A Website Dedicated to Computer Professionals...and some not so Professional

Monkey Sling  -- Idea's and Opinions Submitted by other Computer Folk

Freeware Equals Nowhere -non hatemail- ;)

Regarding this article, you are correct. Free is not where the internet will go.  Anybody that truly knows IT and what it takes to keep a network going should realize that our $20/month contribution does nothing but pay for the phone line we call in on.  Likewise, if you are running cable or dsl you still are not contributing to the needs of these companies upkeep.  If a
person wants a true high speed internet connection, you will have to pay for it in the end.  Question I have regarding pop ups and spam, "Why don't they appeal to me?"  The only reason I take half a look at the x10 pop ups is because they show a very attractive set of breasts, uh, ahem, I mean woman.  I have no desire for a low security wireless camera with poor resolution. 
Same thing with others, gambling, enlarging my penis, or consolidating my debt with a company I couldn't even spell let alone recognize, why would I care to click on the ads?  That is what has gone to far.  Why can't we have pop ups like what is on TV?  Kmart for mothers day.  Buy your loved one a dozen roses to let them know you love them.  In my opinion, that's where they go wrong with pop ups and spam.  I realize they do occasionally get somebody to click and purchase but who are those people? 

Not the average Joe I'm sure.

Nate Bascue

Nice piece on Freeware...but:
There is a difference between a commune and a farm, where the masses are nothing but sheep to be guided...and gilded.  There is no reason why it should take 2500+ programmers to spend 3 years and force...yes I said force...me to use their software that doesn't work...lies to me...and when its done tell me how to use it...and when I can.

I am not a flamer...nor did I sign up for the second coming of the OpenSource savors.  But let's be honest.  What we have now is not free enterprise...and it's not capitalism.  It is nothing more than the farmer shearing off his share of our money for stuff that you would never have bought if there was free competition.  I figure in a couple years all those guys coding for free will get on the clue bus...and when the dust settles the big farmers will understand that there is competition...and that they
need to put away the crack they are smoking and begin delivering an honest product for an honest cost.  Music, movies, software doesn't have to be free...but it damn sure can be reasonable.

Tell the difference between the last Garth Brooks album...and the best selling Creed album:  yeah...about 2.2 million dollars.  So...why shouldn't that mp3 be free?  Like those guys really need 2.2 million dollars.  Get a decent board...learn to play your instruments...and write some songs...and you won't need to sell a CD for 18 bucks...cause it only cost you 5 grand to
record...and a buck to make.  Get real.  Everything else is that way to. Why should I pay Microsoft for code they swiped from the OpenSource community....did anyone pay attention to the opensource compression vulnerability last year that also affect 11 Microsoft applications. 

The point is that there is a compromise between free...and just plain
worthless.

Chris Louviere 

From John DeVita, Network Designer from California

I realize the purpose of your site is to be informative cutting edge and humorous. I feel hesitant about submitting rants. Nobody likes a gripe page. If it is pessimistic, bitter and devoid of a Dilbertian optimism then its not fun to read, unfortunately that is the nature of some of most rants. 

Let me Introduce myself I am a Network Architect for a series of privately held financial companies as such I am responsible for making sure all of are networks follow the same scheme and end to end connectivity between all companies globally. I dictate a lot of policy regarding local network implementations as such I am constantly traveling and interacting with various somewhat redundant IS Depts.

During my day I am constantly interacting with Network Admins, engineers, technicians, MIS directors and programmers. Unfortunately I am finding the new breed of admin's and technicians wholly inadequate. If you think a paper MCSE is a problem, half the guys I run across don't even have the intelligence, to pass it. 

Lately what I am finding more and more of out of somewhat competent Admins is a total lack of even the fundamentals of TCP/IP. They know networking by plugging stuff into hubs and switches and changing domain settings inside of windows. I know of Admins who think hubs operate like switches. I know of technicians who can't even build a god damn server, have never touched hardware raid or scsi. 

Their jobs don't require years and years of experience, They don't require certifications, It requires knowledge, analytical skills, logic and a willingness to solve the !@#$ing problem. And my god what I am finding is that these guys couldn't trouble shoot their way out of a wet paper sack. Listen the thing that needs to get thru these peoples head's, is that you can have a promising IT career if you are frickin bright. If you scored average through out high school, if math and science weren't your subjects then stay the hell out of IT.

If your still unemployed from the dot com meltdown of 2001, maybe you should be.

Send Flames to JohnDeVita@Hotmail.com

From B. Young concerning Unix

Well I am not really a Linux person, I'm a Unix person, That's why I use FreeBSD. FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD are literal descendants of the OS that was used to create the original Internet under contract to the DoD.

BSD users tend to have learned data processing at a text terminal, and we also don't consider our OS to be a religious cause. You don't hear about FreeBSD all the time because we are into substance, not hype. (and that isn't a put down on linux perse). Linux uses the (in)?famous GPL License. All of the open source BSDs use the BSD license, Which says in a few more
words "this software is truly freed, but copyrighted" and that's all.

In conclussion, Unix is a different way of looking at a computer and the work that you program it to do. Windows is an abstraction of the underlying system and is designed to give you methods of accessing the OS without allowing you to access it directly. It doesn't require you to learn much to use it. For a home user that just wants to take pictures of
the kids and email them to granma that is great. To someone that programs parallel super computers, runs file servers, or builds embedded equipment, and wants to tell the kernel to give some program more time on the CPU (AND JUST DO IT) it is maddening. Strangely enough the Linux crowd seems to be trying to be more like windows.

We have a saying:
Linux users hate windows,
*BSD users love unix.

Subject: MSFT Article - Well Said!

My feelings exactly!  I would add that I am still VERY pissed (pardon the professionalism) that MSFT waited until October to make the announcement.  I had taken off for 6 weeks, packed the $2,000+ worth of study materials I'd purchased for the ultimate cram session, and LITERALLY flew to a deserted Asian island halfway around the world to study (sans cell phone).  I'm an indie, so the cost to me in terms of lost billable hours was @$20k+.  5 days gone and no way to get an earlier flight back, I got the email.  I was livid!  Luckily, the Thai massage I got later that day to ease the frustration had very calming effect on the soul.  (heheheh)   Anyway, write on!  MCSE NT4ever!   
  --RJ  
Russell Jackson

PS - Unless something more fantabulous happens with XP, I am not recommending any of my NT4 clients to upgrade past W2K.  What's the point if W2K does the job well enough and then some?

Subject: Re: The Bitter Network Administrator

Hi,  I looked at the nletter and it's well presented. My pard is a sysadmin and he is always complaining that the Linux bandwagon is all people write about. FreBSD has advantages over Linux for certain things and is better supported. why don't you do an article on  freeBSD? BTW where do you get your revenue - it's not immediately obvious.

Jackie Mackay  UK