Re: KLUG, etc. (fwd)

["Adam Williams" <awilliam@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>
>      I'm very new to the linux community.  [Sunday's meeting gave
>      everyone an indication of just how new :-) ]  I'm in it for
>      cheap.  My objective is to establish a database driven website on
>      a linux platform.  This makes me interested in RDBMSs (Probably
>      Typhoon) and Web Servers (Like Apache).  Currently I know
>      virtually nothing about this, so don't expect volumes of info if
>      you talk to me about this one.  Do expect, however, that I'll
>      tackle any issues with great resolve and interest.
>
	I run a heavily LINUX network that stretches from South Bend to
Travserse City,  I've setup Apache, DNS, firewall, NIS/NFS and all the
assourted odds and ends as well as worked with Cisco and Xyplex routers,  so if
you have any "Network" related questions feel free to send them my way.  I
think LINUX is the BEST choice for what you want to do.  As a suggestion
though,  I'd recommend looking into Postgres or MySQL as your RDBMS.  They both
have alot of web support.  Postgress is the higher end choice with row level
locking and transactional processing (important if you will be doing lots of
updates).  They're are several good "X" based tools for administration for
either platform,  and for postgres they're are even a few 4GL like application
generators that create web based apps.  I've only seen those though,  but they
look impressive,  and am about to create a web app so my users can enter
Administration requests or report problems via their web browsers.

>
>      The co-op ISP project idea is something that clearly piques my
>      interest.  This might mean discount internet access for me.  It's
>      also the sort of thing that could mean a better job for me later
>      on.  I think it'd be silly for me to miss an opportunity to be a
>      part of a project like that.

I'm all for it,  but I'm not sure how we'd get a significant (and legal)
connection to the internet with shelling out an arm and a leg.  I know that a
24/7 dial up accoutn costs about $90,  but who wants that. Anyone know how much
a 64k circuit runs?  We have a dozen or so point-to-point 64s in my network and
they're mostly  less than $200 a month,  but I'm sure an ISP is going to add
some charge for the internet connectivity.  And about dial in lines,  they are
expensive.  Before this is really even a legit idea,  someone needs to come of
with an educated idea of the resources involved.
>
>      Well, I've rambled on quite a bit here.  I hope you can see how
>      actively sharing your knowledge and interests increases the
>      likelihood of things happening. This is because people with
>      similar interests gravitate toward each other.  And remember, if
>      we each contribute an hour a week to the group, we can have 20
>      productive hours a week.  Where I come from, that's called one
>      half of a full time equivalent (0.5 FTE).  That's a lot of
>      resource!  (Market value is between $20K and $40K per year on
>      average.)  So, what's your agenda?  What interests you?  What
>      would you volunteer for, and what would be your payback?

Fortunately,  I get to do most of my "research" on the clock so to speak.  The
nicest thing about linux is that their is usually an answer somewhere,  where
as the boys at IBM or M$ just put me on hold for hours (and charge me) before
they admit that they don't have a clue what I'm talking about and I should
either have one of there engineers take a look at it or re-install the
hardware/software/product.  I'm interested in Java (in order to improve the ICA
emulation I need in order to connect to Winframe server),  getting Dynamic DNS
to work,  VPNs,  and setting up FAX capability.  But I'm willing to try just
about anything,  as my needs are varied enough that just about everything I
discover turns out to be useful somehow.