General Musings

Email this to a friend

 

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

 

Here at Webhaven we use Linux for all our production servers. The compelling reason for this is stability, then security, then distribution of management ie. Can manage from anywhere on the Internet... Our systems are hardened, essential services only systems ie. no gui.

Now we see Google is releasing an OS distribution codenamed Chrome OS, designed for speed and security. The best thing about this announcement is the use of linux + a huge marketing budget/engine and the collective reputation for future seeing culture.

By definition, the OS will be open source at the foundation. This means basic security auditing can take place, and security will likely be higher due to transparency of code. Great for the layperson.

The linux movement has a lot to answer for... There are so many OS systems out there  that the consumer is spoiled for choice, or, confused... 90% of the world still see 'the linux' as an alien pet, until... xubuntu ...

I think I discovered an oxymoron in the strap-line for this particular distribution. Furthermore, according to xubuntu, 'the linux' is a little mouse! I had pet mice when I was 10 and I really loved Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nihm .

It has been hard for any basic Mac or Windows user to serious consider linux operating systems without a serious moment of enlightenment, or agnostic opinion on conformity... Besides, most retail shops sell Windows Vista - and that is it!

What is really cool in the next step of linux operating system movements like Chrome OS is that the on-to-it factor will emerge for users like never before thanks to the credibility that Google may provide the mass-market. The justification behind using linux will be so well understood that people will actually start demanding this OS (kernel) as opposed to Windows (or OS X?! hard to imagine) and those that already use a linux distribution will be quietly relieved from further scathing comments or sideways looks as experienced over the last 15years...

I mean, when we started using gmail, hotmail became so yesterday... rather, so last decade. People started to wonder why on earth would anyone keep using hotmail... right? The same might be said of Chrome OS versus Vista in 2 years time, but more importantly, what will Chrome OS do for the reputation of linux kernels versus Windows. The support of such a successful, helpful and seemingly future looking company like Google could propel the linux kernel into the same arena as OS X, touted as the worlds most advance OS. 

Microsoft will have to reassess their marketing approach, and try to justify why you would possibly want to use that OS, in the same way as xubuntu is doing now. We suggest some marketing slogans for MSN here, if you have been to New Zealand you will recognise these...

Windows, more than you'd expect
Absolutely positively, Windows
Windows, a kernel so good they built an OS around it

I will end this entry on a quote from the notorious Steve Jobs - notorious because he is rumoured as a hard task master, but does have a few points to make... 

“The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste; they have absolutely no taste. And what that means is–I don’t mean that in a small way, I mean that in a big way–in the sense that they don’t think of original ideas and they don’t bring much culture into their product. And you say ‘Why is that important?’ Well, you know, proportionally spaced fonts come from typesetting and beautiful books, that’s where one gets the idea. If it weren’t for the Mac, they would never have that in their products. And so I guess I am saddened, not by Microsoft’s success–I have no problem with their success, they’ve earned their success, for the most part–I have a problem with the fact that they just make really third-rate products.”
 
“Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It’s not about money. It’s about the people you have, how you’re led, and how much you get it.”

 

Email this to a friend

We are really excited about running a more sustainable business - well, more sustainable for certain things like paperless storage. Sure, the archivist cringes when the word 'paperless' is used, but for purely practical things like invoicing a government, there are savings to be made...

or are there...

Here in Denmark we have been required to send government electronic invoices and credit notes since 2005. 

We are in the process of integrating electronic invoicing into Jobtask and have come across the first hurdle - what is warmly known as VANS (Value Added Network Services)... It is really simple, simply make your data into a standard format OIOXML  and send for processing to a group of private authorised providers. ie. IBM.

An individual can go to www.virk.dk/efak  and send the danish government an invoice, as long as you have a CPR/CVR number. But there seems to be a gap in the uploading of a digital file, ie. OIOXML formatted data file - yep, you can not easily prevent double entry.

We definitely see great benefit in the VANS system and will be reporting our progress in introducing automated sending of OIOXML formatted invoices to Kommune and Ministry's as soon as the tools are ready. But we see it likely that the VANS network will stand in the way for now. It should be as easy as sending an email...


All logos, images and content copyright © 2010 - Webhaven International ApS - CVR. 30589971