I think there are two different issues there Dan. I don't think anyone but Microsoft think that their business ethics are totally acceptable, but that is a seperate issue as to wether they produce capable products. Your statement above suggested to me that you were saying that Linux was clearly a faster product which is something I don't think is correct.

I think Windows 2003 Server which uses IIS 6 has made enourmous progress in terms of security and sensible default configurations over previous versions. However, I do tend to agree with you in that for SMB customers Linux is a far more sensible choice for reducing setup costs these days. Microsoft can throw as much money toward hiring independants to produce studies saying using Microsoft reduces TCO (total cost of ownership) over *nix as they like, and in fact they might well be correct for large corporations. However the simple fact is that Linux is not a scarry unknown for small to medium business it used to be, and getting access to support and people with sufficient Linux skills is much less of a problem these days. Here in Australia you could hire a decent Linux tech for a week for the price of a single Windows 2003 server license with only 5 CAL's.

Oh, what a great topic...Linux vs. Microsoft, salary of Linux Techs vs. Microsft techs and XOOPS being slow.

First of all if Linux techs make about $800.00 a week in Australia I'm staying put right here in San Diego. I agree with the rest of what you say Brash. They both have their place. I personally run a mostly Microsoft shop with the exception of Netapp Filers (properietary *nix) and my web server running Redhat/Mysql/Apache for XOOPS based intranet.

Xoops is fast and reliable and works great for my intranet. The three apps that drive the most traffic to my intranet are a user directory - Novell eGuide (free on Novells site and works with Active Directory)which queries an LDAP database and returns user info, Autoindex - A PHP script which allows you to present files and folders for users to view and download documents ( available on Sourceforge). Both of those apps are just wrapped in my site using Tinycontent but they look good and work great.

The last app, and quickly becoming the most popular, is RSS newsfeeds. I personally use XHLDwhich is perfect for an intranet site.

$800 net a week would be a decent wage for either Microsoft or *nix skills here in Aus. Hell, I adminster a network and have to look after everything from Linux, Sun and Windows desktops and servers, to phone systems and networking equipment for less than that. A retail version of Windows 2003 standard server will sting you around the $2000 mark here, and OEM from around $1500.

Hi there,

I am looking at Novell eguide, What or Why do I need to do to link it to active directory?

Im a noob so if you could explain simply I would appreciate?

Many thanks,

Rob B

@Brash

It sounds like you and I have the exact same job. Maybe our dollar figures are skewed as your talking Australian and I'm talking US $$$. Or maybe it's those freakin high taxes you have to pay down there. Maybe we should import you to San Diego and pay you $800.00 a week net, that would be a bargain. Anyway, if you go through Dell's site and configure a server they add $799.00 US for W2003 server w/ 5 CAL's. By the way do you have XOOPS integrated with AD? I can get it to work with the top level OU but cannot get it to search down through lower level OU's.

@Bradburn

eGuide is used to query your Active Directory(AD) database via LDAP. Every user on my network has an AD acount. In each user account I put in their home phone, cell phone, work phone, position, manager etc.. I then use eGuide to query those accounts. So a user wants to look up Joe Smith. They go to our XOOPS site, click on the the eGuide link and then put in the last name "smith" and hit search. That search returns all of that info from AD.


No more Excel spreadhsheets to maintain a user directory...very popular around here.

@seth_sd: I had the same problem, see my solution here