Re: McNealy opens up (Nov. 5)
Interesting article. Your personal “”I was there”” anecdotes are as powerful as your technical insights. They also add a dimension of realism to your line
of questioning. What’s your cut on the final outcome? If Sun “”plays ball”” with the open source development community I say they have a good chance of having Java become the development platform of choice. If not . . . ?
John Lindsay
Re: The death of data (Nov. 1)
I always enjoy reading your articles. I appreciate receiving ITBusiness.ca in order to keep in touch with latest IT developments and, more importantly for my job as an information policy adviser, what increasingly seems to be the reinvention of records management by the IT community. The management of records has been a well-established business process for decades. Whether records are in paper or electronic form is irrelevant. There are solid principles and practices that do what ILM claims to do. The difference is that ILM is a technology-first approach while in my world, technology is important, but should not be the driver.
I’m not criticizing IT; it tends to be a forward-looking, solution-finding kind of community. The records management community often has a difficult time promoting its perspective and expertise in a world where IT rules. But I think we would all benefit if IT and RM talked to each other. Records need to be managed through their lifecycle, and records managers are the ones who can speak to legal compliance, retention requirements, and long-term preservation issues.
For more background on the records management profession, you might want to take a look at this Web site: www.arma.org.
Carolyn Heald
Information Policy Adviser
Archives of Ontario
Re: CBC adds ID management to directory services (Oct. 29)
Thank you for your article on the CBC and Novell relationship.
It was interesting to read what our largest broadcaster thinks about security. I was surprised though that at the end of your article they consider open source and Linux when it comes to security. It becoming more and more obvious in the industry that Linux and open source does not equal Security or vice versa.
Charles Lipp
Re: Admit it: You’re stumped! (Oct. 12)
I read your article on installing antivirus software and the ensuing frustration. I too had a similar situation, and no amount of technical savvy could get you out of it. It was the result of poor programming, which you would expect from cereal box software, not a major vendor.
During the installation process, the computer got hung and would not respond. Doing a hard power down was the only way out (Win98 in all its glory) After reboot, I tried to complete the install. What I got was an error stating “”An installation is already in progress. Please complete the installation.””
After much frustration I decided to remove the program from the control panel. Again an error: “”An installation is already in progress. Please complete the installation before attempting to uninstall.””
Hopelessly stuck in a programming loop, I was fortunate to be able to restore my image from a backup. I wrote the offending company about their “”glitch”” and how the option to override this loop should be mandatory. Needless to say, this major corporation found it beneath them to even reply to my message.
However, what they fail to realize is that one person can have a cascading effect on sales. I have no problem recommending the competitors product when people ask my opinion (and many do). As far as I’m concerned, they will never get my business nor that of anyone I deal with, due to their apathy towards a customer’s legitimate concern.
Hopefully, Ralph Kramden’s sidekick (from “”The Honeymooners””) will recognize who I’m talking about.
Warren Fee
Just wanted to let you know that I really enjoy reading your column. So much of my reading is technical and technical writers are usually great on detail but not necessarily great writers. You seem to have a thorough understanding of IT, but manage to see the “”big picture”” instead of just the details. Your opinions are thoughtful and presented with a nice touch of humour. Refreshing!
Keep up the good work!
Erin Murphy
Network Administrator
Group Eight Engineering Ltd.
Hamilton, Ont.
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