Do you depend on your computer for your living? If so, I’m sure you’ve thought long and hard about which hardware and software to use. I’d like to explain why I use generic “white boxes” running open source software. These give me a platform I rely on for 100% availability. They also provide a low-cost solution with excellent security and privacy.

People’s requirements vary, so what I use may not be the best choice

for you. I’m a support

person for

databases and operating systems. I also do consulting that

involves research, presenting, and writing. I use my own computers and

work from home. This article is about desktops and laptops, not

handheld devices.

Replaceable Hardware



I need 100% system availability. If I don’t have a functioning

computer

at all times, I can’t do my job. I’m unhappily “on vacation” if

I’m fixing my computers. My solution is to use only

hardware I can fix or replace immediately.

One could adopt other strategies to meet these strigent hardware

requirements. Some pay more for higher quality equipment, betting that

this

results in fewer failures. Some rely on vendors for support. They

select a responsive company with a good reputation for service.

Knowledgable help is vital. Many prefer local support staff who are

easily accessible. Thom Holwerda wrote an excellent

article explaining why he picks iMacs for high availability.

I take a different approach. I use generic white boxes with all stock

parts. Since computers are inexpensive I keep several on hand, along

with extra parts. It’s easy to swap parts if

necessary. PCs are highly standardized — if you acquire them with an

eye to non-proprietary components. I open up and inspect every machine

before I use it. (Watch it

with laptops.

Some vendors will mold their DVD drives to non-standard

shapes or add proprietary plastic you have to

fit on your hard disk to properly connect it.)

For my self-service approach to work, you have to know how to perform

basic hardware problem

identification. You don’t need to be hardware-trained. I’m

not. The key is to be able to quickly identify common problems,

because the

hardware fixes are easy with a replacement

strategy. A good problem ID

procedure and a few rules of thumb are all you need. (I’ll share mine

in another article if people are interested.)

If a hardware problem requires more than a few minutes, use a backup

computer. Once this was prohibitively expensive. Today cheap generic

boxes make it feasible. Another change from years past is that you no

longer need current hardware to run current software. I run

resource-heavy apps like enterprise DBMS and website

generators with a

few

gig of memory and a low-end dual core processor. That’s a five year old

machine. You can get a fleet of them for the cost of one hot new gaming

box.

Critical to my approach is that you keep your work — your data —

portable. Back it up

and move it between machines with a USB memory stick. Don’t ever get in

a

situation where your data resides only on a single machine. Same with

software. If you depend on certain applications for your work, ensure

they’re available on more than one machine.

To do this just copy data directories or entire partitions

between computers. If you

need a certain application or configuration for your work, copy it. If

a USB memory stick isn’t big

enough to hold your copies, use a USB hard disk. Or, perform

network copies. I run them in the background while I do other work.

Virtual machines are also useful. Just move guest OS

files between VM hosts. Virtualization lets you easily, safely, and

securely run multiple OS’s

on one computer.

Vendors are well aware that generic hardware and portable

software threaten their profits. That’s why most proprietarize any way

they

can. Unified

Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) is the latest of many attempts to

kill

competition by an artificial barrier. The rationale for UEFI

lockdown you often read

about — that it prevents boot viruses — is intended to mislead. The

last time

secure booting was a major problem was back when people booted from floppies.

It’s not boot viruses you have to worry about, it’s those within Windows that cause the

problems.

Applying this Philosophy to Software

To apply this philosophy to software, I use stock parts that can

easily be installed, copied, or replicated across machines and backup

devices.

There’s a name for such software: open source. While open source

software (OSS) saves you money, flexibility and licensing are the big

benefit. You

control it, it doesn’t control you.

Let me give you a single example: backup and recovery. In Windows

World, there must be a dozen ways to recover a lost system (off-hand, I

can think of the Recovery Console, System Backup and

Restore, recovery partitions managed by OEM software from vendors like

HP or Dell, the Last Known Good Configuration, Safe Boot mode, Registry

Export/Import, and performing a Repair Install). Why so many

different ways to solve a single problem?

The answer is that vendors want to control your backup and

recovery.

Otherwise they

can’t lock you in and make you a source of continuing revenue. Vendors

claim “ease

of use” — but is it really when you face this tower of B/R babble?

With OSS, I issue a

single command to either backup or recover. I don’t have to navigate a

half-dozen different apps designed to “help” me.

Here’s a real-world example. My motherboard died last summer. I removed

the boot disk from the dead system and plopped it

into another, then booted that Linux instance on the target computer.

Problem

solved! Windows won’t let you do this. Its hardware-bound Registry,

authentication procedures, and licensing all specifically prevent it.

They’re designed

to. Why? So you don’t steal Microsoft’s software. Microsoft

places its needs to protect its ownership of Windows software above

your need to

solve

your crisis. (Remember, you do not

own the copy of Windows you “bought,” Microsoft owns it. You only

licensed it.)

Microsoft has every right to protect its property. But

that’s not our problem. Our problem is fixing our motherboard failure.

Because of their agenda, Microsoft makes our life more difficult.

Their software limits your flexibility — on purpose. Heck, you can’t

even move an installed app from one disk to another

without special software. The Registry — Microsoft’s

control choke point — prevents it.

OSS lets you easily move software

across machines or disks or operating systems with just a command or

two. I replicate operating systems, applications, and data how and when

I need to. No Registry, licensing, authentication, hardware binding, or

other artificial

barriers make my job more difficult.

Here’s another tip: Don’t use an operating system you don’t install.

There was a time when a

vendor-installed OS meant peak performance and a malware-free system.

Those days are gone. Major incidents

have shown that preinstalled malware is now a reality, ranging from

spyware to rootkits to adware to craplets.

This problem will get worse before it gets better.

Security and privacy require that you control your computer. If you

use an OS someone else installed, you don’t control it.

Compatibility

Most of

the business world uses Microsoft’s desktop software. So a big issue

for those using my strategy is compatibility. How will

you fit into Windows World? The answer depends on the kind of work

you do.

For some IT professionals, this means running Windows and the Microsoft

stack. “Use what

your clients use.” I hear you and agree 100%. Do what you need to do.

For most people, however, compatibility merely requires file interchange. I’m in this

group. All we need for compatibility is the ability to create, update,

send, and receive Microsoft Office files.

Using LibreOffice, I’ve encountered very few problems in exchanging

word

processing and spreadsheet files.

Just stick to the features

common to both LibreOffice and MS Office and

avoid complex formats and layouts. The web has many articles

on how to use LO and MS Office compatibly. (Ironically, LO is often more compatible with older versions

of MS Office than is the current version of MS Office!)

The compatibility picture isn’t quite as rosy when it comes to

presentation graphics. Move a 40-slide PowerPoint file between office

suites and

you’ll see many minor changes (spacing and fonts,

for example). I circumvent this by presenting to

clients with my LibreOffice laptop and handing out hardcopies of the

foils.

Years ago, I used to double-check how my OSS-produced files looked

on Windows XP. For example, I’d check that a

Word document I created with OpenOffice looked

the same in MS Word, or I’d verify that

web pages created with Kompozer and Firefox rendered properly on

Internet

Explorer. I don’t know whether it’s because OSS compatibility has

improved, or that I’ve learned how to avoid incompatibilities, but I

haven’t bothered with double-checking for a long while.

Applications availability is another concern. Do all the

products you

need run under Linux? Everything I need runs natively. For some folks

Microsoft products are an important exception, since all are

Windows-only.

You can usually solve this problem with Wine, a compatibility app that runs

nearly 20,000 Windows programs

on Linux.

Business Savings



I’m an independent consultant. What works for me

may or may not work for you. Or for small or large businesses. Still,

when I see how some companies operate, I wonder if they’re

wasting money. Many could remain on Windows while strategically

replacing components to their great advantage. This avoids a

disruptive platform change while capitalizing on open source tools and

apps.

Office suites are the perfect example. Microsoft Office licenses

are not cheap, especially for smaller companies that can’t swing the

big discounts. LibreOffice and OpenOffice are functionally very

competitive. You really

have wonder why more companies don’t even evaluate them.

Some would answer: support. But what kind of support do you get

from a vendor that you can’t get from the Internet? I’m old enough to

remember when vendors created bug fixes for customer problems. Today

they just tell you to wait for the next release (which they always

insist you install, whether or not it fixes your problem). Support

consists merely of work-around’s and how-to’s. You

can get that online for free.

Another possibility is to keep Windows but

replace

Microsoft’s proprietary development environment. Leave the

ever-shifting

sands of Microsoft’s frameworks in favor of open source IDEs,

programming

languages, tools, and databases. Some companies score good savings

while producing excellent apps

with WAMP (Windows + Apache + MySQL + PHP/Perl/Python ).

These ideas aren’t

for everyone, but it always amazes me that some IT pros are so

tightly wrapped in the vendor security blanket that they don’t even

evaluate alternatives. Some security blankets are well worth the money.

Others only

represent inexperience or inertia. Only

you know which statement applies to your organization.

The Bottom Line



Inexpensive stock

parts work well for my hardware and software needs. They’re easily

replaceable so I enjoy 100%

availability. Low cost, high

security, and good privacy are extra benefits. What are your

requirements and what desktop strategy

do you use?

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Howard Fosdick (President, FCI) supports databases and operating

systems and consults as an industry analyst. Read his other articles here.

Like this article? Please spread the link love to Slashdot, Digg, LXer,

or wherever!