Posts by Fred Daggy 427 publicly visible posts • joined 6 Sep 2018
I was going to ask, if this will be examined in retrospect and will show a decrease in motor vehicle collections, or break-ins, or some other event?
Like a decrease in colds and flu during the early days of Covid-19 as everyone washed their hands like their life depended upon it. Or fitness levels rose during lockdown as people took advantage of their 1h per day outside.
I'd be asking more questions about what they produce that can't be replicated with a good program. No, I don't mean VB in Excel.
99% sure they are dragging a lot of data from an ERP system. Potentially other sources as well. 3 months for a decent programmer, 6 months for "a programmer" and 2 to 4 years if you offshore it. But it would be done.
We had one like that. Used to print every month enough to cut down 2 major forests and be working 14 hour days every month. But he knew his numbers. Eventually retired and the replacement got the job done in about 30 minutes of automation to the point she was bored after 3 weeks in the job. It was well known, but the original was the "goto guy" for a number of P and VPs.
Since 2016, server build have basically been service packs. 2016 performs somewhat sluggishly (i think disk related) but 2019, 2022 are both surprisingly zippy on the same hardware.
Not much in the way of blockbuster features. Very minor upgrades here and there on some things. Not surprising when we know they want you to cloud everything.
There is also the Non-Broadcom side of the value as well.
Where is that pool of VMWare experienced administrators? They can make it and break it in their sleep. Right now it exists. In 2 to 3 years time? Well, they are no longer up to date on latest developments. Where is the pool of easily Google-able articles for problems and procedures, for a quick and easy fix? Behind a paywall.
Then actually running VMWare becomes like running a mainframe with lots of legacy Cobol - you're at the mercy of the of the greybeard "Elders of the Internet". Have you tried getting support from Oracle without a support login? Our org is supported but it then becomes a cabal of guarded knowledge with few having the login, which only hurts IT and in the longer term, the business. That's what it will be like.
Lessons from the past:
Windows became very well known because it came with every bit of tin and some spinning rust (Legal or illegal tactic, your call, just stating a fact)
Linux became popular because it is free and just happened to be there at the time the Internet took off.
OS/2, not so much - no ecosystem. AS/400 or high end stuff from IBM - niche, expensive knowledge. Apple - aspirational, but still niche - the riff-raff kept out by the price.
Broadcom: Your product is a dead duck in two, three years max.
And they paid for an expensive consultancy that said what management wanted to hear.
Funny, when the "benefits"* never materialised that the leadership jumped en masse to that same consultancy org at nice and senior positions.
* Benefits were never actually cloudy anyway, it was tightly bundled with sacking staff in "high cost" countries and replacing them with low cost outsourced labour. "Let me explain again, you don't need to lift the mouse off your desk to make the pointer go up, move it along the desk". "The enter key is sometimes called the return key and for your purposes it does the same thing". "No, the black (or blue) box on the screen does not mean you have caused the machine to blow up, it is where you can run commands".
I'm hoping that IT controls then the recharge to the departments, even if its a show-back rather than an actual charge-back. Finance hand you a bomb, you hand it right back.
Former boss was a wiz at that. Somebody puts the crap on him, he redesigned the charge-back model so they were screwed. Enough that it (probably) cost said person their bonus. Remember that bit about IT costs now being OpEx and not Capex?
How do I do "in-person Collab" in an office is one colleague is in Belgium, two in South Africa and another in the US? Myself in another country? A TARDIS to bring them together? Also, the chatty members of the open-plan monstrosity can be heard from at least 3 postcodes away, interrupting meetings and any chance of rational thought. If they are actually talking about work topics (almost never), they are in a different department altogether. So, yeah, "In-Person Collab" might work for the C-Suite with the private lounge, pure brass dunny and air-co personal offices.
However, it has nothing to bring to the people trying to actually do things.
Then it needs a disruptor that can't be bought.
If its an industry consortium, then it will be sold as soon as it has a viable product.
ERP is a serious product and one that probably can't be knocked up over night with some vb code. It needs a serious fleet of trucks full of cash.
"Hey, Mr Pottering, Sir. There is a whole industry using 1970's technology that needs disrupting. Have at it". (Two birds, one stone).
Its just the C-level game of "pass the parcel". Decision too difficult and expensive? Delay it three years (normal amount until bonus payable and/or shares vest). Staff require training (costs money) ... delay three years. Hardware requires upgrade? Maintenance? Redundancy? Delay three years. No comprehensive security policy and department ... delay three years.
Delay three years and let your successor deal with this. Meanwhile, all the money costing decisions all contribute to the C-Level bonus. Or indecision or non-decision, as the case may be.
They're all banking on the bomb not going off on their watch. While they prepare to jump on the next pony.
Broadcom have purchased a perfectly healthy mature product that they will suck the blood out of for 3-5 years. Then jettison the corpse. 99% of customers will do something else. The locked in customers are going to lose (badly)
However, at the end, Broadcom will still exist, ready for its next victim.
Citrix, seem to be doing it to themselves. After 3-5 years, the will be a footnote in IT history. Like, say, Compaq.
In real-life, my first name first character is fairly close to the start of the alphabet while family name first character is down the bottom. In a small enough group (like a school class), close enough to first/last in the list.
It seems that whenever it is beneficial for me to be "last in line" the line up is decided by first name and should it work on my favour to be first cab off the rank, the list is prepared by family name. Its probably confirmation bias but it drives me nucking futs!
Then there is the one time that it actually worked in my favour, only for the hand of god to decide that the list would be reverse alphabetical order. The actual reason why is a faded memory, but being pissed stays with me to this day.
Sigh ... it does sort, if you are consistent, like use leading zeros.
Still, the m/d/y date format remains an abomination to the FSM, blessed be their noodley wisdom imparted unto us.
No excuse for any log file to NOT use "YYYY/MM/DD:HH:MM:SS", in some CONSISTENT, leading zero, format. First line of any log file "# All dates in YYYY/MM/DD:HH:MM:SS format. If any discrepancy is found, please submit a bug report" (at least, mine say this) Log files should only be human readable, after they have been computer GREPable. (You'll never guess what I had to debug this weekend and what was the primary debugging tool?).
Rapid 7 have basically done the equivalent of shouting "Fire, Fire" in a packed cinema causing panic. When the cinema (JetBeans) had their own procedure for evacuating the cinema.
If I was an affected JetBeans customer, I'd be lawyering up to take on Rapid 7, for sure.
Its not just Oracle.
Its MS, its Cisco, IBM, if it has a licence - it will be audited. I am sure they also share intelligence (or the same company does the audit for multiple customers)
And then don't go in to scum that have a single patent and a company registered in East Texas that troll the legal department for "patent licence fees". Actual proof of patent use is as thin as the toilet paper here at work.
Open Source is great, but it is Open Standards that enhance the exchange of information.
The moment these pirates refuse to work with an Open Source group (that uses an OSI open source licence) they should lose both their tax-free status (they are often a non-profit) AND they should lose copyright and any intellectual property they rely on. This is pure discrimination.
I understand if an organisation chooses to work with one person/business. I do not accept they work with “anyone, except you” (in this case the Open Source community).
We have seen that “Security by Obscurity” is a dead concept, so no need to keep protocols secret. If you need to encrypt data, encrypt it before it is communicated.
(Thinking out loud) Must submit a patch to the Emperor Penguin that shows a static image upon detecting equipment that supports the offending standard. “Equipment using this version has been disabled due to restrictions by HDMI forum. Please contact HDMI forum or your device manufacturer for details”.
I used to get x amount of tickets of "what is the P icon" that I eventually ensured I only ever installed customised Office - without Publisher. (with approval). There were about 2 or 3 people out of 1000 that actually needed it (and got it). Communications wouldn't touch it with a barge pole and no one else needed it (exceptions noted). Lots of bored, and inquisitive Excel and PPT pushers.
The exceptions tended to be the Office Admins - for the "Please clean your coffee cups" type notices.
But whoever suggested that the Pub format be now released, that should be enshrined in law. As soon as a product becomes abandonware - file formats and database schemas must be released to the public domain. Or at the very least be released with a licence that permits reading of the file format. (This is the reason TAR is going to be used until the heat death of the universe).
Linux has done it for the techies. Mac for the riche.
But the great unwashed don't realise or even look for the options. They may not even notice the PC doesn't get updates. If Google wanted to, I suspect Google could get quite loud and persuasive, and if there are sufficient numbers moving to the Google ecosystem, Microsoft have something to consider. God knows they shove Chrome down ones throat at every opportunity. Forced upgrades are only good if you are trapped in an ecosystem with no escape, forcing you to move with the so-called "latest and greatest". Google could position itself as the knight in shining armour, giving the PC a new lease on life and avoiding the purchase of a new PC.
Google have the resources to do something like this process (1) sign in with Google (2) slurp data to the mothership (3) lay down bootstrap program (4) install and (5) grab data down from mothership (if required) --> user now with functioning ChomeOS device and fully embedded in Google ecosystem. A good chunk of users would have the PC with a browser (probably Chrome), printer driver and Office, with not much else (expired AV trial, expired WinRAR and/or WInzip trial, Acrobat reader never updated since the date of install, VLC ... ?) - that's easy enough covered by a ChromeOS wipe and replace.
If the initial sweep found incompatible software, sure it would need to halt the process and really, really ask "are you sure?".
Unintended consequences. Thanks to the "Know Your Customer laws", who gave you that money .... ?
Each browser would have to be registered in the name of a particular user. There goes anonymity on the web (as much as it exists any longer). For me, I guard it, but I know that some orgs know who I am. I am living in only a mildly oppressive regime.
Disaster in the case of a fully oppressive regime. Like anyone seeking contraceptive advice in the US.
Even worse was a bank, where I was logged in with 2FA via Authenticator app.
Said App then requested verification code via SMS for a transaction. Account contact details had been updated and showed the correct current number. SMS was sent to a old, old, ancient, Moses was a boy when this was used number. Examining the account settings, there was no way to correct this detail, no user interface could help me and I didn't feel like calling the Call Center that day (It was also shut at the time, which is another factor).
Chrome has (1) Brand recognition. As has been pointed out, what was one IE == Internet is now Chrome == Internet. (2) a massive marketing machine behind it. I use DDG and Firefox but those times I need to switch to Google, it will prompt me for either a Google account or Chrome. (3, in the past) Very shonky, drive by download tactics. Its there and it is now its own ecosystem. (4) Security departments trying to lock down browsing to one, or at most 2 browsers (neither of which is Firefox).
Was exactly is Firefox trying to be? Not Chrome? That works for me. But, it doesn't work for the great unwashed. So .... what is Firefox's main selling point? How can it tap in to the huddled masses?
I don't have the answer to that, or I'd be applying for the CEO job.
Privacy doesn't seem to be a winning card. Look at all the drooling idiots giving all their information for another Tiktok or FB fix. (Less 1984, than Brave New World or a good mix of both)
I really think that the best prospect for Firefox is if some government, such as the EU, would force Google to divest itself of Chrome. Not because it is the dominant browser, but because Google is so dominant in search and has large take of the advertising cake, too. Sort of like if Ford were to have a near monopoly on Roads. "This road best travelled in a Ford Explorer using octane 102 Ford Petrol" - undulating bumps that the Ford suspension rides out, but all cars endure because they aren't in sync with the road surface or one lane on a Freeway reserved for Ford cars.
2037, I see. Not going beyond that date, possibly because : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_2038_problem
Don't see many being able to jump on the bandwagon and cash out with this one. All I would hope is to be on the correct side of the grass at that point.
Trying to acquire some good IT talent in a particular market. Told HR the salary range for someone we required based on research with an actually useful partner.
HR: Sorry, nah, can't do that, they would be paid more than the local MD. Must be at least 20% less than the MD. Not unexpected result: Candidates that could barely use a computer to write the resume.
Says a lot about the org, locally and as a whole.
Chrome used a lot of classic PUA tactics, that were very possible but not consistent with good practice. Chrome was bundled with a lot of downloadable software. And it installed itself somewhere under C:\Users if the user was not a local administrator (which user on my estate have not been since NT4 was a thing). "Chrome because popular because it was better than IE AND shoved down everyone's throat by underhanded tactics".
Now, MS should have made c:\users totally non-executable and a lot of viruses (including Chrome) would never have existed.
Upon turning the page of history, one may be interested in how MS pushed Teams to all and sundry.
No developer can deploy content at will. Nor should they be able to. Change control anyone?
Maybe in Dev. But not in prod and not in test. (Dev)Finops will check daily what the hell is deployed in all three environments. No way - Jose. You'll have far fewer security vulnerabilities if your developers are under control, rather than the lunatics running the asylum.
Scale up/down or scale in/out? These exists, but these rules are controlled too.
Far easier to detect anomalies if you know what the landscape should look like in the first place.
The were almost usable at one point. Somewhere between 2000 and XP. I'd hate to be so mobility impaired as to need them. And one could just use a single tap of the ALT key to reveal them.
But i still remember some of them, because, you know, when a 1px sliver of a window is stuck on the extreme edge of the screen after undocking a laptop. No mouse on the planet can grab it because doing so just stretches the window. CTRL/Space, etc. And sometimes Alt/N is good to move forward in a Wizard instead of reaching for a mouse.
But, I've noticed them less and less as time goes by.
The Freddy Mercury "so close" meme has never been so appropriate. If you're after a NPS score, it is just fine.
For anything more, it just can't be used. But it has great potential and would be great as some part of workflow. If only it just had a few improvements.
Perhaps if a form could be forwarded to someone else and some fields locked? The obvious shortcomings have prevented me from diving deeper and finding out the more subtle shortcomings. I would love to use for some type of "User Access Request", for onboarding new employees - Something to make HR fill out and then forward to the Service Desk by email in both some XML and PDF (which then auto-creates the ticket). But it just misses the mark.
The eternal IT conundrum: I need something just complex enough to do the job I want, and no more, without needing to learn a more complex product.
More!= Better
McDonalds has more restaurants than my local Thai. But I know which one I'd prefer.
Toyota sells more cars than Rolls-Royce, but I know which one I'd like as my daily commute.
Of course, "Better" is always relative. Is Maccas faster to serve its slop - sure. Can I purchase a Toyota at a reasonable price ... sure.
If systemD could address
1 - Legitimate use cases with are simply ignored with #WONTFIX
2 - Unable to pick and choose some tools that might offer superior functionality
3 - Binary logging
4 - Non-determinism
we might have a starter.
Slackware and Duvian for me.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
