News from PANUG - June 7, 2001 http://www.panug.org info@panug.org Contents Survival Tactic by Christian Bayer Switch Hitting by Ed Sawicki Getting Help by Gregg Berkholtz HELP: Windows 2000 Service Pack 2 by Ed Sawicki Linux Inside SURVIVAL TACTIC by Christian Bayer You just spilled your favorite beverage into your laptop computer. The first steps are obvious, turn it off and turn it upside down. The next step is to flood it with WD-40. This light solvent will dissolve sugars, displace water, and does not conduct electricity. After such a procedure, my IBM ThinkPad 701CS is tough to type on because the keyboard is sticky but I can still use it until its replacement arrives. The WD-40 made it look like new too, but made the "pencil eraser" pointing device soft. SWITCH HITTING by Ed Sawicki I've been in this industry since the 1970s and I've observed the trade press over those years. Since I've been a columnist in the past and I've written many articles for various publications, I know some of the people who write. As a generalization, I can say that they know little more about what they write about than you and I do. They also tend to have opinions that are flexible and adapt to the times. A good example are the writings of Mark Joseph Edwards in the Windows 2000 Magazine email broadcasts. For many years, Mark was a staunch supporter of Microsoft. He'd put a positive spin on virtually anything Microsoft related. When Microsoft deserved to be severly criticized, Mark minimized their evil doings. The winds of change brought about by the popularity of the Open Source Software movement have caught up to Mark and other members of the press. Mark and others have fashionably changed their outlook and are now more critical of Microsoft and more friendly to the Open Source Software movement. Many of us became Open Source proponents in the mid to late 1990s when it was obvious how well Open Source Software projects were working. The collaboration made possible by the Internet produced software that rivaled and often exceeded the quality of closed commercial software. Mark and the others either couldn't see this at the time or didn't want to. They don't recommend that you choose strategic directions that lead to lower costs, better reliability, higher performance, etc. Their worlds are the status quo until they're forced to move to another position by the politics of the industry. By the time Mark endorses change it's no longer change - it's already here - last year's news - or four year old news. If you need to know in which direction to move your company, your need a better oracle. Managers often fail to realize that the best advice may come from their own employees who have their ear to the ground. GETTING HELP by Gregg Berkholtz Someone recently recommended that PANUG have a mailing list that members can use for getting help. Well, we did have such a mailing list and it ran for nearly one year with only one question being asked. When the PANUG server failed recently, we decided to eliminate that list. If you want to get help, send us your question to info@panug.org and we'll post it in the next PANUG email broadcast, such as this one. Note that there may be a delay of a few days before the next broadcast. Please respond directly to the person who asks the question. Do not respond to this list. HELP: WINDOWS 2000 SERVICE PACK 2 by Ed Sawicki OK, I'll be first. I tried to download and install the Windows 2000 Service Pack 2 but it fails when it discovers that I have only 300 MB of disk space on my drive C. Based on the error message I get, it apparently needs about 600 MB of free disk space to install. I have a D drive that has 1.5 GB of free disk space. Is there a way to get the Service Pack to use my D drive? Please respond to ed@alcpress.com LINUX INSIDE PANUG is co-hosting a five hour event on Saturday, June 23 starting at 9:00 am. The event, called Linux Inside, will expose you to the benefits of using Linux and Open Source Software. You'll see numerous demonstrations of how Linux and popular Open Source applications can be used on desktop computers as well as highly-reliable servers. Visit the PANUG web site for details: http://panug.org