[Gllug] Linux on Desktop

[Paul Rayner]

On 1 Feb 2007, at 00:09, Dan Kolb wrote:

> On Wed, Jan 31, 2007 at 11:14:09PM +0000, Paul Rayner wrote:
>>
>> On 31 Jan 2007, at 22:34, Juergen Schinker wrote:
>>>
>>> "what can i do better with linux (on the Desktop)in my working life/
>>> day"
>>
>> 1) nmap for checking network problems, seeing what's connected to the
>> network and what ports are open etc.
>
> You should have a way of knowing what devices are on your network.  
> Managed
> switches can help - you can tie it down to ensure no unknown  
> devices are
> plugged in to your network.

True, but "nmap -p 22 192.168.1.200" for example is a nice quick way  
of seeing if ssh is running on that machine.

>
> nmap itself doesn't have to be run off one's desktop machine, of  
> course.

But would you want every diagnostic tool you may need to use  
installed on production machines?

>
>> 2) Faster and better scripting allowing you to fix problems faster
>
> Most of which is going to be done on the machine that's causing the  
> problems.
I prefer to run most scripts (especially potentially "dangerous if  
wrong" scripts) on non-production machines first.

>
>> 3) Time saved not dealing with security updates/crashes etc on your
>> own machine
>
> So Linux doesn't have security updates that need to be dealt with?  
> Sorry, don't
> follow. Windows updates can also be configured to download and install
> automatically. As for crashes, I can't remember the last time I saw  
> Windows
> crash on me (and I use it all the time in my office and in my lab).
I've always found linux security updates (Redhat/Mandrake/Fedora) to  
be far less pain than windows ones, and although XP rarely crashes  
things (printing, interaction between different programs) do have a  
tendancy to stop working, requiring a reboot. I don't remember ever  
seeing this under linux, except when using a CVS version of asterisk  
a while back which needed frequent service restarts (but only of the  
service, not the machine)

>> 4) You're more used to it so can perform your normal tasks faster
>
> Fair enough. However, it can cause problems if your company runs,  
> say, Outlook
> or Lotus Notes. Okay, when I was working, I could run Notes under  
> Wine, but if
> I needed to run MS Office, I had to VNC to a Windows 'server' to  
> run it.
> Wouldn't call it faster :)
If your company runs Outlook, no problem - use any one of the free  
mail packages. If they use MS Exchange, and you're a sysadmin at that  
company, my condolences... I'm sure it's better now but it was the  
biggest annoyance of all the windows support people I met in a  
previous job.

I've given OpenOffice to several small businesses, and with one  
exception (they had a custom spreadsheet with 1k+ of vba) they've  
been happy with it, so I'm sure a normal sysadmin could cope with  
OO.o instead of office.

>
> I ran a FreeBSD desktop machine when working as a sysadmin. I was  
> used to it,
> so it didn't get in the way of me performing the tasks I needed to do.
>
>> 5) A cronjob to shutdown your PC at X-O'clock each night in case you
>
> Which I think can be done under Windows without much trouble.
I'm sure you're right, but the last time I looked (Win 98) you had to  
buy 3rd party software.

>
>> If the servers you admin are linux, there are loads of options:
>>
>> 6) Writing and testing scripts on your local machine before running
>> on servers (although I presume you have testing boxes..)
>> 7) ssh -X to easily use remote X windows apps on your local machine
>
> Plenty of Windows X servers available. And, say, putty allows  
> forwarding of X
> sessions. Arguably, you shouldn't need (remote) X to admin a  
> system: it should
> be doable from the command line.

Yes, putty is great. The ability to get it from the interweb in about  
10 seconds whenever I'm stuck in front of a windows machine is great  
too!

Exceed was always nice, but expensive. The others I've used (Cyg and  
a java based one) are OK, but tend to be a bit on the slow side.

>
>> and many more - depends on your job I suppose.
>>
>> Everything mentioned above can be done on Windows, but it could
>> easily be argued that it's easier on linux.
>
> Cygwin is very, very useful here.

Clearly, all of the things I mentioned can be done on windows, or in  
other ways. They could probably also be done on a PDA or a mobile  
phone, but it wouldn't be the most efficient tool for the job. I  
think what Juergen needs to do to keep his (Unauthorised) Linux  
installation is to stress the ways he can be more productive using  
Linux. If it's mostly an MS company, using lots of proprietary  
software then this may not be possible.

P.S I'm not a sysadmin, and probably couldn't justify switching my  
mac for linux at work as it does almost everything I need (ssh, vi,  
eclipse, gcc, java)

Regards,

Paul
--
Paul Rayner
Ylem Solutions Ltd ~  4-14 Tabernacle Street, London. EC2A 4LU
Office: 020 7183 2959 ~ Mobile: 07739 143 763 ~  
Paul.Rayner at YlemSolutions.com


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