Forbe's profiles Linux
Don't know if anyone else saw this: http://www.forbes.com/2002/07/16/linuxintro.html It appears to cast Linux in good light, however, it really seems to do no more than link to a bunch of other stories, none of which I've cared to read yet :) -- Seeya, Paul * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
Re: Forbe's profiles Linux
IIRC, Forbes is starting to carry /. stories. -Mark On Mon, Jul 22, 2002 at 09:46:44AM -0400, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Don't know if anyone else saw this: http://www.forbes.com/2002/07/16/linuxintro.html It appears to cast Linux in good light, however, it really seems to do no more than link to a bunch of other stories, none of which I've cared to read yet :) * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
Re: Forbe's profiles Linux
On Mon, 22 Jul 2002, at 9:59am, Mark Komarinski wrote: IIRC, Forbes is starting to carry /. stories. Who publishes Forbes? I want to sell their stock short... ;-) -- Ben Scott [EMAIL PROTECTED] | The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not | | necessarily represent the views or policy of any other person, entity or | | organization. All information is provided without warranty of any kind. | * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
RealNetworks going Open Source?
Interesting. RealNetworks announces that they will be releasing the source to certain software components, under what is supposed to be an Open Source(ish) license. http://netscape.com.com/2100-1104-945418.html http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/79476_real22.shtml http://www.helixcommunity.org [official site] It is unclear yet what components will be opened, but rumor appears to indicate it would be transport and playback frameworks, but not the actual A/V codes. Still, that might solve my immediate problem of being unable to view streaming media, i.e., with a transport engine that collects the real-time packets and feeds them to a closed player. One thing that occurs to me: One of the major uses for streaming media today is not live productions, but rather, a misguided and ill-conceived form of copy-protection and content-control. If Real goes open, and that creates a perception that Real is easier to copy, will the media cartel drop Real in favor of Microsoft? That is, could this make the Open Source streaming media situation worse? -- Ben Scott [EMAIL PROTECTED] | The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not | | necessarily represent the views or policy of any other person, entity or | | organization. All information is provided without warranty of any kind. | * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
Quantum Snap Server - Opinions?
Has anyone used any of the Quantum Snap Server products to add NAS storage for small office use? I remember them using Linux as the hidden OS. I was thinking of recommending one of these for use in a small office. So far the only deficiency I see in the small one I want to use (the Snap Server 2200) is that it doesn't respond to the UPS shutdown command in the event of commercial power failure. I'm not sure this would necessarily be a big problem since the rest of their office environment would likely already be down at this point and the Snap Server should be pretty much idle. I haven't seen too many problems with Linux systems from power failures when the system was quiescent. Thoughts? -Alex * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
Re: RealNetworks going Open Source?
- Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Greater NH Linux Users' Group [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, July 22, 2002 6:10 PM Subject: RealNetworks going Open Source? It is unclear yet what components will be opened, but rumor appears to indicate it would be transport and playback frameworks, but not the actual A/V codes. Still, that might solve my immediate problem of being unable to view streaming media, i.e., with a transport engine that collects the real-time packets and feeds them to a closed player. It appears the goal is to allow proprietary streaming media providers to supply plug-ins to RealNetworks' framework, in order to make a more versatile client. They don't appear to be opening up RealNetworks' streaming protocol. Of course, the way they've done it has certainly opened the door for Someone Else to come along and reverse engineer their protocol. If this was done by, say, an open source project, then the protocol could then become open, providing the reverse engineering process stands up to scrutiny (and the courts, no doubt.) RealNetworks certainly wouldn't have a leg to stand on regarding the ethics of doing this, since they did exactly the same thing with Microsoft's Media Player format. One thing that occurs to me: One of the major uses for streaming media today is not live productions, but rather, a misguided and ill-conceived form of copy-protection and content-control. If Real goes open, and that creates a perception that Real is easier to copy, will the media cartel drop Real in favor of Microsoft? That is, could this make the Open Source streaming media situation worse? As an amateur content provider, I can say that my chief motivations in using streaming content are to eliminate the delays seen by users in downloading files, compression and quality of playback (server space vs. sound/video quality) and audience reach (supporting as many internet users as possible with one format.) While many content providers have copy protection and content control in mind, these objectives are easily met by reducing the quality of the file OR stream to something that is tolerable, but not hi-fi, ie., not suitable for reproduction or mastering purposes. If I WERE concerned with such matters, I certainly wouldn't go running to Microsoft, since RealNetworks' player can now decode that format as well. Any client plug-in that can capture RealNetworks' stream to a file would likely be capable of doing the same with the Media Player stream as well. Rich Cloutier President, C*O SYSTEM SUPPORT SERVICES www.sysupport.com * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
Re: Quantum Snap Server - Opinions?
Thought it was BSD, not Linux, myself. Regardless, we've been running one for close to 4 years and sharing Windows and Mac systems. Several of the Macs are connected via NFS connections and they have been fine. Ray At 2:29 PM -0400 7/22/02, Hewitt Tech wrote: Has anyone used any of the Quantum Snap Server products to add NAS storage for small office use? I remember them using Linux as the hidden OS. I was thinking of recommending one of these for use in a small office. So far the only deficiency I see in the small one I want to use (the Snap Server 2200) is that it doesn't respond to the UPS shutdown command in the event of commercial power failure. I'm not sure this would necessarily be a big problem since the rest of their office environment would likely already be down at this point and the Snap Server should be pretty much idle. I haven't seen too many problems with Linux systems from power failures when the system was quiescent. Thoughts? -Alex * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. * -- - Raymond Cote, President Appropriate Solutions, Inc. www.AppropriateSolutions.com rgacote(at)AppropriateSolutions.com 603.924.6079(v) POB 458, Peterborough, NH 03458603.924.8668(f) * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
Re: Quantum Snap Server - Opinions?
Quoting Hewitt Tech [EMAIL PROTECTED]:
Has anyone used any of the Quantum Snap Server products to add NAS
storage
for small office use?
Yeppers. I have a 4000.
I remember them using Linux as the hidden OS.
Nope.. Currently, BSD. In April they purchased a company that would lead
to SnapOS being replaced with a Linux based kernel.
I
was
thinking of recommending one of these for use in a small office. So far
the
only deficiency I see in the small one I want to use (the Snap Server
2200)
is that it doesn't respond to the UPS shutdown command in the event of
commercial power failure.
Yes, it does, but it will do so via TCP/IP. So the USB has to be IP aware.
I'm not sure this would necessarily be a big
problem since the rest of their office environment would likely already
be
down at this point and the Snap Server should be pretty much idle. I
haven't
seen too many problems with Linux systems from power failures when the
system was quiescent.
I haven't had any issues during failures. It's a GREAT little box..
Thoughts?
The *ONLY* concern I've had with it is ease of subverting security.
Primarily, reseting the admin password is as easy as pushing a little button
with a pencil top, and pushing it again twice, then holding it down. This
resets the admin password.. No way to disable this 'feature'. Not to bad,
but it's a pet peive I guess..
--
Thomas Charron
-={ Is beadarrach an ni an onair }=-
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Re: Quantum Snap Server - Opinions?
In a message dated: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 14:30:18 CDT Thomas Charron said: The *ONLY* concern I've had with it is ease of subverting security. Primarily, reseting the admin password is as easy as pushing a little button with a pencil top, and pushing it again twice, then holding it down. This resets the admin password.. No way to disable this 'feature'. Not to bad, but it's a pet peive I guess.. You could, if you really wanted to, open up the box and disconnect this button, couldn't you? Or, better yet, get a good locking door on the room where this box is located :) -- Seeya, Paul * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
Re: Quantum Snap Server - Opinions?
On Mon, 22 Jul 2002, Thomas Charron wrote: The *ONLY* concern I've had with it is ease of subverting security. Primarily, reseting the admin password is as easy as pushing a little button with a pencil top, and pushing it again twice, then holding it down. This resets the admin password.. No way to disable this 'feature'. Not to bad, but it's a pet peeve I guess.. Ken's (security) rule-of-thumb: if you don't have physical security, you don't have security. Period. Looked at a different way, I -like- being able to reset passwords easily through a button: makes it easy to re-configure those pesky generic network function boxen. I just make *sure* that it's under lock and key. Granted, if you're in a -really- small office, it's pretty much a non-issue, but if you're in a mid-sized one, you really should have restricted physical access to servers. And, heck, even in a small office, if it's out of the way, the cleaners won't run over ther power cord with a vacuum cleaner. -Ken * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
Re: RealNetworks going Open Source?
On Mon, 22 Jul 2002, at 2:04pm, Rich C wrote: It appears the goal is to allow proprietary streaming media providers to supply plug-ins to RealNetworks' framework, in order to make a more versatile client. They don't appear to be opening up RealNetworks' streaming protocol. I haven't been able to derive much in the way of goals (or, indeed, anything more than vaporware) from any of this. I've seen the usual conflicting rumors. If you know of any more information, pointers are welcome. Bruce Perens, or someone who has hijacked or impersonated his account, has made the following statements on Slashdot: BP Well, this release does not include any DRM, so it is likely that in the BP future (or even now) thare will be some DRM-protected RealMedia that the BP mostly-Open-Source player won't play. DRM is, of course, Digital Rights Management, AKA content control, AKA Thought Police. However, DRM can mean many things, depending on context. RealNetworks pushes real-time streams as a sort of DRM, since it makes it harder (note well: by no means impossible) to capture the content for later viewing. In regards to the reverse-engineering of Windows Media, Mr. Perens also had this to say: BP The answer from Real's president was rather confusing. It sounds as if BP they have reverse engineered Microsoft's transport and not their codec. BP I'll follow up. That is uninteresting from a Windows Media playback on Linux standpoint, but it does imply that Real is opening up their transports. Maybe. Of course, the way they've done it has certainly opened the door for Someone Else to come along and reverse engineer their protocol. Reverse engineering network protocols has, historically, been rather easy to do. I was, in fact, somewhat surprised to not find an instance of a ripper for RealNetworks's RDT protocol already in existence. The A/V CODECs have historically been harder, and more often protected by patents, which is where the real problem (no pun intended) comes in. While capturing the RealMedia stream to disk would allow me to feed it back to RealPlayer at my leisure, that really does not make it an open technology. It just makes using the closed, proprietary RealPlayer more easier for me. As an amateur content provider, I can say that my chief motivations in using streaming content ... As an amateur content provider, RealNetworks has zero interest in you. You are not paying them tens of thousands of dollars in license fees for their production and distribution tools. As an amateur content provider, I would assume things like MPEG and Ogg would be of the most interest to you. Encoders are low-cost or free, and very little needs to be done to enable streaming functionality. At the same time, nothing special needs to be done for those (like me) who cannot sustain the stream: We just download it like normal, and play it back in deferred time. The big boys who use RealMedia and Windows Media are generally interested in content control. Why else would they pay all this money for things like RealServer and Windows 2000, when MPEG and Ogg are available for so much less? While many content providers have copy protection and content control in mind, these objectives are easily met ... Not according to the media cartel (RIAA, MPAA, etc.) or the DMCA or the recent Internet radio thing. All say that even a horribly imperfect digital stream is a performance. If I WERE concerned with such matters, I certainly wouldn't go running to Microsoft, since RealNetworks' player can now decode that format as well. Since when can RealPlayer decode Windows Media? The version I have on Linux (8.0.3.421) certainly cannot. More information, please. Any client plug-in that can capture RealNetworks' stream to a file would likely be capable of doing the same with the Media Player stream as well. That's not the point. The point is that the media cartel regards Open Source as a lethal toxin. They might start favoring Windows Media if Real even appears to be tainted by the Open Source poison. Reality has nothing to do with this argument. Remember, the media cartel argued that VHS would be the death of their industry, too. -- Ben Scott [EMAIL PROTECTED] | The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not | | necessarily represent the views or policy of any other person, entity or | | organization. All information is provided without warranty of any kind. | * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
Re: Quantum Snap Server - Opinions?
On Mon, 22 Jul 2002, at 12:40pm, Ken Ambrose wrote: Ken's (security) rule-of-thumb: if you don't have physical security, you don't have security. Period. Looked at a different way, I -like- being able to reset passwords easily through a button ... Yeah, what he said. :) Even if said button was not present, I could always apply this tried-and-true security exploit: I could rip open the case, and install the hard drive as a secondary disk in my own system. -- Ben Scott [EMAIL PROTECTED] | The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not | | necessarily represent the views or policy of any other person, entity or | | organization. All information is provided without warranty of any kind. | * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
Re: Quantum Snap Server - Opinions?
On Mon, 22 Jul 2002, at 2:29pm, Hewitt Tech wrote: Has anyone used any of the Quantum Snap Server products to add NAS storage for small office use? The only caveats I hear of regularly are performance, management, and backup. Performance is pretty poor, especially for any kind of I/O intensive application (but you would expect that). Management is poor, compared to how integrated a homogeneous network usually is (but again, that is to be expected, and a non-issue on a small, ad-hoc network anyway). Backup is a combination of performance and simple existence: Don't forget to back up the Snap box, and remember that network backup performance (compared to a local drive) is going to be pretty poor. I remember them using Linux as the hidden OS. As others had said, I think it was a BSD. I also seem to remember that, after Maxtor bought Quantum, Maxtor decided to use an embedded version of a Redmond-based OS. But in an embedded situation, the OS really does not matter. It could be running Amiga Workbench, so long as it gets the job done. -- Ben Scott [EMAIL PROTECTED] | The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not | | necessarily represent the views or policy of any other person, entity or | | organization. All information is provided without warranty of any kind. | * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
Re: Quantum Snap Server - Opinions?
Hewitt Tech [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Has anyone used any of the Quantum Snap Server products to add NAS storage for small office use? I remember them using Linux as the hidden OS. I was thinking of recommending one of these for use in a small office. So far the I have an older model at home that I picked up on eBay a couple months ago, after reading an article about upgrading the hard drives. After configuring and testing it, I couldn't find a shutdown command, and when I just flip the power switch it shuts down cleanly and then reboots fine when I turn it on. All I had to do was yank out the tiny drives (I think they were maybe 5 GB each) and drop in a 100 GB drive, and then tell it to reformat the drive through the web interface. I checked out a weblog discussing the upgrade before I bought mine; apparently the older model I went with (a SnapServer 2000) has Linux in flash rom, and the hard drives can just be swapped out with no extra effort. The newer models apparently store the OS on the hard drive, and nobody on the weblog had reported any success in upgrading them. I believe those were the 1000 and 1100 series. -- John Abreau / Executive Director, Boston Linux Unix ICQ 28611923 / AIM abreauj / JABBER [EMAIL PROTECTED] / YAHOO abreauj Email [EMAIL PROTECTED] / WWW http://www.abreau.net / PGP-Key-ID 0xD5C7B5D9 PGP-Key-Fingerprint 72 FB 39 4F 3C 3B D6 5B E0 C8 5A 6E F1 2C BE 99 An idealist is just a farsighted pragmatist. -Anon msg15690/pgp0.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: Quantum Snap Server - Opinions?
Quoting [EMAIL PROTECTED]:
The *ONLY* concern I've had with it is ease of subverting security.
Primarily, reseting the admin password is as easy as pushing a little
button
with a pencil top, and pushing it again twice, then holding it down.
This
resets the admin password.. No way to disable this 'feature'. Not to
bad,
but it's a pet peive I guess..
You could, if you really wanted to, open up the box and disconnect
this button, couldn't you?
Or, better yet, get a good locking door on the room where this box is
located :)
Aye, true enough. It's the EASE of which one can do it. Resetting the
admin password to nothing is, quite literally, in this case, EASIER then
setting the time on a digital watch. And since the box can work with EXTERNAL
networks, such as NTFS mounts, Windows networks, etc, this could lead to a
compromise of your entire network, not just the little box.
Like I said, points is VERY valid. I'd just ensure people have as little
access to the physical box as possible.
As a second note I forgot about, it also has a built in FTP and web server,
as well as the ability to run Java servlets. Definatly a nice little box..
--
Thomas Charron
-={ Is beadarrach an ni an onair }=-
*
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Re: Quantum Snap Server - Opinions?
Quoting [EMAIL PROTECTED]:
On Mon, 22 Jul 2002, at 12:40pm, Ken Ambrose wrote:
Ken's (security) rule-of-thumb: if you don't have physical security,
you don't have security. Period. Looked at a different way, I
-like-
being able to reset passwords easily through a button ...
Even if said button was not present, I could always apply this
tried-and-true security exploit: I could rip open the case, and install
the
hard drive as a secondary disk in my own system.
Agreed. So long as you have something that can use their drives in the RAID
configuration they have..
Personally, I have it configured using RAID 5 accross 4 drives.. Just
something else to add in that wasnt mentioned. These puppies do raid..
--
Thomas Charron
-={ Is beadarrach an ni an onair }=-
*
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Re: RealNetworks going Open Source?
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Reverse engineering network protocols has, historically, been rather easy to do. I was, in fact, somewhat surprised to not find an instance of a ripper for RealNetworks's RDT protocol already in existence. I seem to recall something that did this (on Windows) a couple years back; then they dropped the code after Real's lawyers threatened them. Offhand, I don't recall the name of the tool. There was no source code distributed, so nobody else could keep it alive. -- John Abreau / Executive Director, Boston Linux Unix ICQ 28611923 / AIM abreauj / JABBER [EMAIL PROTECTED] / YAHOO abreauj Email [EMAIL PROTECTED] / WWW http://www.abreau.net / PGP-Key-ID 0xD5C7B5D9 PGP-Key-Fingerprint 72 FB 39 4F 3C 3B D6 5B E0 C8 5A 6E F1 2C BE 99 An idealist is just a farsighted pragmatist. -Anon msg15693/pgp0.pgp Description: PGP signature
realplayer (was: Re: RealNetworks going Open Source?)
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Since when can RealPlayer decode Windows Media? The version I have on Linux (8.0.3.421) certainly cannot. More information, please. Where does one obtain this version, anyways? I've struggled with Real's web page and have only been able to determine that the 5.x version (for free or for $$) is available for any of the Unices that I run. Incidently, I was trying to get this 5.x version running on a RedHat 7.3 box the other day and I didn't have a lot of luck. I think that this might have been a shared library problem, but I didn't have time to investigate. Thanks, --kevin -- Kevin D. Clark / Cetacean Networks / Portsmouth, N.H. (USA) cetaceannetworks.com!kclark (GnuPG ID: B280F24E) alumni.unh.edu!kdc * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
Re: Quantum Snap Server - Opinions?
In a message dated: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 14:55:21 CDT Thomas Charron said: As a second note I forgot about, it also has a built in FTP and web server, as well as the ability to run Java servlets. Definatly a nice little box.. Ahm, okay, so how is this different than a Cobalt then? A Cobalt can do all of this, and being a web-appliance is it's main function. It *can* do NFS/CIFS if you want it to, but if you have heavy duty NFS requirements, my personal opinion is: Don't use Linux! It's NFS performance as compared to Sun and True64 just plain stinks. (actually, I've heard that True64 even blows Sun's NFS performance out the door :) Linux is very good at doing a lot of things. It can do NFS, just not that well. So, other than these systems being better at NFS/CIFS, are they essentially just like the Cobalt, just with a BSD core over Linux? -- Seeya, Paul It may look like I'm just sitting here doing nothing, but I'm really actively waiting for all my problems to go away. If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right! * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
RE: realplayer (was: Re: RealNetworks going Open Source?)
I watched the Helix announcement today and it really did seem like something is going on. The Developers sight (I guess) is: http://www.helixcommunity.org/ I'm a user not an engineer. The CEO was really high on the helix server running on Linux. He actually said he can get 400% greater performance in streaming MS .asf Streams through the new Helix Universal server running on Linux. He was practically giddy. He also speculated that a Linux version of the Helix player would be available within 90 days. Again, it should be able to play virtually every major multimedia stream including Microsoft. FYI, Alan -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Kevin D. Clark Sent: Monday, July 22, 2002 4:05 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: realplayer (was: Re: RealNetworks going Open Source?) [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Since when can RealPlayer decode Windows Media? The version I have on Linux (8.0.3.421) certainly cannot. More information, please. Where does one obtain this version, anyways? I've struggled with Real's web page and have only been able to determine that the 5.x version (for free or for $$) is available for any of the Unices that I run. Incidently, I was trying to get this 5.x version running on a RedHat 7.3 box the other day and I didn't have a lot of luck. I think that this might have been a shared library problem, but I didn't have time to investigate. Thanks, --kevin -- Kevin D. Clark / Cetacean Networks / Portsmouth, N.H. (USA) cetaceannetworks.com!kclark (GnuPG ID: B280F24E) alumni.unh.edu!kdc * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. * --- Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.368 / Virus Database: 204 - Release Date: 5/29/2002 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.368 / Virus Database: 204 - Release Date: 5/29/2002 * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
Re: Quantum Snap Server - Opinions?
The latest and greatest NFS code for the newer Linux kernels is supposed to be much improved. Kernels prior to 2.4 didn't have NFS V3 support (or at least you had to play with the 2.2 kernel series in order to get NFS V3 support). It's the NFS V3 protocol that improves performance noticeably. I don't know how reliable NFS V3 on Linux is nor what the performance numbers would show so I can't quantify this in a meaningful way. In the case of the customer I have in mind, NFS doesn't come into the picture. They're pretty much a Windows shop. Another point is that they only need a file server to park their files. They don't have applications that will be pounding the storage so performance shouldn't be an important consideration. What they don't have is in-house IT staffing. So some kind of network attached storage that requires very low maintenance/administration is a major plus for them. I'll look at the Cobalt systems though. I also saw positive comments on the MaxAttach systems put out by Maxtor. -Alex - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Thomas Charron [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Hewitt Tech [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, July 22, 2002 4:07 PM Subject: Re: Quantum Snap Server - Opinions? In a message dated: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 14:55:21 CDT Thomas Charron said: As a second note I forgot about, it also has a built in FTP and web server, as well as the ability to run Java servlets. Definatly a nice little box.. Ahm, okay, so how is this different than a Cobalt then? A Cobalt can do all of this, and being a web-appliance is it's main function. It *can* do NFS/CIFS if you want it to, but if you have heavy duty NFS requirements, my personal opinion is: Don't use Linux! It's NFS performance as compared to Sun and True64 just plain stinks. (actually, I've heard that True64 even blows Sun's NFS performance out the door :) Linux is very good at doing a lot of things. It can do NFS, just not that well. So, other than these systems being better at NFS/CIFS, are they essentially just like the Cobalt, just with a BSD core over Linux? -- Seeya, Paul It may look like I'm just sitting here doing nothing, but I'm really actively waiting for all my problems to go away. If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right! * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. * * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
Re: RealNetworks going Open Source?
- Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Greater NH Linux Users' Group [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, July 22, 2002 7:48 PM Subject: Re: RealNetworks going Open Source? On Mon, 22 Jul 2002, at 2:04pm, Rich C wrote: It appears the goal is to allow proprietary streaming media providers to supply plug-ins to RealNetworks' framework, in order to make a more versatile client. They don't appear to be opening up RealNetworks' streaming protocol. I haven't been able to derive much in the way of goals (or, indeed, anything more than vaporware) from any of this. I've seen the usual conflicting rumors. If you know of any more information, pointers are welcome. I only read the links you provided. In the second link was this: RealNetworks is gambling that with a proliferation of different standards and formats for video and audio, the media corporations that make content available over the Internet will flock to a single system that supports multiple types of data. The company is trying to shift the focus of the competition from the PC desktop to the server, according to analysts. Of course this implies only that RealNetworks can supply streaming data in Microsoft's format. If they can do this, you have to assume they can decode it as well. [snip] As an amateur content provider, I can say that my chief motivations in using streaming content ... As an amateur content provider, RealNetworks has zero interest in you. You are not paying them tens of thousands of dollars in license fees for their production and distribution tools. And that's the way I like it. Once I create a RealAudio file, I can supply it as a downloadable entity OR stream it with very little additional effort. As an amateur content provider, I would assume things like MPEG and Ogg would be of the most interest to you. Encoders are low-cost or free, and very little needs to be done to enable streaming functionality. At the same time, nothing special needs to be done for those (like me) who cannot sustain the stream: We just download it like normal, and play it back in deferred time. They ARE very interesting to me. The MPEG moreso than Ogg Vorbis right now, as my target audiences are not that computer savvy. Almost no one in my audience has an Ogg Vorbis-capable player, or even knows what it is, but they have all heard of RealNetworks. And your particular dilemma is why, since I must store the content on my server anyway, I make a downloadable version available. [snip] If I WERE concerned with such matters, I certainly wouldn't go running to Microsoft, since RealNetworks' player can now decode that format as well. Since when can RealPlayer decode Windows Media? The version I have on Linux (8.0.3.421) certainly cannot. More information, please. I should have said that the Helix client will be able to do this. Current RealPlayer clients cannot do this. Any client plug-in that can capture RealNetworks' stream to a file would likely be capable of doing the same with the Media Player stream as well. That's not the point. The point is that the media cartel regards Open Source as a lethal toxin. They might start favoring Windows Media if Real even appears to be tainted by the Open Source poison. Reality has nothing to do with this argument. Remember, the media cartel argued that VHS would be the death of their industry, too. Upon reading some of the Helix web site documentation further, it appears to me that RealNetworks is attempting to use the open source community to get RealMedia proprietary formats into non-PC devices such as cell phones and PDAs, without having to do the development themselves. By open sourcing the client and transport protocols, they are allowing independent developers to make clients that can receive RealMedia streams (in addition to other formats) on devices that are currently not accessible to either RealNetworks OR Microsoft. It would be ironic if RealNetworks conquers these markets first, and the Media Cartel runs to Microsoft, who can't distribute their content to any of these devices. :-) Rich Cloutier President, C*O SYSTEM SUPPORT SERVICES www.sysupport.com * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
my e-mail
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 FYI, My e-mail is currently not reliable. I seem to be having connection problems after a wierd power glitch the other day. I'm working on it... But in the mean time if you send me mail there's a good chance it will be deferred for more than several hours, though it should make it through eventually. For those of you who have other means of contacting me, those would probably be best for the time being. Thanks - -- Derek Martin [EMAIL PROTECTED] - - I prefer mail encrypted with PGP/GPG! GnuPG Key ID: 0x81CFE75D Retrieve my public key at http://pgp.mit.edu Learn more about it at http://www.gnupg.org -BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE- Version: GnuPG v1.0.6 (GNU/Linux) Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org iD8DBQE9PGtbdjdlQoHP510RAoFiAJ9wKlXFdVixwZprFw7BFXKGmeznJACgpUKm rZNfoOemnDeBFMHSNN3DAak= =btY0 -END PGP SIGNATURE- * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
Re: Quantum Snap Server - Opinions?
In a message dated: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 16:49:44 EDT Hewitt Tech said: I'll look at the Cobalt systems though. I also saw positive comments on the MaxAttach systems put out by Maxtor. Cobalt is now owned by Sun. Also, keep in mind, they're meant as a web appliance, not necessarilly an NFS/CIFS server. Yes, you *can* have act as a file server, however, it's not *meant* to do that. It's meant to be more of an http/ftp server than anything else. Storage is limited to the 1 internal hard drive. From what I've seen in this discussion, these other boxes are more meant to be fast/reliable file servers which also happen to do http/ ftp serving, as opposed to the inverse intentions behind the Cobalt systems. -- Seeya, Paul It may look like I'm just sitting here doing nothing, but I'm really actively waiting for all my problems to go away. If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right! * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
Re: realplayer (was: Re: RealNetworks going Open Source?)
On 22 Jul 2002, at 4:05pm, Kevin D. Clark wrote: Since when can RealPlayer decode Windows Media? The version I have on Linux (8.0.3.421) certainly cannot. More information, please. Where does one obtain this version, anyways? http://proforma.real.com/real/player/unix/unix.html Don't ask me how I found that URL. I tried to reproduce the navigation path on their website, and could not. I seem to remember their Service and Support section being a backdoor into much good stuff not readily available through more obvious channels, but even that appears to be stoppered up right now. Then again, I didn't look very hard, having that URL on-hand this time around. This must be some new software product marketing strategy: Make sure nobody can download your product, and... uh... er Incidently, I was trying to get this 5.x version running on a RedHat 7.3 box the other day and I didn't have a lot of luck. I don't think you would. AFAIK, Red Hat only supports the previous major release for binary compatibility. You would have to install the old RHL 5.x libraries yourself. Possible, but not fun. -- Ben Scott [EMAIL PROTECTED] | The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not | | necessarily represent the views or policy of any other person, entity or | | organization. All information is provided without warranty of any kind. | * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
RE: realplayer (was: Re: RealNetworks going Open Source?)
On Mon, 22 Jul 2002, at 4:42pm, Alan R. wrote: The CEO was really high on the helix server running on Linux. Just FYI, RealServer, their current proprietary product, already runs on Linux, so making the Open Source version run on Linux should be a no-brainer. :-) He also speculated that a Linux version of the Helix player would be available within 90 days. It's all vaporware until I can see the code. -- Me :-) -- Ben Scott [EMAIL PROTECTED] | The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not | | necessarily represent the views or policy of any other person, entity or | | organization. All information is provided without warranty of any kind. | * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
Re: Quantum Snap Server - Opinions?
On Mon, 22 Jul 2002, at 4:07pm, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: As a second note I forgot about, it also has a built in FTP and web server, as well as the ability to run Java servlets. Definatly a nice little box.. Ahm, okay, so how is this different than a Cobalt then? One is made by Sun, the other's made by Quantum. ;-) Cobalt is now owned by Sun. And, AFAIK, they have not yet shoehorned either Solaris or a SPARC into a Cobalt box yet. Amazing. :-) Also, keep in mind, [Cobalt boxes are] meant as a web appliance, not necessarilly an NFS/CIFS server. Seeing how they are both made from the same commodity i386 parts (and same basic software), I don't know that means much. Cobalt's original product line (the Qube) was a LAN server appliance (NFS/CIFS/etc). As I understand it, the biggest change from LAN appliance to web appliance was the marketing literature. ;-) -- Ben Scott [EMAIL PROTECTED] | The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not | | necessarily represent the views or policy of any other person, entity or | | organization. All information is provided without warranty of any kind. | * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
RE: realplayer (was: Re: RealNetworks going Open Source?)
The Real :) point I should have made concerning performance was really associated to cost savings. The current Helix Universal Server running on Linux has essentially no software cost and can support 8000 Microsft streams for a given server. The Microsoft alternative requires a company to run the MS Streaming server software on top of a MS Windows 2000 (Enterprise?) server and could support only 2000 streams. Meaning you have to buy 3 more servers (and licenses) to equal the performance of the linux server. About the player being Vapoware... I agree. But they did just release a Mac OS X version of RealOne Player on July 17 so things look good. http://www.realnetworks.com/company/press/releases/2002/r1macbeta.html -Alan -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, July 22, 2002 5:21 PM To: Greater NH Linux Users' Group Subject: RE: realplayer (was: Re: RealNetworks going Open Source?) On Mon, 22 Jul 2002, at 4:42pm, Alan R. wrote: The CEO was really high on the helix server running on Linux. Just FYI, RealServer, their current proprietary product, already runs on Linux, so making the Open Source version run on Linux should be a no-brainer. :-) He also speculated that a Linux version of the Helix player would be available within 90 days. It's all vaporware until I can see the code. -- Me :-) -- Ben Scott [EMAIL PROTECTED] | The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not | | necessarily represent the views or policy of any other person, entity or | | organization. All information is provided without warranty of any kind. | * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. * --- Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.368 / Virus Database: 204 - Release Date: 5/29/2002 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.368 / Virus Database: 204 - Release Date: 5/29/2002 * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
Re: realplayer (was: Re: RealNetworks going Open Source?)
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: On 22 Jul 2002, at 4:05pm, Kevin D. Clark wrote: Since when can RealPlayer decode Windows Media? The version I have on Linux (8.0.3.421) certainly cannot. More information, please. Where does one obtain this version, anyways? http://proforma.real.com/real/player/unix/unix.html Thanks! You just saved me a huge headache... --kevin -- Kevin D. Clark / Cetacean Networks / Portsmouth, N.H. (USA) cetaceannetworks.com!kclark (GnuPG ID: B280F24E) alumni.unh.edu!kdc * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
Re: RealNetworks going Open Source?
On Mon, 22 Jul 2002, at 3:50pm, Rich C wrote: Of course this implies only that RealNetworks can supply streaming data in Microsoft's format. If they can do this, you have to assume they can decode it as well. Well, yes and no. The streaming transport is typically separate from the actual media encoder/decoder. So, as long as you have the Windows Media file on the server, you could (in theory) stream it to a Windows Media Player, without knowing how to decode the actual media content. Kinda like how you can serve up Microsoft Excel files via Apache, even though you cannot get MS Excel for Linux [1]. They ARE very interesting to me. The MPEG moreso than Ogg Vorbis right now, as my target audiences are not that computer savvy. Almost no one in my audience has an Ogg Vorbis-capable player, or even knows what it is, but they have all heard of RealNetworks. Right. I expect Ogg to succeed much the way Linux did: Slowly, and by stealth. Open Source never dies, and with implementation cost being near zero, it tends to build up a large installed base just by existing. That does mean home users tend to be late adopters, of course. It would be ironic if RealNetworks conquers these markets first, and the Media Cartel runs to Microsoft, who can't distribute their content to any of these devices. :-) It would be ironic indeed. Alas, as others have observed, fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony. :-/ -- Ben Scott [EMAIL PROTECTED] | The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not | | necessarily represent the views or policy of any other person, entity or | | organization. All information is provided without warranty of any kind. | * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
RE: realplayer (was: Re: RealNetworks going Open Source?)
On Mon, 22 Jul 2002, at 5:37pm, Alan R. wrote: About the player being Vapoware... I agree. But they did just release a Mac OS X version of RealOne Player on July 17 so things look good. Oh, I certainly won't complain if it happens. :) On a related note, I just found an alpha release for their RealOne Player for Linux. Follow the link from my previous message, choose tar.gz as the download format, and, on the next page, look for the RealOne button at the bottom of the regular download page. -- Ben Scott [EMAIL PROTECTED] | The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not | | necessarily represent the views or policy of any other person, entity or | | organization. All information is provided without warranty of any kind. | * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
[Humor] Slashdot and the Real/Helix source release
In regards to the webcast that RealNetworks was hosting about their Open Source(ish) Helix framework, the following was seen on Slashdot: During the QA session of the webcast: Perens: I've been reading questions off of slashdot, most of which have been positive. Glaser: Are you sure you have the right URL? That just cracked me up. :-) -- Ben Scott [EMAIL PROTECTED] | The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not | | necessarily represent the views or policy of any other person, entity or | | organization. All information is provided without warranty of any kind. | * To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *
