docbook
I finally took the time to convert the rblcheck
documentation to docbook (4.1) format. The resulting output
from docbook2html is far better than I expected; the last
time I looked at SGML parsers, the resulting output was
disappointing, to say the least. All I need to do is finish
merging the last of the scattering of text files I called
documentation into the master SGML document, and then build
a quick Makefile.am entry for it (anyone have one offhand?
yes, I'm lazy).
SuSE
Work-related issues have finally brought me
into contact with SuSE 7.0 and 7.1. My experience so far:
it feels like Slackware with RPMs (take that however you
wish ;-); the distribution directory structure is the first
glaring similarity, but some of the things I'm finding
scattered around the disk show the signs of someone trying
to take Patrick Volkerding's
distribution and make it look like Red Hat Linux (again,
take that however you wish).
I was singularly unimpressed by their proprietary installer, YaST (a complete inability to
deal with FreeBSDs "whole disk" disklabelling scheme was
disappointing, especially when anaconda can
deal with it just fine), and the lack of complete
ISOs anywhere. Finally, a glaring omission: no crypto
in the U.S. version (you can download everything you need,
but it's a hassle that Red Hat thankfully eliminated with
the release of 7.0).
On the upside, their knowledge base is top notch,
although most content is targetted for the German reader,
and the distribution is quite complete (a whopping seven
CDs, or a single DVD) and very usable. I applaud their move
to DVD in addition to CD media; if you're in a facility
where DVD-ROMs are the norm, it's six less discs to carry
around with you (I'm also glad they chose to also
distribute CDs, though; DVD-ROMs aren't quite that
ubiquitous yet). The internationalization of the
distribution seems far more cooked than Red Hat's latest
efforts with 7.0 and the Fisher/Wolverine betas; they've
obviously had a lot longer to think about doing it
right.
This isn't a distribution that is going to be
replacing Red Hat or Debian on any of my
servers or desktops anytime soon, but it's an interesting
distribution to take a look at. However, I'm afraid some of
their recent actions with respect to distribution of their
media may make this a review of historical significance
only.
Personal
Well, it's official: A year later, and I'm
moving again. The new place is a two-floor, two-bedroom
apartment; plenty of room for a real living room without
computer equipment in it, and a tidy home office (now I
just need that desk I've been eyeing ;-).
In other news, my girlfriend
has given her notice at her employer, and will be
taking the next two months to train for her MCSE; as an old
UNIX hack, I was skeptical of the value of the training,
but after looking through her course material and the books
she's picked up, I'm relatively impressed. Everything
obviously has a Microsoft spin to it, but with me providing
a bit of cross-platform balance, I think she'll come out of
it with a solid grasp of the essentials.
After seeing the material, though, I've come to
a realization: no amount of training can make someone who
is "just doing a job" good at what they do; you really have
to love this stuff. Despite what is obviously a good
training program, most MCSEs I've worked with have
displayed a distinct lack of real understanding of what
they were doing, and always seemed to be just "going
through the motions", without any real interest in learning
more. On the other hand, open source projects around
the 'net are filled with people with little formal training
but an intense drive to learn through any means they can
find. I'll take two or three of the latter over a company
full of the former, because I can fill in the blanks with
someone who wants to learn. I can't do anything with
someone who lacks motivation.