You caught me. I know this seems like flame bait so I will
try not to stoke the fire too much
1) You are correct about Knopix, but their are a number of
specialty live distros I have used over the years, including one base
on widows xp. That said these are primarily used for diagnostics and
recovery not for every day use.
2) For virtualization I am still a fan of VMware and have never
found a compelling reason to change. However, if you are looking to cram
your server full of less robust, but just as secure, containers OpenVZ
really does look like your product. I have never been in this situation so
I can not say how it performs in an enterprise environment, but from what I have
seen I like it; but not as much as standard VM solutions. Then again, to
me Free as in Beer is almost as good as Free as in Freedom; for many people here
this is not the case. The nice thing about VM ware is that if all you need
is simple virtualization, you can use their free products, but if you need the
power of this mid rang and higher end products you will not find anything better
and I can almost guarantee despite the upfront price your TCO will be lower.
Again, this is just my opinion based on my experience and I know their will
their will likely be a small flame war and so I apologize.
3) SmartMail does not look to be a true exchange substitute. Perhaps I did not see it in my quick look at their
site, but the beauty of Exchange is the collaboration components. Even
simple items like shared calendars, tasks, contacts, public folders,
etc. are the core of exchange. Not only that it is an amassing
platform for custom plug-in development extending it's capabilities far
beyond a simple mail server. Exchange really attempts to be the perfect
PIM. And, as buggy as it is I have not found a substitute that is
remotely close. Though I have been tempted by some projects like
hula or a grouping systems like
Zimbra, Suger, etc. together to take over the functions of exchange, the cost
was just way to high and the return was negligible over exchange. If all
you need is mail, run postfix/SquilMail and be done with it. If you need
other functions but can not afford to run your own exchange server and
BES just outsource your email to Google. Sure Google is no substitute for
exchange either, but it is a bit closer and it is basically free.
And I take some exception at the "Exchange is hard" stereotype. Sure it is convoluted and patchy, but so are
all Microsoft products. IMHO Exchange is no harder the any other MS server
product. ;)
Ok, now that I have dove in here, let me get the fire
suit on before I get roasted alive :)
No technical professional today can afford to not become familiar and
proficient with KNOPPIX including checking out the excellent O'Reilly Knoppix
Tools books that provide s-hexy solutions that defy nix arrogance to trancend
Microsoft, Apple and web systems tricks.
As for Linux based toys and
tricks (as well as alternatives to Microsoft) you might try:
OpenVZ:
http://wiki.openvz.org/Main_Page
Virtuozzo was built upon OpenVz which is
a great FREE Open Source Linux based Windows and Linux virualization suite
should you want to play with multiple integrated web systems on one
server. Unlike VMWare OpenVZ has great ROI cost (free) as far as bridge
overhead and disk memory requirements.
A great cheap tool built
upon OpenVz that uses Microsoft (Intead of Linux) to create multiple virtual
systems is Virtuozzo:
http://www.parallels.com/products/virtuozzo/
Virtual Linux
platforms are wonderful for a development web environments that can host for
development QA or Disaster Recovery.
I also recommend Vmware ESX server
(now available for free download) which allows you multiple virtual machines,
including Solaris, Linux of many versions, and Windows.
Unlike "Open Sores" purists, I will play with an implement anything and
you can benefit from the experience with these Virts!
Also, for those
professionals locked securely with one foot in a Gates World and the other in
Linus Land, check out SmarterMail:
It's a wonderful and very
cheap alternative to Exchange/Webmail that allows for IM/iPhone access within
range, Blackberry portals, mass marketing mail plugins, domain keys and DKM (for
ensuring deliverability) and really reliable spam scraping and virus controls
via that oh so horribly "difficult to manage" Microsoft-ish
interface.
https://www.smartertools.com/SmarterMail/Features/Windows-Mail-Server-Software-Webmail-Exchange-Alternative.aspx
obnosis.com | wiki.obnosis.com|
(503)754-4452
PLUG HACKFESTS 2nd Saturday Each Month@Noon -
3PM
> Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:51:55 -0700
> Subject:
new hotness?
> From: cryptworks@gmail.com
> To:
plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
>
> I have been looking about
for the new hotness as it were. and
> wondering what dis has something
really groundbreaking that makes it
> worthwhile to look at.
>
> I guess part of me is tired of the flavor of the month
distributions
> that are esentially something else with a new look and a
slightly
> different package base or whatnot.
>
> for example
Fedora Directory Server is very interesting to me, because
> whether we
like it or not this will be a windows heavy world for some
> time. but
what else is there that i cna really sink my teeth into. or
> even whats
worth doing that with?
>
> My personal list of Distributions i have
spent some real quality time with
>
> Ubuntu/Debian
>
Fedora/Red Hat new and old/Centos
> Suse/Opensuse
> Gentoo
>
> and a few other that more or less were a repackage of one of the
above
>
> --
> A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm
clock, will prevent you from
> rolling over and going back to sleep after
you hit the snooze button.
>
> Stephen
>
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