Monday, March 31, 2008

My network at home

I should probably explain a few things about the systems that we run at our house before I start keeping score between ubuntu and windows.

We have:

Verizon Fios
1 Dell Dimension E510 running Vista Ultimate SP1- recently set up to be print/ backup/ media server.
2. A HP Pavilion 514n running xp sp2, that I think I'm going to erase and laod Ubuntu when gutsy gibbon releases.
3. A Dell laptop running Vista Home upstairs that my wife uses-
4. My favorite~ An old beater Dell laptop running Xubuntu which I use for email, browsing, etc
5. My work Dell laptop that I need to be able to print from, etc. when I bring it home~ I should also mention that I don't have admin rights on this one.

So, anyway- just keep all that in mind when you hear me keeping score between Ubuntu and Vista. One of the big factors for me is cost, and since I got all this eval software from Heroes Happen Here, I was able to briefly eliminate cost as a factor for my most recent problems.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Score one for Microsoft

Just to update, in my last blog I complained about windows home server, and I mentioned that I loaded xubuntu in an effort to create a file/backup/print server on my network at home.

Well, it turns out that Samba wasn't happy with my peer network either, and when we tried to print an xl spreadsheet from my wife's Vista machine through the linux hp drivers, it printed it ok- except it was printing a 3x5" copy when it was supposed to be printing on 8 1/2" by 11 paper.

I like playing with new tech, and I have spent my share of nights and weekends "effing" with something trying to make it work, when I could have just done something easier- so I took the copy of Vista SP1 i got at Heroes Happen Here, and loaded it on the machine.

I hate to admit it, but it was all pretty seamless. It found my wife's vista machine, it found the xbox, and right now it is happily sharing all my media files across the network. I can even browse the whole peer network thru Samba from my xubuntu laptop.

in addition, I signed up for a year of Windows Live Services for $50, and its good for 3 machines, which is perfect because that just happens to be the number of Windows machines I have in the house.

As i said before, I like to play with tech, and try very hard sometimes to make things work. Although its not "technically" a server at this point- its doing the three things I set out to have it do, and as a bonus i get virus and firewall protection at a very reasonable price.

I like to stay up on the latest and greatest, but sometimes my wife just needs to be able to print out a legible spreadsheet. Thanks, Microsoft- you really did make me a hero.

(I did have the forethought to partition the drive, Hardy heron IS in beta...)

Monday, March 24, 2008

Xubuntu Linux 2- Microsoft 0

Ok, so my relationship with Xubuntu started when I took an old beater laptop (that wouldn't run Win2k any more) and loaded xubuntu on it. Needless to say, that even though it was a little slow, it ran beautifully. Email, web, blogging and twittering (you know the important stuff)

So fast forward to this past weekend when I tried to load up my "free evaluation" of windows home server on my 2 yr old Dell E510. I loaded up the software, and the first problem was that it didn't have the drivers for my internal network card, so I had to burn the drivers on a disk on another computer and load them on the machine (no big deal- it happens)

So then I was dissapointed with the user interface that pops up when you run home server. You would think that since its for home use, all of the good stuff would be simplified. sharing, backup, etc. you know- the good stuff.

Not so, the biggest feature that it offered was a backup utility, which would have been cool- but here's the kicker. WHS has a little interface that you use to set up your network. You plug in a little info, sign in (or sign up) to a .net passport account, and its supposed to set up a domain server for you automatically.

The problem I had was that Verizon Fios blocks port 80- which I openly admit isn't Microsoft's fault. However, the part that sucked, rather than skip that step, and move on and set up everything else, WHS quits and tells you that it can't configure your router, and that you need to do everything manually, and it turns out that the manual setup console is basically the server console that started with NT.

So, I'm going through all the iterations of setting up the DNS, the IP address, and all the other crap thinking "What about all the poor saps that are going to buy WHS thiking its going to be a beefed up version of Vista?"

So anyway, I finally get the thing to connect to my network, and start setting up files, backups, etc. and find out that its conflicting with my peer network, and its messing up- get this, because this is the best part, its messing up the open ports on my XBOX. It sees the open connection that the XBOX has and sees it as a threat, even though the router is handling the firewall, and starts hosing the connection.

It was at this point, I turned the machine off, and installed Xubuntu. It found and loaded the drivers for the network card automatically without any help from me. I next loaded SMBK and proceeded to share the printers, the backup drive, and the video and music folders on my external hard drive.

The only two things I had to load were the drivers for my video card (it worked without them) and flash for the browser. It is "serving" two printers (which it found and loaded without my help by the way) music, and videos, and runs the backup for the 5 machines I have on the network.

So, I screwed with WHS all weekend, and couldnt get it to work, and got everything set with Xubuntu last night in about 2 hours.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Religion

I have a weakness for religious topics. I can't help it. I grew up in church, I spent 7 years in a private Christian School, and I spent the 90's volunteering for a national youth ministry while working for a church. I like to talk about church. How to do church; contemporary, orthodox, post-denominational, post-Christian.
I like to talk about theology, and find commonality with the bizarre, and find differences with the familiar. I have been around Muslims with whom I agree, and Baptists who make me want to go run and hide.
I have arrived at a brand of theology that leaves me with a feeling that I can fit in anywhere, while at the same time belonging nowhere. I believe in the idea of speaking in tongues, laying hands on the sick, and casting out demons, but I have a hard time finding anyone who has a legitimate need to do such things.
My problem lately since my foray back into church membership, is finding anyone with whom I can have these types of theological discussions. I had friends at my local pub who had no problem discussing these things- but somehow within the walls of the church, I find myself in the difficult position of having to restrain the things I say.
I wonder why that is?