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> You should have set your reply address to prj@nls.net.....would
> have made it easier.
Probably should have.. but hindsight is always 20/20. :)
> To answer your Q. No. I would not be interrested in buying such
> things. Part of being a good BOFH is to install your own systems
> - - down to the tiniest part. That way you know what breakes when
> it breakes. E.g. if you never configure your sendmail, then you
> will never know how to modify the configuration when you develop
> other needs (such as anti-relaying etc). Also one oif the
> advantages of Unix is the high degree of configurability. Not
> two installations are the same.
No argument there whatsoever. Professional BOFH myself. However, wouldn't
you find it a HELL of a lot easier if you could buy 20 identical
workstations, all identically configured? (hehe, dd the first's disk image
to everything else;) In my experience, identical workstations with
identical configurations are MUCH easier to troubleshoot, reinstall, and
repair. You know EXACTLY what part you'll need, you have a CD with the
disk image on it, and you know what it is if it shows up in another
workstation. :)
> On the other hand: the BOFH, who has to install many
> workstations will quickly adopt an automatized scheme for doing
> so (Sun have their "jumpstart" under Solaris, and similar
> techniqies can be used on Linux).
*nod* Why not plug-and-play workstations, with a Do It Yourself(tm;)
server? Basically, you get all the workstations, identical, configured the
way YOU want. And a workstation with NO OS, simply the hardware,
bootdisks, and the Linux CD of your choice. :) You think you'd consider
something like that? :)
> Maybe "Mr. Private User" would benefit from a preinstalled,
> preconfiguret machine with PPP/Fax/whatever set up and
> applications like Applixware preinstalled. But for enterprises
> and high-end, I think it's not worth it.
Joe User would DEFINITELY benefit. I believe IS departments would benefit
too, simply because it's easier to maintain 50 identical workstations than
50 mishmash pieces and parts workstations (trust me; I've done it. And
will never do it again.) If the IS Manager can get a whole solution,
workstations and servers, that he needs only plug in, then why not? It
would save countless man hours, and prevent MANY headaches for the guy
who's not too clued. Or alternately, as I suggested above, for people like
you and myself, the hardware, the disks, the CD for the servers, and the
preconfigured workstations. I don't know about you, but I would MUCH
rather buy my workstations preconfigured so I don't have to spend a few
days setting them all up. ;)
--Phillip R. Jaenke (prj@nls.net - InterNIC: PRJ5)
Head Geek, Linux@Comdex Project - http://comdex.linuxos.org/
TheGuyInCharge(tm), Ketyra Designs, Inc.
"For every step I take, I find somebody stepping on my heels."
-- anonymous
"That's IT! I'm gonna slap Dr.Watson with a malpractice suit!!" --Keihra
! I reserve the right to bill spammers for my time and disk space !
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