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First a little background. I have been using computers for a loooong time. |
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Compiled my first program (FORTRAN) on a IBM 650. Moved to IBM 1401 & 1620. |
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The IBM engineer nailed on me that you do not play games in computers. They |
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are strictly for business :) Long time ago but I still have problems playing |
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games even in my own PC. So I am for business use of computers. No fun :( |
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|
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I am new to Linux but have some experience coding, installing, |
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troubleshooting and for the past 7 or 8 years, administering networks. As an |
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MCSE, with scars to prove it, I got annoyed when MS decided to invalidate my |
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expertise. |
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|
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I have been looking into Linux for quite a while (have bought and installed |
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every REDHAT release, installed it and dropped it) but never got anywhere. |
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Was too busy learning NT, SQL server or whatever. |
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|
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As an admin I was looking for a simple firewall (MS Proxy server is just a |
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hassle) and discovered a single diskette Linux 2.0.xx firewall called |
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Freesco. Instant love. Easy to install and does the job. |
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|
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I started thinking about a distro that would be as easy to install as |
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Freesco but more modern and capable of doing more. My idea was a very basic |
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distro that would be capable of connecting to a network and building |
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anything I wanted as a Netadmin. A firewall, a file & print server, a |
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database server, a mail server, a web server, whatever. For the end users, I |
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do not care. They can use whatever they like (Win, Mac, Gnome, KDE, etc). |
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Why fight with them. On the server side, I want something I can really have |
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control of. |
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|
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I felt that Linux was worth looking into. Checked into IBM website and found |
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Dan Robbins' article on Gentoo. I thought, this guy is ahead of me and seems |
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to be on the path I want to travel, let me follow him, so here I am. |
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</background> |
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|
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>Questions to answer: |
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>Why do you love Gentoo Linux? |
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|
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I cannot say I love Gentoo Linux but it certainly looks attractive. I am |
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basically a Netadmin looking for tools to build services in my network. I |
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have not done much development in the past few years but I can come back and |
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contribute. I feel that if I wanted to do so, I would do it with a group |
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like this. Eventually I could share the love of the present developers. |
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|
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|
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>What should our business strategy be? (achim and I have our own ideas, but |
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how |
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>would *you* like things to evolve?) |
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|
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I will tell what I would like to do. Presently I am a Netadmin, as I have |
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mentioned, but would like to start a business installing networks and maybe |
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some biz apps in small businesses or departments in large corporations. |
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Since I think that the Internet will permeate most if not all business |
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aspects, I need tools that are Internet savvy. In order to be competitive, |
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and help my potential customers be competitive, I need tools that are |
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commodities. What I see as my potential market is a very price sensitive and |
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budget conscious one. I cannot go with tools that require a license even to |
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get a cup of coffee. |
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|
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What is more, I foresee that there would be an international network of |
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people like me, who would share my ideas and who would pool their effort |
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(for their own self economic interest) and help develop the tools with these |
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goals in mind. I foresee that there would be mirrors in every corner of the |
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world where we would build our servers and WS from. |
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|
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If I am building systems, say, here in Miami, it makes sense for me to have |
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a mirror-server in my office when I am setting up machines in my shop but it |
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could service anyone, even me, anywhere. |
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|
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I Do not know India, but I know Latinamerica and I am sure that we share |
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many traits that make my vision of the computer business somewhat universal. |
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We need tools like Gentoo Linux to help our business communities prosper by |
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being modern and competitive. |
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|
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|
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>What is Gentoo Linux going to be like in 18 months? |
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|
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This is more a definition of the developers but if you are thinking along |
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this line Gentoo Linux should be what Caldera wants to be (which seems to be |
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shooting itself on the foot every step of the way). The Linux distro par |
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excellence for system integrators. |
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|
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Perhaps more important now than the goal is how to reach that critical mass. |
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Education is the key. REDHAT has a the familiarity of Coca-Cola in the Linux |
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world but Open Source can be as opaque as any Microsoft product if you do |
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not know how to walk in and recognize the environment. I installed every |
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version of REDHAT but had no clue as to what to do after logging in. And did |
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not have the time or desire to spend tons of hours exploring it. I am |
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thinking of something like a "Gentoo for Newbies" website or a "Gentoo from |
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Scratch" project (a la Linux From Scratch). A ramp to facilitate the |
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assimilation of would-be Gentoo Linux fans. |
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|
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As for particular developments that I would like to see in Gentoo Linux, I |
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would like to have one single script (I do not care if there is no GUI), |
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let's call it Gentoo, that will guide me to anything I would want to do at |
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the console as an admin/installer. If the computer is so smart why do I have |
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to remember every fscking command and all its parameters (or check manpages |
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without a single example). Let's extend the concept of ease of installation |
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of Portage to ease of administration. I spend a few minutes every now and |
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then installing. I spend hours after hours administering. |
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|
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Closer to my heart, I am a fan of Instant Messaging. I would love to be able |
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to install IM servers everywhere, something like Jabber. |
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|
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Along these lines I would like to be able to have macro installations. Say |
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I want a server that is a mail, IM, web and FTP server. I would like to have |
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a script where I would fill in the blanks and voila!, there it goes. Go do |
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something else like train the customer or check the wiring and when I |
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return, I have my mail, web, IM and FTP server ready to plug into the |
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network. |
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|
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>What sets Gentoo Linux apart from other distros? What makes us different? |
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If I am reading the message correctly, this is a distro for serious matters. |
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Whether it is business, manufacturing, science or engineering, this is the |
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platform of choice. You can have fun, play games, listen to music, whatever, |
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it is you choice but Gentoo Linux means business. Ease of use is not only |
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for clueless end users. Admins and installers who are short of time need |
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support in their daily functions too. It aims to be a stable modern distro |
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that will not break when installed or upgraded. |
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|
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What are some ways in which we can assist IBM? |
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Dan, I must confess that you got me with this one. The only thing I have |
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more of than IBM is debts. They are welcome to as much as they can grab. ;-) |
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|
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Seriously, I guess that question is there for a purpose. Well, if my idea of |
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a worldwide network of Gentoo Linux users/installers/integrators |
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materializes I would say that IBM could have some very interesting partners |
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everywhere they do business. Of course, it has to be a win-win situation so |
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it is more like "how can we partner with IBM." You are closer to them. You |
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tell us. I am all ears. |