November 24, 2007

WE’VE MOVED! Update Your Links and RSS Feed

Posted by RossB under Events, OSS News
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I’m happy to announce that the OPS East Blog is now the OPS Americas Blog. We’ve moved everything over to:

OPSAMERICAS.COM

We will maintain this site as a historical archive.  This will be the last post on this site.

The blogging team has grown by almost double, so look forward to seeing some very interesting and exciting new areas of articles and howtos on the new blog.

Blog Stats for opseast

In the last year, since January 3rd or so, we have amassed the following stats:

  • Total Views: 81,757
  • Best Day Ever: 3,065
  • Posts: 399
  • Comments: 206
  • Categories: 42

Thanks for a great run for this particular incarnation of the blog, we’re raring to go over at the Americas blog, so come see what’s happening.

Thanks everyone,

RossB

 

November 24, 2007

Converting Your Email to Linux or Cross-Platform Clients

Posted by RossB under Applications, Desktop, Tools/Utils, Training and How To's, Windows
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I recently had someone ask me about converting from Outlook Express (I nearly fainted, it’s been so long since someone admitted to using OE in front of me) to something more open source (great way to keep from getting a bunch of spam and viruses), and in my research I found a great couple of articles about converting to Open Source mail packages.

The first deals directly with converting from Outlook Express to either Thunderbird or Evolution (which worked great, they told me) and the next is for those converting from that beast from the land of insufficient light, Microsoft Outlook, Converting All Your MS Outlook PST Files To Maildir Format.

Personally, it’s been over 10 years since I was based on Windows email programs, and that only for work. Here’s to all of us who “survived” all those many years on pine and mutt.

Enjoy,

RossB

 

November 18, 2007

Shuttle joins the SUSE Pre-load family

Posted by kchin under Desktop, Linux/Kernel, Press, Vendors
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You can add another to the list of computer manufacturers who are pre-loading SUSE Linux… Shuttle. (Thanks to TrustedReview’s article for the heads-up). Actually, these new small form factor PCs are now available in the UK and Austria; and can be configured with your choice of SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop or openSUSE.

Shuttle LinuXPCs with SUSE Linux Operating System is available immediately in the UK. Delivery to Austria also possible

Shuttle Inc., the market leader in the Mini-PC sector and manufacturer of Multi-Form-Factor solutions, is now also selling its Mini-PCs with the Linux Operating System in the UK. The two compact PCs made of aluminium can be individually configured in the official Shuttle Systems Configurator. They are delivered pre-installed and ready to connect and include the 24 months Pick-up-and-Return Service for reliable help in the case of a warranty claim.

 

November 17, 2007

Is Package or Product _______ Supported on SuSE Linux Enterprise?

Posted by RossB under DataCenter, Distributions, File Systems, Linux/Kernel, Mainframe Linux, Training and How To's
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Overview

So you’re working with SLES or SLED, and someone asks you if a particular package or product is supported. What do you do? Of all the options available, I refer constantly to the following pages and references to make sure I give accurate and helpful information to the querying person.

Where to Go

The top page I usually refer people to in this case is the Tech Specs section. On this page is listed SLES, SLED and Partner hardware and software support links. If I click on the “SuSE Linux Enterprise Server” link, I will reach the technical specifications page for SuSE Linux Enterprise Server. We’ve seen this page in other posts, such as How Many ____’s Does SLES Support? – Part I, where we discussed Kernel Limits and File System Features.

The chief thing I want to determine when someone asks me about a particular package’s support is that we do include it in our distributions. I query the person about what version and patch level they want to know about, and then click on the appropriate link, which is listed in the paragraph below the menu tabs, “see the list of supported packages”.

This link leads me to the “SuSE Linux Enterprise Server Supported Packages page, where for example I will pick the link for “SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP1 for X86“, a PDF file that I can then search for a package by pressing Ctrl-f, and typing the name I’m looking for, either in my browser, or my PDF reader that popped up.

All Together Now

My example would be someone asking me if there is support for Mono (a Dot Net compatible server solution) on SLES 10 SP1, both on the X86 and System Z platforms.

Those PDF files will tell me very quickly that there is support all the way to Level 3 for SLES 10 SP1 on X86 and the IBM System Z Mainframe.

Hopefully this will help you determine quickly what packages are included in the various distributions and patch levels, and make it easier to find what level of support is provided for those packages.

Enjoy,

RossB

 

November 17, 2007

Watts Water Technologies lowers TCO with SLED and ZENworks

Posted by kchin under Desktop, OpenOffice.org, Press, Studies/Papers, TCO, Thin Client, Virtualization
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Watts Water Technologies needed to replace 1000 old shop-floor terminals with more flexible desktops. They ended up choosing SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop on Neoware thin client hardwares along with ZENworks to help manage the environment. You can also check out the Open PR blog entry for some info.  From the customer success story…

After evaluating several desktop and thin-client solutions, Watts Water Technologies selected SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop for use in a thin-client deployment, as well as Novell ZENworks to manage more than 1,000 desktops.

“Linux really shines and Novell has a great Linux strategy,” said Ty Muscat, Data Center Manager for Watts Water Technologies. “We have almost every platform imaginable and are moving more and more to SUSE Linux Enterprise desktops and servers. We like having an open platform with a lot of flexibility.”

The results:

“Without Novell, we would have had to invest far more to get anything similar to what we have with SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop,” said Muscat. “The ongoing management and maintenance costs of other options would have been overwhelming for us.”

 

November 17, 2007

openSUSE Build Service + “Enterprise IT”

Posted by kchin under Applications, Command Line, Distributions, Linux/Kernel, OSS News, Programming, Tools/Utils
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SUSE Linux Enterprise is designed for the enterprise. Part of what it means to be “Enterprise-ready” is to have “rock solid” components in the distribution which have been fully tested and can be supported. Unstable and unsupportable components/packages just won’t do. BUT… Every now and then, it’s necessary to run “the latest” version of a component of the distribution. Perhaps you have a new application which requires the latest java, or a new development library, etc. So you don’t want to have to wait until that “latest version” of the package gets fully tested and “officially supported”. You’ve got to have that new version now!

You could go to the source and compile your own package for SUSE Linux Enterprise – and while not difficult, it is still kind of a pain – and certainly a turn-off for many a new Linux user. A much better option is to simply visit the openSUSE Build Service and see if your desired package is already being built for SUSE Linux Enterprise. You’ll find builds for SUSE Linux Enterprise, openSUSE, -plus- several other Linux distributions as well… Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu, … So save some time, and check to see if the package you need has already been built by looking here.

Want more info on the openSUSE Build Service, check out this good overview article and this blog entry. and of course the project site which includes other great info.

 

November 16, 2007

Real Life ROI

Posted by RossB under DataCenter, Going Green, TCO
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From the article:

Return on Investment… the holy grail of IT.

Simply put, ROI is defined as the “ratio of money gained or lost on an investment relative to the amount of money invested”. One formula used to determine ROI is “net income plus interest divided by the book value of assets equals Return On Investment.“

In real terms, when you invest in a technology for your business, it’s about more than that. IT-related ROI often needs to provide cost savings, rather than generate revenue. In the case of virtualization for consolidation, this is often a simple calculation made difficult by many variables.

More here.

 

November 13, 2007

OpenOffice.org: Making Business Cards

Posted by RossB under Applications, Desktop, OpenOffice.org
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From the article:

Exchanging business cards is a rudimentary form of networking (the people, not the server kind). However, to get the most out of the exchange, you need a card that attracts attention and reflects the image or values you want to project.

More here.

 

November 12, 2007

Novell BrainShare 2008 – Registration is Open

Posted by kchin under Events
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global-green-whitebkgnd.pngNovell BrainShare 2008

  • Mar 16-21, 2008 @ Salt Lake City, UT
  • Sign up for the industry’s premier technical conference today. Registration for BrainShare 2008 is officially open! Register now to reserve your spot at BrainShare 2008, and start reaping the benefits of being an “early bird”. Not quite ready to take the plunge? Take some time to look around this site and become familiar with why BrainShare is the place to be in 2008.
  • Registration and more details
 

November 12, 2007

1 Year Later, Just the Facts

Posted by kchin under Applications, DataCenter, Government, Interop, Press, Virtualization, Windows
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It’s been a whole year since the ground-breaking Novell-Microsoft Collaboration Agreement was signed and announced. The one-stop shop for official info is here: http://www.moreinterop.com So far, despite the noise in the press, MANY customers have decided to take advantage of the many benefits that the agreement brings to the table. Here’s a list of all 46 of the customers who are allowing us to mention them publicly. They include some of the largest and most recognizable organizations in the world – Wal-Mart, BMW, Costco, HSBC, Nationwide, Siemens and Southwest Airlines just to name a few…

  • 1blu
  • Abraxas Informatik AG
  • ADIF
  • AFG IT Consulting
  • Arsys
  • Arsys Internet S.L.
  • Baker Hughes
  • BATS Trading Inc.
  • BMW AG
  • State of California, Department of Fish and Game
  • State of California Department of Technology Services
  • Cash Converters International Ltd.
  • CHRISTUS Health
  • The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
  • City of Los Angeles
  • CompuCom Systems Inc.
  • Conductor Tecnologia S.A.
  • Costco Wholesale Corp.
  • Flagstar Bank
  • Fujitsu Services Oy
  • Gordon Food Service
  • Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.
  • hi5 Networks Inc.
  • Host Europe
  • HSBC
  • iLoop Mobile Inc.
  • Leicester City Council
  • Kent County, Mich.
  • Mercury Insurance
  • Nationwide
  • Pioneer Corp.
  • PRISACOM SA
  • Reed Elsevier
  • Riverside County, Calif.
  • Save Mart Supermarkets
  • Siemens Corp.
  • South Carolina Department of Probation, Pardon and Parole Services
  • Southwest Airlines Co.
  • Swiss Post
  • Synovus Financial Corp.
  • TDC Hosting
  • T-Systems Enterprise Services GmbH
  • Wal-Mart
  • Washington State Department of Information Services
  • Westmont College
  • Zabka Polska S.A.
  • Links here, here and here

On top of all these customers, several other developments in the relationship have occurred during the first year. Novell and Microsoft have completed building out and are now doing real engineering work and interoperability testing in the Microsoft and Novell Interoperability Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts. More info on the lab is in the recent press release. Dell signed on as a partner for the agreement as well, working to help Linux customers with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.

And most recently, Novell and Microsoft extended the agreement by agreeing to work together to make it easier for all software developers to develop applications for users with disabilities, such as blindness. From the press release:

Microsoft will make available its User Interface Automation (UIA) specification, an advanced accessibility framework that simplifies the development of assistive technology products for people with one or more disabilities, and pledge not to assert any Microsoft patents necessary to implement the specification against anyone, regardless of platform, in the open source and proprietary software communities. In concert, to promote interoperability between leading accessibility frameworks in the market, Novell will develop and deliver an adapter that allows the UIA framework to work well with existing Linux accessibility projects and complement the investments made by IBM Corp. and others. Novell’s work will be open source and will make the UIA framework cross-platform while enabling UIA to interoperate with the Linux Accessibility Toolkit (ATK), which ships with SUSE Linux Enterprise, Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu Linux. The UIA solution will ensure interoperability of nonvisual access to the next generation of software applications.

“Microsoft’s commitment to make the specification for UIA freely available to others to implement, coupled with Novell’s plans to develop and deliver an adapter that allows Linux accessibility projects to work well with the UIA framework, are tremendous examples of how industry can come together to tackle interoperability problems for blind persons,” said Dr. Marc Maurer, president of the National Federation of the Blind. “The NFB challenges the entire IT industry to continue to look for creative opportunities such as this to solve longstanding interoperability challenges and reduce development barriers to accessibility.”

 

November 8, 2007

Novell, Dell Expand Customer Choice with Linux Pre-Loads in China

Posted by kchin under Desktop, OSS News, Press
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We mentioned this in an earlier blog entry, but here’s the official press release:

BEIJING— 06 Nov 2007—  Novell and Dell™ today announced an expansion of Linux offerings with the addition of SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 installed on Dell OptiPlex™ 330 and 755 commercial desktop PCs in China. The systems will be available later this year.

This development is part of Dell’s efforts to give customers more choices and to help meet increasing demand for Linux that provides security, dependability and lower TCO. The OptiPlex desktop PCs with SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 come with 60 days of telephone software technical support from Novell and a year of hardware support from Dell.

More choice for customers.  It’s a good thing for the industry, and hopefully Dell will become more and more comfortable with a Linux pre-load offering of SLED as a result.  Translation… I’m eager to have them offer something similar in the US too.

 

November 6, 2007

IBM Developerworks: Anatomy of the Linux File System

Posted by RossB under Command Line, File Systems, Storage, Tools/Utils, Training and How To's
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From the article:

When it comes to file systems, Linux® is the Swiss Army knife of operating systems. Linux supports a large number of file systems, from journaling to clustering to cryptographic. Linux is a wonderful platform for using standard and more exotic file systems and also for developing file systems. This article explores the virtual file system (VFS)—sometimes called the virtual filesystem switch—in the Linux kernel and then reviews some of the major structures that tie file systems together.

More here.

 

November 5, 2007

Getting the ThinkPad scroll button to work in Linux (UPDATED)

Posted by Skip Paul under Desktop, Training and How To's
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First off, I have to admit that I lifted the xorg configuration information that I’m about to discuss from some website, but I don’t recall which one. If it was yours please tell me and I’ll link it. In this article I will discuss how to get the scroll button working in SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop/Server.

Lenovo/IBM ThinkPads have 3 mouse buttons. You can configure the middle button so that when you hold it down and move the trackpoint (aka: the nub) the screen scrolls up and down.

The place where this is configured is in the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. This file is used to configure your X server in Linux. It ties together your pointing device, keyboard, monitor and graphics card.

Open up this file with your favorite text editor and find the section in the file that describes you trackpoint. Configure it so it looks something like this:

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "mouse"
Identifier "Mouse[1]"
Option "Buttons" "5"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Name" "TPPS/2 IBM TrackPoint"
Option "Protocol" "explorerps/2"
#add the following lines
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "on"
Option "Emulate3TimeOut" "50"
Option "EmulateWheel" "on"
Option "EmulateWheelTimeOut" "200"
Option "EmulateWheelButton" "2"
#end
Option "Vendor" "Sysp"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

You can now restart X and utilize the new scrolling feature. I’ve also found it helpful to disable the middle button features in Firefox so that when scrolling through a page you don’t accidentally click the middle button. To do this enter about:config into your URL bar. Filter for “middle”. I have disabled:

  • browser.tabs.opentabfor.middleclick
  • middlemouse.contentLoadURL
  • middlemouse.openNewWindow

Having the scroll button enabled will significantly enhance your Linux life and make your a Linux supervillain. Enjoy!

Go Boston College EAGLES!!!

UPDATE:

I have recently discovered that you can also use sax2 to setup the scrolling capability.  Fire up /usr/sbin/sax2.  Click on the mouse section.

Make sure the following are checked:

  • Activate 3 button emulation
  • Activate mouse wheel
  • Emulate wheel with mouse button 2

Click “OK” and save it.

 

November 5, 2007

Configuring ndiswrapper in SLED

Posted by Skip Paul under Applications, Command Line, Desktop, Networking, Tools/Utils, Training and How To's
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While Intel and Atheros are doing a great job writing wireless drivers for linux, there are still other wireless cards, specifically Broadcom, who do not have linux drivers or who do not have good linux drivers.

The purpose of this article is to explain how to configure ndiswrapper in SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 SP1. On my end I am using an old dell c640 (with the embedded wireless card turned off in BIOS) and a Linksys wusb54gc usb wireless device.

1: Go into Yast and install ndiswrapper and the appropriate ndiswrapper kernel module.
– hit alt+f2 enter yast2.
– open the software management module.
– search for ndiswrapper
– determine which version of the kernel you are running(bigsmp, default, smp) by opening a terminal and entering uname -r
– check off the “ndiswrapper” package as well as “ndiswrapper-kmp-<kernel version>” in yast and click accept to install.

2. Setup ndiswrapper
-Determine which chipset your wireless device is using. To do this enter:
hwinfo
or
lspci
or
lsusb
You can grep the results for wireless ex. hwinfo | grep -i wireless or just manually scroll through the output and search for something that looks like your wireless device.

In the case of my Linksys device it uses a Ralink chipset. I found the windows driver (rt73.inf) on the cd that came with the device. Find the .inf file for your card on your manufacturer’s website and download it. (Often times you will have to unzip the .exe driver installer to find the .inf).

-enter the following commands:
ndiswrapper -i /path/to/driver.inf #to install the driver
modprobe ndiswrapper #to load the module
ndiswrapper -m #To ensure that ndiswrapper will always use the same network interface name

3. Configure the wireless device in yast
– You should already have yast open from when you installed the ndiswrapper packages
– This time go into the “network card” module
– Verify that “NetworkManager” is selected and click next
– Click “Add”
– For Device Type choose “wireless”
– Configuration Name “0”
– Moduel Name “ndiswrapper”
– Click next then finish etc. to finish.

I have based this article off of the documentation that can be found in /usr/share/doc/packages/ndiswrapper/README.SUSE after installing ndiswraper

 

November 4, 2007

Gear: Asus’s Tiny Linux Laptop

Posted by RossB under Desktop, Gear, Humor
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From the article:

Taiwanese PC hardware manufacturer Asus announced the availability of its $399 Eee PC Internet “gadget” at an event here today. While the device performs many of the same functions as a typical notebook, company officials said they prefer not to call the Eee PC a notebook, because they’re aiming for a different market than the traditional mobile professional or desktop replacement buyer of a portable computer.

More here.

Another review of this laptop, just makes me want one more than ever.

Also from the EEE coverage, most amusing story headline:

One Laptop Per (Inner) Child.

 

November 2, 2007

Sun Report Builder: Better Reporting in OpenOffice.org

Posted by RossB under Applications, Desktop, OpenOffice.org
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From the article:

OpenOffice.org Base is undoubtedly a powerful database application, but when it comes to its built-in reporting engine, words like “underpowered” and “outdated” come to mind. Fortunately, you don’t have to put up with this situation any longer: with the Sun Report Builder (SRB) extension, you can add nifty reporting features based on Pentaho reporting engine — assuming you can figure out how to use it without any help.

More here.

RossB

 

October 30, 2007

If MacGyver had 8 PS3’s and a CS Degree…

Posted by kchin under Distributions, Gear, Humor, Linux/Kernel, OSS News, Press, Studies/Papers, TCO
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MacGyver knew his stuff when it came to building a flame thrower out of popsicle sticks, chewing gum, dental floss and a styrofoam cup — plus he always had that cool Swiss Army knife. But I bet even he wouldn’t have been able to use eight PlayStation 3’s, Linux and some technical hacker-know-how to do some scientific supercomputing. But someone’s done it!

This interesting blog article from ZDnet talks about how a researcher from University of Massachusetts built a very low cost “supercomputer” capable of about 200 GFlops all running on PS3’s. While the Linux distro used wasn’t SUSE Linux Enterprise (it was Yellow Dog Linux)… and while there are several other considerations which keep the PS3 from being the scientific computing platform of choice, it’s definitely another fine example of how flexible Linux can be compared to other OS’s.

So, if you’re looking for an excuse to get approval for a purchase order of equipment for your gaming– er, “supercomputing lab”… look no further.

 

October 30, 2007

The Green Grid: Global Standards for Energy Efficiency of Datacenters

Posted by RossB under DataCenter, Gear, Going Green, Studies/Papers
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From the article:

The emergence of global standards for measuring the energy efficiency of datacentres moved a step closer yesterday with the launch of a raft of new research papers from green IT industry consortium The Green Grid.

The consortium has released an updated version of its Datacentre Energy Efficiency Metrics whitepaper that incorporates infrastructure efficiency into the original metrics.

It also said that it expects its Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) and Datacentre efficiency metric for assessing the proportion of power going into a datacentre that is used to power the IT kit to be adopted by the industry and used by all datacentres to report their efficiency.

More here.

 

October 29, 2007

Microsoft Virtual Server Support for SLES 10

Posted by RossB under DataCenter, Virtualization, Windows
[2] Comments 

Interesting:

Virtual Machine Additions for Linux are designed to improve the usability and interoperability of running qualified Linux operating systems as guests or virtual machines of Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1.

Now with support for SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 10
Microsoft is committed to testing and supporting many third-party operating systems for use as guest operating systems on Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 virtual machines. To help make sure that you have a favorable experience when you run third-party guest operating systems in Virtual Server 2005, Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS) has created a product support model for these third-party guest operating systems. This support model is consistent with the support model that is used for Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1. Product support for the Virtual Machine Additions will be provided through the normal support channels available for Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1.

More here.

 

October 28, 2007

“Most Disaster Recovery Plans Will Fail”, Expert Says

Posted by RossB under DataCenter, DR/BCC, Events, Mainframe Linux, Storage, Virtualization
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From the article:

CHICAGO — At the Data Center Decisions conference in Chicago on Monday, Oct. 22, controversial comments from Jon Toigo, CEO and managing principal of Dunedin, Fla.-based Toigo Partners International LLC, had attendees shaking their heads in bewilderment.

For one, Toigo advised attendees against using VMware in favor of mainframe systems, calling the virtualization software “shoddy” in comparison. But nearly all conference attendees were assembled to learn about implementing virtualization in their data center.

Toigo is knowledgeable about disaster recovery (DR) planning, which was the topic of his keynote session, but he warned users against ever feeling completely secure with their disaster recovery plans.

More here.

 

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