Aug 052013
 

Article from Tcat Houser editor-in-chief of TRCBNews.com.

Philosophies on how to approach things in life, for example Open Source Versus Closed, run in cycles. In the 1970s hobbyists would be carefully typing BASIC code from there enthusiast magazine. Commodore, Apple or the highest podge of C/PM machines.

Open Source went out of fashion (relatively speaking) with the emergence of DOS and Microsoft. In terms of absolute numbers, Open Source actually grew. It was the relative percentage in the overall digital world with major players doing proprietary code that made it look like Open Source was old-fashioned.

Coinciding with Microsoft starting several years of development work on ‘Chicago’ (Windows 95) Linux started to gain some real traction in the shadows. In my opinion this is only because the attempts to create (again) a Unified UNIX in the late 1980s failed (again).

We find ourselves where we are today because there are two types of computer users. Some of us like the joy of figuring something out, while others merely see it as something to get something else done. There are a few of us that do the former to help the latter. I’m one of those few.

I am keenly aware of the fact that readers here are solidly in the former camp and do not understand those in the latter camp.

Continue reading »

Flattr this!

Aug 032013
 

android+linux
I wonder, seeing the Thousands of Apps that are available for Android & iOS Devices utilized for Multi-Categorized uses like Utility, Development, Games, etc… and being an Linux System Administrator, I ever wonder if there will be a list of Apps designed especially for Linux System Administrators as well?

Well, I was very much stunned when I came across such a wonderful List of Android Apps designed for Linux System Administrators.
And they are obviously worthy Android Apps that Linux Administrators will love to have on their Smart Phones.

Let’s take a look at the Best Android Apps that has been developed for the use of Linux System Administrator.
Continue reading »

Flattr this!

Jul 172013
 

This is an interesting article by Paolo Rotolo, it’s a comparison of MIR (in the Xmir version that will be present on Ubuntu 13.10) and the current Xorg.

After the announcement of Canonical on Mir, which will be included as a default display server in Ubuntu 13.10, I decided to do some tests (benchmark, in the jargon), to see whether the performances of Mir are comparable to those of the good old X.org (the daemons currently present on Ubuntu), as promised by Mark Shuttleworth on his blog.

All benchmarks were performed with the suite “Phoronix Test” on Ubuntu 13.10 (Saucy Salamander).

I’ve done all the test run on an hardware with low-medium specs (especially the video card), because with a more powerful PC, the differences between X.org and Mir would have been less relevant.

Continue reading »

Flattr this!

Jul 082013
 

Article by Chris Pentago

I am one person who has been fascinated by the virtualization. The idea that software can be able to take a single machine and divide it up to act and feel like several independent systems has never ceased to amaze me. The geniuses that came up with virtualization environments must be some really bright minded individuals.

Well, I have particularly been impressed by the way it can be able to simulate an entire machine with that has all the required hardware such as memory, processors, networking and all the resources user can wish for.

I have a list of some of the virtualization technologies that I have been privileged to try out. Do not worry, I am not exactly the tech junkie that most IT enthusiast are so everything you get from me is nothing short of simple observations without really going into the deep technical stuff.
Continue reading »

Flattr this!

Jun 292013
 

Sometimes it’s useful to do a step back and think at the way you are doing your daily tasks and in general how you approach your work, if you are interested in this topic I suggest also the great book “Time management for system administrator

This was written by Jennifer Davis and first published on http://sysadvent.blogspot.it/

For most of us, the end of year brings performance appraisals and reflection on the year’s setbacks and accomplishments both professional and personal. In the glass bowl of life, I ask myself if I’ve made a difference, earned respect, have I grown from where I started the year? Technology has brought us innovation to hack our lives and measure our personal success through metrics. For example measuring sleep, weight, and activity. For example, I can see how much I slept, how fast I biked to work this morning, how often I biked, and the steps forward (or back) towards my goals. There is a dearth in tools available to measure personal work growth and effectiveness.

Being an effective system administrator requires an ability to do several (seemingly obvious but often rather fraught) things: To break down projects into actions that we understand as a part, as a whole, and can manage in a discrete period of time; explaining this roadmap to other teams; and successfully keeping implementation on schedule while being flexible enough to handle any issues that arise. The job descriptions and responsibilities of system administrators can vary greatly in scope and the corresponding degrees of difficulty and creativity necessary to succeed. Since “system administrator” alone can sometimes function as a vague catch-all for such a diversity of tasks and functions we use a variety of sometimes unwieldy names to better specify our roles and focus. Regardless of title there is a great deal of commonality in how teams we work for/with view us and depend upon our knowledge and skills. In some cases it’s a bit like being a member of a symphony in which the strings, the brass, and the wind sections cannot agree upon the tempo or even what piece to play.

At a team level, management has a vision of what the team should be doing and how it should be working. Often our work is considered a cost center, something that doesn’t produce a direct profit and is generally first in line for cuts. Management becomes focused on the bottom line to the detriment of building a strong team and an encompassing vision. Teams are put in the unfortunate position of competing for finite resources. For better or worse, the team that “markets” itself best generally comes out ahead.

Continue reading »

Flattr this!