IT BS thread

It's been years since I've used it much, but I used to like OpenSUSE a lot. I also used to prefer KDE to Gnome.

But again, take that with a grain of salt since it's been a long time since I've used any of it.

 

I prefer Debian, which Ubuntu is based on. I usually install it via debootstrap, so I start with a very minimal install, and build up from there.

Edit: Debian had 3 releases: Stable, Testing, and Unstable (pretty stable, but bleeding edge). I use Unstable, and rarely have issues.

 

This was my plan originally but IP Services on switches doesn't support NAT or Firewall features.
I ended up saving some 2900 ISR G1 routers from the scrap pile.

 

I first started playing with RedHat back in the late 90s. However as my career progressed it became more Networking and Windows based.
Last September I started a new Job as Director of IT at a place that has 100% of its production servers running CentOS and Oracle Linux. Both distros use RedHat Enterprise Linux as the upstream source.
For desktop I am playing around with Fedora as its also based off RHEL/CentOS but its more up-to-date as far as what is in the repositories.

RHEL/CentOS/Oracle Linux all purposefully lag behind on what is in the repos as they are focused on stable server deployments and not on bleeding edge. They do back port security patches into the repos so you don't have to upgrade to the latest and greatest version to get the latest security patches.

 

I prefer HP-UX although we moved to mainly IBM AIX a few years ago and SlowAris (Solaris) only if forced to hosting Oracle DB's. My last AIX box will be shutdown in less than a month though. Oh sorry saw the best part and skipped over, erh never mind. To be fair we are going to Red Hat Enterprise for the most part where Nix is staying for Tier 1 and 2 apps.

Depends on how you define best and what you are looking to achieve. Like js312 been a long time since had to really deal with Linux much of OpenSUSE files were still written in German and Red Hat was free. Many Enterprises seem to be using Red Hat Enterprise now and if your goal is to eventually land a job using Linux Fedora would be a good choice I believe. We have been migrating away from our 4 mainframes and most of our midrange servers, the Window servers have pretty much taken over. That's OK with me started my MCSE on 3.51 and finished with 4.0. Been around long enough that I hate them all equally.

 

Haha ... I have been saying that for years about MacOS and Windows.

Started with MacOS 7 and was doing some cool enterprise level shit with it by MacOS 9/X and Windows Server 2000. Lots of it was smoke and mirrors on the backend but it provided at fairly seamless user experience and ability to access their files from either a Mac or Windows machine. In the end I realized both OSes suck and neither does everything I wanted it to do.

 

My oldest son is level 2 tech support for Apple. I started him on Mac OS 6.5. IIRC they still had the TCP\IP stack config buried 6 layers deep in 7.1 ugh. Appletalk and SNA servers oh joy. Some things I really don't miss. We still had a couple thousand Macs until a couple of years ago but think we are down to less than a thousand or so now. Not counting all the iPads that we will end up dumping soon.

Son is looking to leave Apple and get in with a startup company somewhere on the East Coast. With salary instead of hourly so he can "make more money". I've tried to explain to him but it falls on deaf ears. And he claims the cost of living calculator is accurate for geographical locations. Hope he doesn't find out the hard way what is and isn't in the end.

 

Oh god MacOS 6.x ... did play with it for a bit. Was so much better when multifinder came out. Running a single app at a time SUCKED.

I have almost always been salary .... work like a dog ... no overtime ... always on call. However i like it better than hourly ... I HATE doing time logs. My last job I was salary and still had to do daily time logs and I hated it.

 

I think the last time I was hourly would have been in 1977. Project Managers have taken over everything so still have to account daily for how much and on what. I hate paperwork even if it is electronically now. Documentation isn't such a bad thing but project logging... At one time on call was 90-110 hours a week as a sysadmin and every few weeks. They have it better now with 3 shifts around the clock. I'm not even sure when I'm on call now that I moved into the application space and can live with that LOL.

 

Ah, true. Didn't think of that. I was just thinking "what do I have that can work as a DHCP server and has gigabit ports?"

 

A decent router work DD-WRT?

 

I agree, I've been salaried since 19 and I filling out time logs or punching a clock would feel like a demotion to me.

I could, but I don't know if I care enough. My desire to play with technology outside of work is almost nonexistent.

 

I have a Linksys AC3200 right now. Stock firmware does what I need it to do. MAC filtering, DHCP reservation, access restrictions, good WiFi range, etc

 

I have been beat down to this point also.
Hell even at work I just want things that work.
New place is almost all SaaS with very little on premise infrastructure that isn't related to the app we develop.

G-Suite for Email (though I prefer O365)
Slack for IM
Vonage Business for VoIP

Small Windows Domain just to authenticate users and manage the workstations.

 

We are K12 and have 1100+ Chromebooks. They are awesome because they just work. I can solve any software issue by either wiping the student's "sync data", whitelisting an extension, or a 1 minute factory reset on the device.

Still have AD to manage the Windows PCs and for network user accounts, and all adults have Windows laptops or desktops. But, those are pretty bulletproof at this point because I put the time into building solid images and have my GPOs setup to do exactly what I want.

Some iPads, but not nearly as many as Chromebooks. Can manage by MDM, but I still hate them because they are definitely more time consuming to deal with, and occasionally behave unpredictably.

No Macs at all.

20ish servers, mostly virtual. Quite a few are just DCs/DHCP/DNS for a given building. Others are mostly file/print. A couple of applications hosted internally.

 

Spent most of my career in K-12 or working for integrators that did a lot of work in K-12.
K-12 has a special place in my heart.

 

I'd make more in the corporate world and occasionally people try to recruit me to work for them, but I don't know if I'd want to leave. It's such a laid back environment, and I'm working for the benefit of kids. Ironically, I don't want kids of my own so I feel I still do my part this way.

 

You would. I know I sure did. As it turns out it was better for my family to move over to corporate but I do still miss K-12.
I am planning to reach out to a former co-worker who is now Director of IT at the Charter School Organization we worked at together to offer to volunteer my services. They have been w/o a real network engineer since I left.

 

Hello IT people,

Anyone know of a good place to order a replacement battery for my tablet?

I've searched, most of the stuff that comes up is through Amazon. I'm reluctant, because I bought a battery for a laptop and it lasted about 8 months before it crapped out.

It's a samsung galaxy 10.1, also looking to upgrade battery if possible and see if I can get one that will last longer through out the day.

Thanks you

 

try newegg.com or batterymonster.com. I have done business with both and havent had any issues with them