September 2005

A while back, I posted a blog entry mentioning a new O’Reilly book titled Linux in a Windows World.  While preparing for my trip to Sweden a few weeks ago, I purchased a copy of the book as reading material for the long transatlantic flights.

I still haven’t finished reading the entire book, but the parts that I have read have been informative.  I’ve been focusing on the sections regarding centralized authentication, mostly to see if there are things that I need to do to streamline my own centralized authentication scheme (see my post entitled Linux-AD Integration Direction for more information on the approach I took for centralized authentication).  Although I didn’t find anything earth-shattering, I was able to glean a few helpful details that I will soon be putting into place on my own Linux servers.

I’m looking forward to going over the Samba section of the book, as I’ve often thought of moving my own file/print services to Linux instead of using Windows.  I know this sounds strange, but I have to wonder if SMB interoperability would be better between Mac OS X and Linux instead of between Mac OS X and Windows.  Should the opportunity arise for me to test that, I’ll post results here.

My only complaint (albeit a very minor one) is that the author tends to gloss over details in some places.  That’s understandable, to a point, since the intent of the book is not to explain how to implement all the ideas presented.  Otherwise, the book would be unmanageable and unwieldy due to the amount of content.  To the author’s credit, he does point readers to sources of additional information where they can find the details they need for a real-world implementation.

If you are looking for a relatively high-level overview of some of the various ways in which you can improve Linux-Windows integration on your network, you could do much worse than this book.  On the flip side, though, be prepared to dig into some other resources when you need additional detail.

Technorati Tags: Linux, Windows

I’m continuing to experiment with VersaMail, the e-mail application running on my palmOne Treo 650 smartphone.  GPRS quibbles aside, my only complaint is related to the interactions between VersaMail and Mail.app.

Specifically, when I delete a message in VersaMail (and tell VersaMail to delete the message on the server), it doesn’t always disappear in Mail.app.  Likewise, when I delete a message in Mail.app, it remains in the Treo’s Inbox.  Even using the Treo’s “Sync server folders” command in VersaMail doesn’t seem to correct the problem.

I’m sure that this is all just the result of slightly differing IMAP implementations.  After all, I have seen firsthand how deleting an e-mail message in Mail.app doesn’t “take effect” in Outlook until you switch folders in Mail.app.  Sometimes you have to use the “Empty Trash” command as well in order for changes to take effect.

It’s certainly not a showstopper, so I’m not terribly concerned about it.  But, if someone has some information on how I might be able to work around this, that would be greatly appreciated.

Technorati Tags: Messaging, Treo

I picked up a Treo 650 over the weekend from Cingular Wireless, my current wireless provider, and so far I have to say I am happy with the Treo.  As a Palm OS-based organizer, the screen is smaller than what I had grown accustomed to on my Tungsten T3, but the resolution seems higher, and I think the color depth is greater as well.  As a phone, it seems to work pretty well.  The Cingular Wireless GPRS service leaves a bit to be desired, but otherwise works as expected.

I like the Bluetooth functionality, so I can now use the wireless Bluetooth headset I’ve wanted for a while.  The Bluetooth support seems better on the Treo as well; I found it much easier to get a HotSync working over Bluetooth with the Treo than with the Tungsten.

I also like VersaMail, the Palm OS mail application.  Using VersaMail, IMAP/SSL, and SMTP/SSL, I’m able to check and respond to e-mail messages wherever I have a decent GPRS signal strength.  I was particularly pleased at the SSL support.  It didn’t take me long to get the Treo downloading e-mail from my Exchange server using IMAP/SSL.

I’m still exploring options on the Treo, so don’t be surprised if I post back here in a few days talking about the Treo again.

Technorati Tags: Mobility, Treo

This one is still unresolved.  The basic gist of the arrangement is this:  user accounts that have been delegated the appropriate permissions in Exchange System Manager and Active Directory in order to be able to manage user objects (including e-mail attributes) are unable to add or edit e-mail addresses on mail-enabled and mailbox-enabled objects.  Microsoft has a KB article that describes the issue perfectly, but the fix doesn’t work (at least, not for this specific implementation).  The KB article and numerous hits from a Google search indicate that the use of SC.EXE from Windows Server 2003 SP1 can fix the problem, but it doesn’t work, and the other workaround offered by the KB article isn’t particularly appealing (using Group Policy Objects in Active Directory to add permissions to a service across the network).

Technorati Tags: ActiveDirectory, Windows

We (my wife and I) got back from Sweden on Wednesday, after a thoroughly unpleasant flight experience.  After 8 hours of flight in the middle seat, delays in the flight back from Stockholm caused us to miss our flight in Newark, NJ, introducing yet another delay in our return home.  Finally, around 6:00 PM EDT, we arrived at the Raleigh-Durham airport, only 3 hours behind our original arrival time.  Keep in mind, though, the 6 hour time difference between Raleigh and Sweden; to our bodies, it’s now 12:00 AM midnight the next day and we’ve been traveling for a grand total of 18 hours (we left Stockholm around 6:00 AM in the morning).  Let’s just say that it wasn’t the most pleasant flight experience we’ve ever had.

Aside from the flight home, the trip was enjoyable overall.  It was good to see my old friend, who had invited us in the first place for his wedding.  The weather was absolutely fantastic; you couldn’t ask for better weather.

There are two things that really stick with me from the trip.

First, we as Americans are spoiled, and should really learn to appreciate how God has blessed our country.  Even with elevated gas prices resulting from Hurricane Katrina, we’re still not anywhere close to the $6-7/gallon that gasoline costs in Europe (adjusting, of course, for differences in currency and their use of the metric system).

Second, people are just people.  I can’t tell you how many times we were walking in Stockholm or shopping in the grocery store and found it almost easy to forget that we were half a world away, in a foreign land, speaking a foreign language.  Why?  Because people there are no different than people here, with their own set of dreams, goals, fears, concerns, etc., just like anyone else.  They just happen to speak a very different language and live in a very different land.  Think about that next time you start believing that you are the only one that’s having a particular problem or issue, and remember that people all around the globe live their life day-by-day just like you do.

I’ll post more information about our trip to Sweden in future entries, perhaps including some of the photos of downtown Stockholm.

Technorati Tags: Travel