Article

2014-12-06 Science & Technology

Windows 10 could prompt upgrades of 600 million aging PCs

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Posted by Fred 2014-12-06 00:00|| || Front Page|| [6 views ] Top

#1 Is there a product that can remotely re image 400+ Linux desktops overnight?

Posted by Shipman 2014-12-06 04:39|| 2014-12-06 04:39|| Front Page Top

#2 Not anti-Linux (we have it on some of our servers.) But show me the Linux version of SCCM. Then we'll talk.

Posted by Pappy 2014-12-06 09:29|| 2014-12-06 09:29|| Front Page Top

#3 Setting up a UEFI rig for dual booting Windows and Linux is a royal PITA

Posted by badanov 2014-12-06 09:30|| http://www.chriscovert.net 2014-12-06 09:30|| Front Page Top

#4 Not anti-Linux (we have it on some of our servers.) But show me the Linux version of SCCM. Then we'll talk.

Tivoli. Written in perl

Posted by badanov 2014-12-06 09:35|| http://www.chriscovert.net 2014-12-06 09:35|| Front Page Top

#5 With my current job I have to go back and forth between linux and a windows box.

Windows isn't intrinsically more difficult to use. The problem comes when you have to figure out the anti-virus the tech support person put on the machine, because it automatically hides/sequesters files for me when I take the thumb drive out of my linux laptop and plug it into the windows desktop. Randomly.

Posted by Thing From Snowy Mountain 2014-12-06 09:46|| 2014-12-06 09:46|| Front Page Top

#6 You're always gonna be stuck with a machine your predecessor used to browse the seedier parts of the web and that the tech support guy had to put more stuff on top of to deal with the stuff your predecessor accumulated in the first place...

Posted by Thing From Snowy Mountain 2014-12-06 09:47|| 2014-12-06 09:47|| Front Page Top

#7 This article should have a graphic of a hamster in a wheel. Microsoft, HP, Dell, etc. must keep forcing you to upgrade or else their revenue stream will stop flowing.

I don't mind (too much) paying for software. After all, I am a programmer and I can understand why programmers want to get paid. It helps them put food on the table.

But I don't see Windows getting better with each new version, only more and more bloated. I'd rather pay RedHat for a support contract.

Posted by Abu Uluque 2014-12-06 12:41|| 2014-12-06 12:41|| Front Page Top

#8 I liked that pocket TRS-80. Somebody must have spilled something on it one day, though.

One little problem with both Linux/Windows is feature bloat. What used to be adequate hardware becomes way too small after a while. At least with Linux there are options.

I dunno about re-imaging 400 desktops, though. I don't handle our server farm, but puppet seems to work pretty well for configuration.

Posted by James 2014-12-06 13:34|| http://idontknowbut.blogspot.com 2014-12-06 13:34|| Front Page Top

#9 Chromebook is perfectly satisfactory for 90% of PC users.

No messing around installing, upgrading, or rebooting after a crash.

It does run short of memory after a few weeks though.

Posted by phil_b 2014-12-06 14:27|| 2014-12-06 14:27|| Front Page Top

#10 Download Debian linux here

Posted by 3dc 2014-12-06 15:47|| 2014-12-06 15:47|| Front Page Top

#11 I'ma Altiris guy, but I will look at this Tivoli package.

Posted by Shipman 2014-12-06 18:44|| 2014-12-06 18:44|| Front Page Top

#12 I have two boxes I built 10 years ago running the latest Debian with no problems.

I decided to upgrade one of them, because I wanted to use virtualization, and that required a new processor. Which required a new mainboard. Which required a new power supply. In the end only the (really fine) case and the DVD writer survived. The new machine is a beast, four CPUs, 16GB RAM, running LVM on top of 2TB of RAID6 (I don't collect multimedia but it's easy to seamlessly add more LVM volumes if I should ever need more). It should last another decade. In all that time, I never reinstalled Debian on either box.

With Windows and Mac, some piece of software is always asynchronously nagging me to upgrade it - a real waste of time. With Debian, it all happens at once, mostly in the middle of the night, with no input needed from me. It's a smooth transition from release to release.

I use a Mac Air laptop with real MS Office and Adobe for business and browsing. Very good for multimedia and redirecting the screen to my Apple TV, etc. But one of these days, not too far off, Apple is going to tell me it's too old to run their snazzy new OS XIV. At that point I'll probably nuke the Mac stuff and run BSD on it.

I only use Windows for TaxAct (much better than TurboTax) and the sadly discontinued Flight Simulator, which I use to fly a DC-3 (dc3airways.com).

When buying a new machine or mainboard, the first thing to check is to be sure the UEFI is open.

I'm getting a Novena for Christmas. Totally open and libre hardware and software - schematics, PCB layout, boot code, Debian Linux. An amazing thing:

Novena

Play the vid and check the 20 updates for the specs and all the crazy goodies that come with it. Eat your hearts out!

This is the way the free hw/sw movement will go. If you want a multimedia viewer that talks with your phone and video equipment, get a Mac. If you want a hacker's computer, get a Novena. If you want a server, just use Debian on some old hw. Or spin up a few Debian instances on DigitalOcean.com.

Posted by KBK 2014-12-06 23:02|| 2014-12-06 23:02|| Front Page Top

#13 Oh, and try the i3 window manager. Gnome is bloat.

Posted by KBK 2014-12-06 23:10|| 2014-12-06 23:10|| Front Page Top

#14 Linux bloat is easier to control. Debian lets you choose what goes into it. You can install Ubuntu server, then add GUI, office programs, whatever you need. Puppy Linux is still around; it's 128mb and can run entirely in memory. It makes old machines young again. Lots of people run Centos, which is Red Hat without the support contract. I beleve Puppet handled all the remote config at my last place of employment.

Posted by Fred 2014-12-06 23:15|| 2014-12-06 23:15|| Front Page Top

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