Posts by ROC 162 posts • joined 22 Jan 2008
Nuts! I always start off setting up a new Windows installation with a local aystem manager account while the network connection is disabled. Then any user Id is added as a non-privileged account. Oh well - those are little retirement projects when I get bored with my preferred Linux projects.
I can probably fend off dementia longer if I foreswear Win 11...
How about the MS Surface Go? Got an open box unit with 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD; added open box keyboard (and even open box stylus, but hardly use that), all for under $500. Works well with Linux Mint 19 (once I found the tricks for setting Windows boot manager and fixing wifi driver via DDG searches).
Only real deficiency for me is lack of screen rotation support - not automatic, and manual change only seems to activate half the screen (maybe time to do some more DDG'ing?). I have several Pi's I mess with, and they do ok as straightforward low-end PC's (Kano touch screen is a nice add-on if you can find one on eBay), but the Surface is a big step up for performance and "tight", neat packaging for extreme portability, and is easily extended with a USB-C expansion adapter.
I have been hoping RPi Foundation would beef up the A+ for such purposes. With its single USB port for data connections, it has a much lower profile than any of the models with their 4 USB and ethernet ports. I dremeled a 4mm DAT cartridge plastic storage case to hold my A+, including mounting a 3.5 inch 480x320 display on the gpio pins for my home Pi-hole server - a very compact package.
They really should be able to take its basic layout for the 3b+ CPU/chipset, and swap for the Pi4 equivalents.
Actually, any Chromebook I have looked at lets you select from a wide variety of resolutions, even if not "optimal" for the screen hardware, and Windows will allow, to a lesser extent, similar such settings. Alas, most Linux DE's are not so accommodating with their implementation of the X-Window manager, and insist on only what the hardware "signals" to it as acceptable.
Yeah, that is more typical of dealings with such monopolies, public or private (e.g. the local utility company). Similarly, if one has been dealing for some time with a business one prefers for most other aspects of its operation, but the browser requirement is not in line with one's preference, it can be a difficult choice ...
I notice the past tense in that assertion. I was involved in Solaris sys admin'ing for external customers of the Big Blue from 2001, then directly as contractor, then employee, supporting a global app for a major pharma biz through 2015, and I saw the demand for uptime constantly adding 9's to the uptime requirement.
We responded with clustering, backup systems at alternate DC's, and tighter monitoring with round-the-clock support "following the sun" globally. The "old" ways were constantly pushed and tweaked, so anything perceived as improving the uptime was welcomed. But, perceptions were deceptive, and metrics, and more metrics, were demanded to monitor how well we were doing.
But both still constantly laid off IT support people, thus constantly increasing the load on the remainder in expectations of greater automation efficiency (and cheaper "2nd world" IT labor...). That drove out some people who still had options, thus leaving even fewer to deal with the load.
Glad I'm retired now, and having fun dabbling with Raspberry Pi's among other gear ;-}
Well, from what I recall of Solaris 10's System Manager (forget the exact name as I last used it about 4 years ago before I retired from web app server support for a big global biz but, close enough), it seemed to work a lot like SysD, and was a more comprehensive way to manage clustered and otherwise linked servers. As I have monitored the brouhaha over SysD on Linux, it has struck me as a Solaris Sys Manager wannabe, only more problematic by all accounts.
Mint 17/18/19 with MATE, which keeps the Gnome2 look/feel I grew used to over the last 10 years or so (as my non-techie teacher wife did, following my lead since I was not interested in supporting her school issued Mac, nor Windows), but it still has drunk the SysD koolaid. Guess I need to start re-acquainting myself with BSD's, ando/or Slackware again...
I was lucky getting laid off in 2007 after 6.5 years with IBM. At that time, the policy was a week's pay for each 6 months, so that was 13 weeks' pay, plus unused vacation (a fair amount of my 4 weeks per year as it was in May before I had used much). From what I read about ensuing layoffs, it was less with each round.
I also had to "train" my replacements during my last month in order to get the payout, but that was a joke as I was trying to teach some Brazilian WebLogic guys how to support the Oracle Application Server (OAS) instances that I installed from scratch. Between their heavy accents and the constant buzz of Skype phones they used, and my impaired hearing, that was a joke.
The main (US-based) customer I supported got so fed up with "communication problems", that they insisted the support be brought back to the US, so the guy I mentored in NYC took over. That was about 2 years after I left, and I was getting settled back in with my employer prior to the IBM to support OAS. That outfit, being a UK-based company (I worked for US subsidiary), was much more kindly disposed to all the people it also was laying off over the years, to the extent that when my probable "turn" came a few years ago, I was able to volunteer the year I turned 65, so I got a big layoff package based on 18 years of service (before + after IBM) to go with the start of Social Security, and 8 months of medical insurance (kind of complicated the switch to Medicare the next year, but worked out OK, and I still get a med reimbursement allowance throughout retirement). No way I would have done so well at Big Blue.
However, it's no wonder the UK company's stock is pretty stagnant...
There is also the issue that some users are not close enough to cell towers, for the poor reception that can drain batteries, due the nature of their work, and/or their work requires frequent use of their phones. I see that a lot with tradesmen such as carpenters, plumbers, electricians, store stockers who drive from store to store all day long. There are legitimate business needs for long-lasting batteries, and external conditions that drain them.
Or a Motorola Lapdock from eBay. $50-100, plus 10-15+ for HDMI cable with micro female on one end, and standard HDMI male on other end; and USB with micro female on one end, and USB-A on other. The 2 micro females must be able to fit together (maybe with a little trimming of the insulation on the end...) on the adjacent micro males sticking up from the flip-out tray on the back. Works with Lumia/Continuum as well as R-Pi's, and can even provide power for the RPi for portable usage.
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