication suites can be a costly alternative but, often provide the best coverage in terms of a solution that is going to provide near real time recovery and automatic failover.  One such solution is Double Take which seems to be an industry leader.  The range of their products can provide local recovery as well as disaster recovery and remote replication over the WAN.  A number of companies offer such technology but, you want to make sure that once a failover occurs, that you are also able to failback!  This is often the shortfall of some solutions.

In the end none of these solutions are worth a penny unless you can execute them efficiently and without error.  This is why testing your recovery plan is so important.  Relying on the fact that it “should” work is not enough to justify not testing.  You don’t want to be in the situation where you actually have to rely on it and somethings not right.  I know this seems like common sense but, you would be surprised at the number of organizations that actually don’t test this process.  Remember, “Your backup is only as good as your first successful recovery.”

Of note will be the Linux variants of LiMo, Maemo, and Moblin which will be the market leaders because of there trending prowess.  They seem to have an uncanny ability to anticipate the trends that will make them successful.  They also purported that the Windows Mobile platform and other rivals lack the flexibility and configurability of Linux which also increase costs considerably for them in comparison.  This is just another benefit of open source technology and the community.   Google’s Android is already competing in this arena which is one of Google’s code projects which allows you to download the software development kit.

All this indicates that the Open Source community is poised to make a huge impact on the mobile market.  Amazon is already using the Access Linux Platform in it’s ebook reader Kindle, which was developed by Access, a software firm based in Tokyo.  If the market is able to deliver quality products there is no reason consumers will not be eagerly anticipating these open source devices.

So what drives you to get the job done? If your a developer and love what you do it may just be that you love what you do! Sometimes you lose track of time sitting there coding away anticipating the completed project so that you can bask in the glory of a job well done. Is it dedication to your work and a strong work ethic that makes you tick? The very thought of giving less than stellar performance is what keeps you going. If the greatest of your work doesn’t reflect the very essence of who you are then what was all that work for?

In the IT Industry the need for qualified candidates is great but, a handful of dedicated candidates make it even better. If you love what you do then this may come easy for you and every day you come to work happy and ready to give it your all! If you don’t feel that way, then you need to read my “Other” article and consider changing your environment. Despite the ever evolving world of Information Technology there are still plenty of jobs available. If you are at your peak and considering doing your own thing then more power to you. Ensure you have a good client base before you get started if you don’t want to go too long without employment. Whatever your place in life and whatever your motivation, I hope that you are getting the job done!

Other thoughts:

So what is your motivation? Need some help on an issue, in order to get the job done? Leave a comment, or send us feedback.

I don’t think most bosses have anything similar to an admin gene.  Most of the people that are in charge are great at managing and assigning tasks but, very poor at actually solving the problem themselves.  That’s why they are managers and not technicians or engineers or admins for that matter!  I don’t know of too many individuals that have worked there way up through the ranks in the tech industry.  I wouldn’t dare say it’s impossible it just seems to be the norm for companies to higher outside the company for management positions based on experience in managing! I don’t see too many promoting from within a senior level tech into a position that has him sitting in meetings and discussing the future and direction of the company.  Now that I think about it, what techie would want to do that??  If your not happy unless your constantly fixing or tweaking things then why would you want to advance into a position that has you in meetings constantly and taking you away from the things that you enjoy on a regular basis.  If your bored at work then you should check out THIS article.  If that’s the case then I can see why there is a lack of promotion from within the company.

Other thoughts:

So, do you possess the admin gene?  Do you have a sixth sense for when things are going to go wrong?  Tell us your story in the comments.

Happy 4th Of July

Other Thoughs:

What would your plate say if you did this?  What other plates can you come up with that are tech related?