November 5th, 2009

Frugal Friday: Verizon DROID, Intel Antitrust, V-Block, Oracle/EU, ICCA

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 9:20 pm

Categories: Business, Enterprise Computing, Linux, Podcast

Tags: Antitrust, Verizon Communications Inc., Intel Corp., Corporate Law, Security, Business Operations, Jason Perlow

Frugal Networker Ken Hess and I discuss the new Verizon DROID smartphone, the recent antitrust charges filed against Intel by the New York Attorney General, the new V-Block data center solution joint offering between VMWare, CISCO and EMC, the Oracle/Sun merger delays by the European Union, and have an entertaining and nostalgic conversation with Independent Computer Consultants Association founder Steve Epner about the early days of computing and learn about the ICCA’s upcoming annual conference in San Francisco on November 13-15th, 2009.

Click Here to listen to the November 6, 2009 Frugal Friday Podcast.

October 20th, 2009

EvriChart: A Linux Success Story

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 6:53 pm

Categories: Business, Desktop, Enterprise Computing, Free operating systems, Hardware Infrastructure, Linux, Open Source, Podcast, Security, Server, Software Infrastructure, Web Technology

Tags: Desktop, Hospital, Imaging, Health Care, Server, Computer, Linux, Microsoft Windows, Document Management, Operating Systems

Tony Maro, CIO of EvriChart, a hospital records management and archiving business, successfully migrated his company’s Windows-based line of business document management extranet application and his employees’ 40-odd Windows-based desktops to a 100 percent Linux-based server and desktop infrastructure.

Jason Perlow interviews Tony Maro, CIO of EvriChart, Inc.

I had the pleasure of speaking to Tony Maro, who is CIO and an owning partner in EvriChart, a medical records management company based out of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

EvriChart had some unique requirements which included replacing a Windows-based line-of-business application for document management that would not scale with the continuing growth of their business. By migrating to a Linux/Open Source-based Web application, it paved the way for full desktop Linux adoption at his company. I asked Tony to summarize his experience so that I could share it with you in the hopes that you might gain some valuable insight from the process he had to go through.

Next –>

October 12th, 2009

In the aftermath of the T-Mobile Chernobyl

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 9:37 pm

Categories: Business, Enterprise Computing, Hardware Infrastructure, Microsoft, Server, Web Technology

Tags: Termination, T-Mobile, Workforce Management, Storage, Human Resources, Hardware, Jason Perlow

T-Mobile’s Sidekick/Danger Inc. meltdown has far-reaching implications for wireless carrier data integrity responsibilities way beyond any immediate remediation the company may need to offer its customers.

Yesterday, T-Mobile notified all of its Sidekick device customers that a failure which occurred on Microsoft’s Danger, Inc. subsidiary’s Hitachi-based storage systems caused a catastrophic data loss at a central data center which affected approximately 800,000 of their subscribers worldwide.

This data loss included all contacts, digital photos, calendar entries and to-do lists that were stored by each customer because much of the device’s core functionality was entirely dependent on online, cloud-based services.

As a consolation, T-Mobile has generously offered its customers either an early termination escape from their contracts at zero penalty, or a $20 credit on a T-Mobile G1 android phone.

Really, T-Mobile? REALLY? ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?

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October 11th, 2009

Who is a Candidate for Desktop Linux?

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 4:39 pm

Categories: Business, Desktop, Enterprise Computing, Free operating systems, Linux, Microsoft, Open Source, Personal Technology, Software Infrastructure, Web Technology

Tags: Desktop, Desktop Linux, Linux, UNIX, Operating Systems, Microsoft Windows, Open Source, Software, Jason Perlow

I personally do not fall into the group of people that can easily migrate away from Windows, but that doesn’t mean you or someone you know can’t make the switch.

As I said in earlier post last month, the work that I do in my professional life requires that I still need to use Windows and various Microsoft and 3rd-party Win32 applications, even though I also use Linux. I also use various applications in my personal life that have no true functional Windows equivalents, so I have both Windows and Linux computers at home.

However, my situation is somewhat out of the ordinary. I don’t expect that most regular end-users have or need more than one personal computer at home or at work. Additionally, as an Information Technology professional and as a writer who covers the industry that I work in,  I choose to use multiple systems with different operating systems at home for educational purposes and also because I have a genuine curiosity about what is out there in both the Open Source and Microsoft-centric worlds. That’s not necessarily a realistic usage scenario for everyone.

There are certainly ideal groups of people who are capable of moving towards a 100 percent Open Source or Linux environment in both their professional and personal lives. I’m not really interested in discussing the political and ideological aspects or why someone would want to make that choice. That path been re-hashed over and over again and supplies far too much fodder for flame bait. Please take that into consideration when you submit a Talkback on this piece.

The greater and more important question is, who CAN switch to Linux? It should be noted that when I refer to groups of people here, I am for the most part excluding Information Technology professionals, Techies, digital content creation professionals, UNIX/Linux sysadmins and scientific academia who have much more sophisticated or specialized needs and may even be using Linux, the Mac and Windows and or a combination of these already.

As to WHICH Linux distribution any of these target users should be looking at, I am going to treat all of them equally and say that every single one of them will meet the basic usage requirements for the set of folks detailed below. For more information on Linux distributions, check out my Surviving the Recession with Free Linux Distributions roundup.

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October 9th, 2009

Frugal Friday: The Software of Stallman, Psystar/Apple, Parallels

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 7:37 pm

Categories: Apple, Desktop, Enterprise Computing, Free operating systems, General, Hardware Infrastructure, Linux, Open Source, Podcast, Server, Software Infrastructure, Virtualization

Tags: Software, Apple Inc., Psystar, Podcasts, Tools & Techniques, Cloud Computing, Storage Management, Virtualization, Utility Computing, Internet

Frugal Networker Ken Hess and I discuss Ken’s interview with Richard Stallman, Psystar’s newly announced OEM Licensing program for Mac Cloning, the greater implications of hardware and software vendor tie-in, and talk with Jamison Moore of Parallels, the virtualization company.

Click Here to listen to the October 9, 2009 Frugal Friday Podcast.

Disclaimer: The postings and opinions expressed in this podcast are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.

October 6th, 2009

Frugal Tech Show with Altus CEO Ted Cocheu

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 10:25 am

Categories: Business, Enterprise Computing, Podcast, Software Infrastructure, Web Technology

Tags: CEO, Corporate Communications, Marketing, Jason Perlow

Frugal Networker Ken Hess and I talk with Ted Cocheu, CEO of Altus, which provides planning, recording, post-production and SAAS deployment of video content for trade shows and large enterprises.

Click here to listen to the Frugal Tech Show Podcast with Altus’ Ted Cocheu.

October 2nd, 2009

Frugal Friday: Groklaw v. Jason Perlow, Ubuntu Karmic Koala, Chrome OS in China, BlackBerry Service Termination, Kickfire 3000 Appliance

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 5:59 pm

Categories: Business, Enterprise Computing, Hardware Infrastructure, Linux, Microsoft, Open Source, Personal Technology, Podcast, Software Infrastructure, Web Technology

Tags: Ubuntu, Termination, Jason Perlow, RIM BlackBerry, Handhelds, Hardware

Related Podcast:May 22nd, 2009 Interview with Bruce Armstrong

Frugal Networker Ken Hess and I discuss Groklaw’s response to my condemnation of Richard Stallman’s attack on Miguel de Icaza, The new Ubuntu Karmic Koala 9.10 beta, Chinese adoption of Chrome OS, my loss of BlackBerry service, and talk to returning guest Bruce Armstrong, CEO of Kickfire, about the company’s new 3000 Series enterprise appliance and version 1.5 software release.

Click Here to listen to the October 2, 2009 Frugal Tech Show Podcast.

September 25th, 2009

Frugal Friday: Twitter, Social Networking, Open Source and Women, RMS vs. MDI, Oracle, CentOS

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 6:47 pm

Categories: Business, Enterprise Computing, Free operating systems, Linux, Open Source, Podcast, Server, Software Infrastructure, Web Technology

Tags: Oracle Corp., Women, Network, Twitter Inc., Microsoft Windows Rights Management Services, Gender And Diversity, Linux, Social Networking, Open Source, Digital Rights Management (DRM)

Frugal Networker Ken Hess and I discuss the recent $100M VC investment in Twitter, the perils of Social Networking, the lack of sensitivity towards women in the Linux and Open Source community, Richard M. Stallman vs. Miguel de Icaza, Larry Ellison and his plans for the new Oracle and talk with Karanbir Singh, Project Lead for CentOS, the RHEL-compatible Community Enterprise Operating System Linux distribution.

Click to Listen to the September 25, 2009 Frugal Friday Podcast.

September 22nd, 2009

Watch Out for That Meteor, Stallman.

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 10:12 pm

Categories: Business, Desktop, Enterprise Computing, Free operating systems, General, Linux, Microsoft, Open Source, Server, Software Infrastructure

Tags: Mono, Ubuntu, Free Software Foundation, Microsoft Corp., Richard Stallman, Miguel De Icaza, Mono Framework, Genie, Linux, Open Source

Richard M. Stallman (RMS) the founder of the Free Software Foundation, has labeled prominent Open Source software developer Miguel De Icaza a “Traitor” for  joining the Board of Directors of Microsoft’s CodePlex Foundation as well as for his creation of the Microsoft .NET-compatible Mono software development framework. While RMS’s hatred of all things proprietary has fueled the FSF’s and GNU’s mission to create Free software alternatives for what seems like eons, the overwhelming desire for interoperability between open and proprietary systems makes this narrow-minded Cretaceous world view ripe for extinction. (Artwork by Spidermonkey)

As I have said in previous columns, I live as a citizen of two distinct worlds with diametrically opposing software development ideologies — the world of Microsoft, Windows and 3rd-party vendor developed proprietary software and systems, and that of Open Source and Free Software.

Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

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September 21st, 2009

Frugal Tech Show with Centrify CEO Tom Kemp

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 5:30 pm

Categories: Business, Enterprise Computing, Linux, Microsoft, Networking, Security, Server

Tags: Centrify, CEO, Microsoft Windows Active Directory, Authentication/Encryption, Directory Services, Security Administration, Enterprise Software, Software, Security, Jason Perlow

Frugal Networker Ken Hess and I talk with Tom Kemp, CEO of Centrify, the Active Directory and Identity Management open systems integration software company.

Click Here to Listen to the Frugal Tech Show Podcast.