Everyone knows I love the mini I won from Novell. But I had no idea how nice it would be to travel with 2 minis. I took my HP mini from Novell with SLED 11 and my Dell mini with Windows 7 on it to BrainShare last week. Not only do the two together weigh less than my big Dell laptop, but having 2 OSes readily on hand was a big advantage. Especially when you consider the SLED 11 boots so much faster.
I'd decided to bring both for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, my portable DVD won't work with Linux and if I wanted to watch DVDs I was out of luck. Secondly, I was taking several of Laura's classes and wasn't looking forward to whatever mayhem she may wreak on my SLED mini. I didn't care about my Dell mini as I have restore DVDs and have no data on it.
Getting them through TSA was faster than I expected - it took them longer to check my CPAP out - and they both fit in one bin, taking me about the same amount of time to pull out and put back in my case as my big guns do.
The best part was I had my "best of breed" tools on my SLED and everything that I might need via Windows all on hand. I could even VPN into work; not that I would have as I was on vacation.
All in all, I'm really happy that I have minis now. I'd been curious as to what it would be like to have them and now I know. They're great to travel with and without all of the weight and extras I don't need when traveling. Even the power bricks are lighter!
So, thank you again Novell for putting on the contest that I won the mini from, and thanks to my Dell rep who let me mooch the Inspiron mini. All in all, good stuff.
And stay tuned. Over the next few days I'll be posting some GroupWise stuff for routine maintenance tasks and administration.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
BrainShare 2010 - Last Day
I'm torn...it's the last day. I'm happy to be going home to my sweet hubby and the critters. But it's like the last day at summer camp. Saying goodbye to friends that I may or may not get to see next year. Thank God for Facebook!
Anyway, it was still a long day. Started with PartnerNet Breakfast where I ran into Brit, and didn't win anything, but got some good info. Food was great as always. Then it was off to a 9:00 SSH class about what you do/don't want to do with SSH.
Then it was Laura's last class, her last of this year's BrainShare as well. Laura, being her usual sweet self, allowed Rusty to interview her for his Atomic Super Geek site, and submitted to photos with me to make Chad happy. I didn't have any more classes after that so I picked up my BrainShare survey prize and floated around talking to folks and milling around IT Central.
I ran into several Novell execs in my travels this afternoon, including John Dragoon who was laughing at Deal or No Deal. He's a fun guy. All asked how I'd like the event, which of course is awesome, needed, and everyone is thankful it is back. I also had chance to chat with Dave Cutler, who hasn't yet learned to run when I'm coming. Let's just say, changes are being considered in Novell Support and it's all good.
Had a blast with Rusty, Brian, and Jonathon as we tried to win more stuff (I didn't win any vendor prizes). My friend Dennis was picked for the Super Deal or No Deal - he didn't win the car, but was a good sport and went for broke, and upon winning $10, ended up with a MacPro! GroupLink never disappoints. We did a few rounds of GroupLink's Deal or No Deal game. As I put it, I was "parking my butt" until the 2:30 drawing for the Kindle, which I'm happy to say Christel won. There were lots of woo-hoo's from those that know her. Way to rack up the prizes NGWList! Jonathon got picked for Deal or No Deal and won a pair of purple ear buds, which of course I had to comment on, and he gave them to me - so I did win after all. Patrick and Rhonda stopped by the GroupLink booth too, where I learned Rhonda won an HP mini from HP. So some of my lucky streak did rub off on others.
Jonathon hadn't gotten the cool USB drives yet, so I ran around and mooched an extra of each for him and picked up Kaspersky CDs for Brian, Jonathon, and myself. I had gone to HP because the Novell folks were out, and got one of the green Novell ones there. Then I found a virtualzation one, and on my way back to GroupLink's booth I was flagged down by HP as they'd found more and I ended up with a handful more. I gave 1 each to Casey Trujillo at GroupLink and Tay Kratzer at GWAVA - they've both been good to me, the least I can do is share a spiff I didn't even have to mooch.
I ran around to several booths saying good bye to friends that I won't see again for some time, and then it was time for the Keynote. If you have a chance, watch the videos...there's some really good demos. Also, drum roll please....Roger Dills from Ohio (yes, we of WMNUG know him) won one of the HP mini's at the Keynote! WAY COOL!!! I woo-hoo'd for him too.
On the way out of there I ran into Brad, Kathryn, Tim and Scott Campbell. Kathryn hadn't gotten one of the mini drives so I dug in my bag and found one for her. Tim had scored the last 2 MCNE polo shirts and I shamelessly mooched one off of him. I'll have to send him cookies, he hooked me up with 2 goodies: the shirt and a Red Novell USB drive with a really cool driver utility for ZCM.
When I get home, don't expect any spiffs. I already handed out the "extras" I had to folks at BrainShare that had been too busy to pick some up. Even the BrainShare 2009 badge holders. I gave a GWAVA mouse to Kumar, who works with Rusty and hadn't gotten one yet, Brian, and I can't remember who else, but I'd started out with 4 and am down to 1.
So, here I am, looking at the stack of things yet to be packed and wondering how in the world I'm going to handle getting up at 3:30am to catch my 4:00am shuttle to the airport. Ugh...too early.
Goodbye BrainShare, until 2011! And for those lucky enough to attend BrainShare in Amsterdam, enjoy! Thanks Ron and John for helping bring it back, and big thanks to Mike Morgan and the rest of the BrainShare crew, and the BrainShare Advisory Board for all the hard work it takes to pull off another awesome BrainShare.
Anyway, it was still a long day. Started with PartnerNet Breakfast where I ran into Brit, and didn't win anything, but got some good info. Food was great as always. Then it was off to a 9:00 SSH class about what you do/don't want to do with SSH.
Then it was Laura's last class, her last of this year's BrainShare as well. Laura, being her usual sweet self, allowed Rusty to interview her for his Atomic Super Geek site, and submitted to photos with me to make Chad happy. I didn't have any more classes after that so I picked up my BrainShare survey prize and floated around talking to folks and milling around IT Central.
I ran into several Novell execs in my travels this afternoon, including John Dragoon who was laughing at Deal or No Deal. He's a fun guy. All asked how I'd like the event, which of course is awesome, needed, and everyone is thankful it is back. I also had chance to chat with Dave Cutler, who hasn't yet learned to run when I'm coming. Let's just say, changes are being considered in Novell Support and it's all good.
Had a blast with Rusty, Brian, and Jonathon as we tried to win more stuff (I didn't win any vendor prizes). My friend Dennis was picked for the Super Deal or No Deal - he didn't win the car, but was a good sport and went for broke, and upon winning $10, ended up with a MacPro! GroupLink never disappoints. We did a few rounds of GroupLink's Deal or No Deal game. As I put it, I was "parking my butt" until the 2:30 drawing for the Kindle, which I'm happy to say Christel won. There were lots of woo-hoo's from those that know her. Way to rack up the prizes NGWList! Jonathon got picked for Deal or No Deal and won a pair of purple ear buds, which of course I had to comment on, and he gave them to me - so I did win after all. Patrick and Rhonda stopped by the GroupLink booth too, where I learned Rhonda won an HP mini from HP. So some of my lucky streak did rub off on others.
Jonathon hadn't gotten the cool USB drives yet, so I ran around and mooched an extra of each for him and picked up Kaspersky CDs for Brian, Jonathon, and myself. I had gone to HP because the Novell folks were out, and got one of the green Novell ones there. Then I found a virtualzation one, and on my way back to GroupLink's booth I was flagged down by HP as they'd found more and I ended up with a handful more. I gave 1 each to Casey Trujillo at GroupLink and Tay Kratzer at GWAVA - they've both been good to me, the least I can do is share a spiff I didn't even have to mooch.
I ran around to several booths saying good bye to friends that I won't see again for some time, and then it was time for the Keynote. If you have a chance, watch the videos...there's some really good demos. Also, drum roll please....Roger Dills from Ohio (yes, we of WMNUG know him) won one of the HP mini's at the Keynote! WAY COOL!!! I woo-hoo'd for him too.
On the way out of there I ran into Brad, Kathryn, Tim and Scott Campbell. Kathryn hadn't gotten one of the mini drives so I dug in my bag and found one for her. Tim had scored the last 2 MCNE polo shirts and I shamelessly mooched one off of him. I'll have to send him cookies, he hooked me up with 2 goodies: the shirt and a Red Novell USB drive with a really cool driver utility for ZCM.
When I get home, don't expect any spiffs. I already handed out the "extras" I had to folks at BrainShare that had been too busy to pick some up. Even the BrainShare 2009 badge holders. I gave a GWAVA mouse to Kumar, who works with Rusty and hadn't gotten one yet, Brian, and I can't remember who else, but I'd started out with 4 and am down to 1.
So, here I am, looking at the stack of things yet to be packed and wondering how in the world I'm going to handle getting up at 3:30am to catch my 4:00am shuttle to the airport. Ugh...too early.
Goodbye BrainShare, until 2011! And for those lucky enough to attend BrainShare in Amsterdam, enjoy! Thanks Ron and John for helping bring it back, and big thanks to Mike Morgan and the rest of the BrainShare crew, and the BrainShare Advisory Board for all the hard work it takes to pull off another awesome BrainShare.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
BrainShare 2010 - Day #4
Another late night...I started packing to make sure everything can fit in my bag. Looks like it will. Oh, and I forgot to mention yesterday that I got a new picture with GWAVAMan, so hopefully I don't look SO tired.
Anyhoo...I missed the PartnerNet Breakfast, which means I missed a few announcements on the Collaboration side, so I'll nudge Norm to tell me all about it tomorrow morning. I completely missed breakfast as I missed the buffet lines before they closed as well, but it was well worth it.
I ran into my friend Mike M. first thing in the morning, so nice to see a friendly face! Hugs all around and then he told me about the wheeled bags being for sale in the Novell store for just $25 and it's the last few from the warehouse. The Novell warehouse is moving from Lyndon to Provo so they're clearing things out. I was most fortunate to grab one of the last few and with the discount coupon it was only $13. Yay! (Yes, I do pay for Novell schwag from time to time..geez, I'm not ALWAYS a mooch).
After seeing Mike, I ran downstairs to see Pam and Kim (and all the rest - great now Gilligan's Island is stuck in my head!) at the SysOps booth when I spied Rusty, Teresa, Angie, and Brian doing something down the hall so I went to see what was up. We all helped Rusty with some video for his class and had fun. I hung out there for awhile before Brian and I had the Novell Support session.
Found out some interesting stuff regarding our support options and will continue working with Novell on some ideas to help those of us that truly should be passed up to at least 2nd Level Support get there. It was a lot of great information, great side conversations, and I think we may see some honest changes. And no, I didn't strangle Coleen O'Keefe, although she was in the room. And Pam Robello was highly praised (she deserves it) as was Kim (who also deserves it). So I'm fairly happy at this point. Amazing! A conversation with the support folks and I didn't wag a finger or yell.
While eating lunch, I overshot the start of my ATT class, so I just skipped it. This IS my vacation after all, I'm here for me. Had lunch sitting on the floor with Brian, and got online to put in some Enhancement Requests while we both thinking of it. I saw a few folks I know and got helped up off the floor by a very nice gentleman from the Salt Palace team.
The smell of chocolate chip cookies freshly baked was overpowering, so I hit the dessert station where I took up space while eating and had the most fortunate of encounters. Anga, from the SLE (desktop & servers) R&D team was looking for input from customers. We had the nicest chat, I mentioned WMLUG, and found out we both loved animals, especially horses, and connected. We'll be emailing more as I play with SLED 11 on my mini and continue working with SLES at work. This is what BrainShare is all about, making those vital connections that you didn't know you needed or wanted; those oh-so-important chance encounters.
I made a detour to the Installation and Migration Depot, and after that milled around, visited GWAVA and GroupLink, saw Costas from EOS, saw Laila and dropped by to drool over the guitar at the Interoperability booth. And I spent a lot of the afternoon weaving in and out of Jonathon's and Dennis' orbits, ending the afternoon conversing with Dennis and Rodney Bliss (yep, Richard's brother). All in all a good day.
I hit the GroupLink dinner - great food! And listened to Angie talk about her implementation of the Everything HelpDesk. We had fun. Then it was off to IT Tech Talk where I'd already had all of my questions answered, so mostly I hung out with the sales teams at GWAVA and GroupLink. No idea if there were any prize drawings, but I did give a t-shirt to Jared Lord and mooched another one for Casey Trujillo who helped with my pass. (They rock!).
I eventually ended up making myself at home in the GroupLink booth waiting for Jonathon to catch up and then I snagged Brian as he was walking by, so we all headed to GWAVA's Game Night - awesome idea Richard! - and had a blast playing Ticket to Ride with John from Canada, Jonathon, and Brian.
Howard Taylor was there - Scholock Mercenary fans you missed out! I love Howard, and Scholock Mercenary and Writing Excuses, which Howard knows already. Howard knows I love his drawings, so he did a quick pen sketch of me and he drew me really cute! It really is a cute drawing and when I get home I'll see if I can scan it into my desktop in a fashion that does it justice, after which it will be framed and hung up with the Penguin one he did for me a few years back. Then it was back to the room to pack.
Having a great time and hoping to hit PartnerNet Breakfast tomorrow morning before a busy day of classes, prize drawings, and the ending Keynote. And maybe, just maybe, we can convince Laura to come out and play with us afterwards.
I can't believe it's almost over and even though I'm beat and ready to head for home I don't want it to end. It's kind of like camp all over again, only an adult camp for Geeks. :)
Anyhoo...I missed the PartnerNet Breakfast, which means I missed a few announcements on the Collaboration side, so I'll nudge Norm to tell me all about it tomorrow morning. I completely missed breakfast as I missed the buffet lines before they closed as well, but it was well worth it.
I ran into my friend Mike M. first thing in the morning, so nice to see a friendly face! Hugs all around and then he told me about the wheeled bags being for sale in the Novell store for just $25 and it's the last few from the warehouse. The Novell warehouse is moving from Lyndon to Provo so they're clearing things out. I was most fortunate to grab one of the last few and with the discount coupon it was only $13. Yay! (Yes, I do pay for Novell schwag from time to time..geez, I'm not ALWAYS a mooch).
After seeing Mike, I ran downstairs to see Pam and Kim (and all the rest - great now Gilligan's Island is stuck in my head!) at the SysOps booth when I spied Rusty, Teresa, Angie, and Brian doing something down the hall so I went to see what was up. We all helped Rusty with some video for his class and had fun. I hung out there for awhile before Brian and I had the Novell Support session.
Found out some interesting stuff regarding our support options and will continue working with Novell on some ideas to help those of us that truly should be passed up to at least 2nd Level Support get there. It was a lot of great information, great side conversations, and I think we may see some honest changes. And no, I didn't strangle Coleen O'Keefe, although she was in the room. And Pam Robello was highly praised (she deserves it) as was Kim (who also deserves it). So I'm fairly happy at this point. Amazing! A conversation with the support folks and I didn't wag a finger or yell.
While eating lunch, I overshot the start of my ATT class, so I just skipped it. This IS my vacation after all, I'm here for me. Had lunch sitting on the floor with Brian, and got online to put in some Enhancement Requests while we both thinking of it. I saw a few folks I know and got helped up off the floor by a very nice gentleman from the Salt Palace team.
The smell of chocolate chip cookies freshly baked was overpowering, so I hit the dessert station where I took up space while eating and had the most fortunate of encounters. Anga, from the SLE (desktop & servers) R&D team was looking for input from customers. We had the nicest chat, I mentioned WMLUG, and found out we both loved animals, especially horses, and connected. We'll be emailing more as I play with SLED 11 on my mini and continue working with SLES at work. This is what BrainShare is all about, making those vital connections that you didn't know you needed or wanted; those oh-so-important chance encounters.
I made a detour to the Installation and Migration Depot, and after that milled around, visited GWAVA and GroupLink, saw Costas from EOS, saw Laila and dropped by to drool over the guitar at the Interoperability booth. And I spent a lot of the afternoon weaving in and out of Jonathon's and Dennis' orbits, ending the afternoon conversing with Dennis and Rodney Bliss (yep, Richard's brother). All in all a good day.
I hit the GroupLink dinner - great food! And listened to Angie talk about her implementation of the Everything HelpDesk. We had fun. Then it was off to IT Tech Talk where I'd already had all of my questions answered, so mostly I hung out with the sales teams at GWAVA and GroupLink. No idea if there were any prize drawings, but I did give a t-shirt to Jared Lord and mooched another one for Casey Trujillo who helped with my pass. (They rock!).
I eventually ended up making myself at home in the GroupLink booth waiting for Jonathon to catch up and then I snagged Brian as he was walking by, so we all headed to GWAVA's Game Night - awesome idea Richard! - and had a blast playing Ticket to Ride with John from Canada, Jonathon, and Brian.
Howard Taylor was there - Scholock Mercenary fans you missed out! I love Howard, and Scholock Mercenary and Writing Excuses, which Howard knows already. Howard knows I love his drawings, so he did a quick pen sketch of me and he drew me really cute! It really is a cute drawing and when I get home I'll see if I can scan it into my desktop in a fashion that does it justice, after which it will be framed and hung up with the Penguin one he did for me a few years back. Then it was back to the room to pack.
Having a great time and hoping to hit PartnerNet Breakfast tomorrow morning before a busy day of classes, prize drawings, and the ending Keynote. And maybe, just maybe, we can convince Laura to come out and play with us afterwards.
I can't believe it's almost over and even though I'm beat and ready to head for home I don't want it to end. It's kind of like camp all over again, only an adult camp for Geeks. :)
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
BrainShare 2010 - Day #3
Cool morning, but not raining. I hit the PartnerNet breakfast first for the Executive Panel meeting. I restrained from strangling O'Keefe. As always it was great to see John and Ron, and Norm was up front and center with Jimmy. Integrity Networks is doing some really great work, and it's always good to see those two with the execs.
Had a class with Laura first thing and then I had brain fade and missed out on my Migration Depot appointment. But I did finish up all of my cards, played a few games at GroupLink's booth, where I wasn't picked and didn't win, but had fun. Talked to GWAVA folks as usual, and had some lunch before hiking over to their reserved room for the community announcements. Some really cool stuff's coming up, like NotifyLink's support of all the Droid phones, and a new GW client app for the iPhone (not written by Novell). I didn't win any prizes, but Mike Walters from Kent County won something.
After that I ran around IT Central for awhile, connecting with old friends, and dropping schwag off back at my hotel. Then it was time for Party with Partners...at which I didn't win anything, but Tom Hafeman won big, yet again at GWAVA. He walked away with an XBOX and I got - wait for it...nothing! Again! Just not my year for winning cool schwag. GWAVAMan was there so I got a new picture, that hopefully doesn't look as tired as my last one. I sat next to Patrick Hasenberger (I probably just mangled his name) at GroupLink's "Deal or No Deal" game and he would have won an XBOX 360 if he'd trusted me and not settled. I cheated and peeked...I had the penny and it took awhile before he picked my suitcase (apparenty he didn't understand my hint). But he did win $100, topping off Joe's and Rhonda's wins quite nicely.
I ran into Ron again and thanked him again for bringing back BrainShare. Rusty decided we needed to party more so a group of us headed over to a Karoke bar (NO, I did not get up and sing), where Rusty and Willem (from GWAVA) sang quite a bit, and Teresa Kratzer sang a couple of songs. I did get up and even out Rusty's dance partners for one song, so I'm sure there'll be a YouTube video getting posted at some point. We kind of had a geek theme going for awhile before the normal crowd came in. It was a blast and the group of "kids" (20-somethings) seemed to really enjoy Rusty, Willem's and Teresa's stints on stage. They were quite fun and campy as well. Then we had an addition of "geeks"...BrainShare attendees with one guy from Brazil who sang 2 rap songs and had a pair of girls that voluntarily came on stage to dance with him...then they didn't seem to know what to do with him.
And that brings you up to now...where I'm sitting in my room tired, shoulders aching (no wheeled bags and no masseuse this year), my ankle's swollen, and I need to hit the hay if I have any hopes of making the partner breakfast in the a.m. (it's better food). So goodnight from BrainShare, it's turning out to be a fun vacation after all.
Had a class with Laura first thing and then I had brain fade and missed out on my Migration Depot appointment. But I did finish up all of my cards, played a few games at GroupLink's booth, where I wasn't picked and didn't win, but had fun. Talked to GWAVA folks as usual, and had some lunch before hiking over to their reserved room for the community announcements. Some really cool stuff's coming up, like NotifyLink's support of all the Droid phones, and a new GW client app for the iPhone (not written by Novell). I didn't win any prizes, but Mike Walters from Kent County won something.
After that I ran around IT Central for awhile, connecting with old friends, and dropping schwag off back at my hotel. Then it was time for Party with Partners...at which I didn't win anything, but Tom Hafeman won big, yet again at GWAVA. He walked away with an XBOX and I got - wait for it...nothing! Again! Just not my year for winning cool schwag. GWAVAMan was there so I got a new picture, that hopefully doesn't look as tired as my last one. I sat next to Patrick Hasenberger (I probably just mangled his name) at GroupLink's "Deal or No Deal" game and he would have won an XBOX 360 if he'd trusted me and not settled. I cheated and peeked...I had the penny and it took awhile before he picked my suitcase (apparenty he didn't understand my hint). But he did win $100, topping off Joe's and Rhonda's wins quite nicely.
I ran into Ron again and thanked him again for bringing back BrainShare. Rusty decided we needed to party more so a group of us headed over to a Karoke bar (NO, I did not get up and sing), where Rusty and Willem (from GWAVA) sang quite a bit, and Teresa Kratzer sang a couple of songs. I did get up and even out Rusty's dance partners for one song, so I'm sure there'll be a YouTube video getting posted at some point. We kind of had a geek theme going for awhile before the normal crowd came in. It was a blast and the group of "kids" (20-somethings) seemed to really enjoy Rusty, Willem's and Teresa's stints on stage. They were quite fun and campy as well. Then we had an addition of "geeks"...BrainShare attendees with one guy from Brazil who sang 2 rap songs and had a pair of girls that voluntarily came on stage to dance with him...then they didn't seem to know what to do with him.
And that brings you up to now...where I'm sitting in my room tired, shoulders aching (no wheeled bags and no masseuse this year), my ankle's swollen, and I need to hit the hay if I have any hopes of making the partner breakfast in the a.m. (it's better food). So goodnight from BrainShare, it's turning out to be a fun vacation after all.
Monday, March 22, 2010
BrainShare 2010 - Day #2
Day 2 started out beautiful and sunny, but it ended up rainy, cold and windy.
Had Laura Chappell for my first class and I made sure she got a SnickerDoodle. She doesn't have the t-shirt for me to sign (sorry Chad), and her book didn't arrive in time to sell at BrainShare, but she did give out the discount code.
Had a hard time getting over to a meeting with Open Horizons and the NUGI folks with Novell. Quite interesting, I see some changes coming soon to NUI. I've got Norm's back for whatever he may need from me or WMNUG.
I had a GWAVA session later, where I broke some stuff, but ran into a few people who know me from the NGWList. My mouthiness in action again. I've been talking to a lot of folks about what Reload's done for me and answering questions about moving from NW to Linux.
I got to see Tay Kratzer today - YAY!! Always happy to talk with Tay and Willem, and Taylor, and all of the GWAVA folks really. Can you believe Richard's got kids old enough to be married?! I swear he had to have started when he was really young - like 10 or 11.
I finished the Bug Hunt. Tomorrow I have another Laura session, and a couple of more GWAVA sessions, but I start off early a.m. with PartnerNet Breakfasts as usual. I saw John Dragoon today, passing in the hallway...it still really tickles me that he remembers my name.
We hit the MA BrewFest, so I got to see Laila. I need to catch up with Suzanne at some point as well as I really need a new MA bag.
The best part of the night was at the Customer and Partner Appreciation party with BACA. Rusty was dancing with a biker chick, we all got pics on a bike, I called a biker "fluffy" and a "marshmellow" and then got a picture with him. His biker name is "Teddy Bear" (pictures will come later). Loved the bikes, love the bikers who are involved with the charity. Teddy Bear was named by a little girl. We chatted for a bit about my work at Children's and how hard that could be at times.
My friend Jonathon won the Fender guitar that I was drooling over, and since he was standing right next to me, I've told folks that want to win something to stand next to me. Apparently I'm a lucky charm this year. (I haven't won anything).
Having fun, catching up with old friends. I saw Alan Hurst - which is just absolutely wonderful as always. And Kevin, who used to work for Tiara Yachts and now is working for the State of Colorado. I've run into people who've been in my sessions at GWAVACon before. Always nice to see Joanna and Sunny.
The one thing I've forgotten to do is drink enough water (which is why this is being entered at midnight as I suck down some more water). Another good thing - since the shot's made my ACL not hurt as bad, I'm not walking funny and my ankle and foot are doing much better than I expected. And I'm surprised that people have paid close enough attention to notice that I'm walking better - especially after not seeing me for 2 years.
Still having fun and this is turning out to be a great use of my vacation time.
Had Laura Chappell for my first class and I made sure she got a SnickerDoodle. She doesn't have the t-shirt for me to sign (sorry Chad), and her book didn't arrive in time to sell at BrainShare, but she did give out the discount code.
Had a hard time getting over to a meeting with Open Horizons and the NUGI folks with Novell. Quite interesting, I see some changes coming soon to NUI. I've got Norm's back for whatever he may need from me or WMNUG.
I had a GWAVA session later, where I broke some stuff, but ran into a few people who know me from the NGWList. My mouthiness in action again. I've been talking to a lot of folks about what Reload's done for me and answering questions about moving from NW to Linux.
I got to see Tay Kratzer today - YAY!! Always happy to talk with Tay and Willem, and Taylor, and all of the GWAVA folks really. Can you believe Richard's got kids old enough to be married?! I swear he had to have started when he was really young - like 10 or 11.
I finished the Bug Hunt. Tomorrow I have another Laura session, and a couple of more GWAVA sessions, but I start off early a.m. with PartnerNet Breakfasts as usual. I saw John Dragoon today, passing in the hallway...it still really tickles me that he remembers my name.
We hit the MA BrewFest, so I got to see Laila. I need to catch up with Suzanne at some point as well as I really need a new MA bag.
The best part of the night was at the Customer and Partner Appreciation party with BACA. Rusty was dancing with a biker chick, we all got pics on a bike, I called a biker "fluffy" and a "marshmellow" and then got a picture with him. His biker name is "Teddy Bear" (pictures will come later). Loved the bikes, love the bikers who are involved with the charity. Teddy Bear was named by a little girl. We chatted for a bit about my work at Children's and how hard that could be at times.
My friend Jonathon won the Fender guitar that I was drooling over, and since he was standing right next to me, I've told folks that want to win something to stand next to me. Apparently I'm a lucky charm this year. (I haven't won anything).
Having fun, catching up with old friends. I saw Alan Hurst - which is just absolutely wonderful as always. And Kevin, who used to work for Tiara Yachts and now is working for the State of Colorado. I've run into people who've been in my sessions at GWAVACon before. Always nice to see Joanna and Sunny.
The one thing I've forgotten to do is drink enough water (which is why this is being entered at midnight as I suck down some more water). Another good thing - since the shot's made my ACL not hurt as bad, I'm not walking funny and my ankle and foot are doing much better than I expected. And I'm surprised that people have paid close enough attention to notice that I'm walking better - especially after not seeing me for 2 years.
Still having fun and this is turning out to be a great use of my vacation time.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
BrainShare 2010 - Day #1
Okay, so technically I've been in Salt Lake since Friday, but this IS officially Day 1 of BrainShare. And I've been having great luck with running into people!
Hit the GWAVA Movie - good choice Richard! - then hit the GWAVA VIP Party after. Again, wonderful choices in food - love, love, love! the chocolate cake at the Marriott. Although, you can rarely go wrong with chocolate cake. Rhonda had a chance to tease me after the movie, she and Patrick and Craig headed off for food after the movie while Rusty, Brian and I headed to the party for the free food. I am a mooch after all.
I did miss a chance to say hello to Howard Tayler - creator of Scholock Mercenary and GWAVA Man who I rarely get to see these days. He was at the GWAVA movie helping throw out t-shirts and such. Hoping to catch him at Penguicon later this year if I can't catch him here.
Did get to see Christel's hat, it's cooler than mine (mine's very girlie and not at all like me), and Holly made it in as well. Christel got out of Chicago just in time. Brian and Dan (a new acquaintance from Toronto) both got stuck in Chicago last night due to weather. I ran into Kathryn on the way out of the movie and totally forgot to ask if she'd need to borrow my Dell mini. Had a senior moment, the first of many this week I suspect.
I missed catching Norm at the GWAVA Party, but did get to see Jimmy, and Teresa Kratzer, and Roger Dills (a virtual WMNUG member). Phil and Matt arrived, and then Jose showed up much to my surprise! So we have a bigger contingent from WMNUG than I expected.
Best luck was running into John Dragoon, and Ken Muir at the GWAVA party. Where, as usual, I rudely interrupted their conversations to say hello and thank you. And then I had the great pleasure of running into Ron Hovsepian outside of the Marriott where I again rudely interrupted a conversation (y'all know I mouthy, right?) and Rusty and I absconded with a few minutes of his time. Ron agrees with me that Rusty's very cool wife, Karen, is a saint.
I know there are people who may not agree with me, but I've always felt that Ron and John make a great team. I love these guys! They're genuinely nice, they put up with me (which says a lot about how tolerant they are), and they always stop to listen to people at BrainShare. When was the last time Bill Gates or any of the MS execs showed up and actually talked and listened to customers at TechNet? (Do I have that name correct? Here it is Sunday and I'm already a bit brain-fried).
I'm really liking this smaller format so far. Things are closer in and people are talking more and sharing more already. More people seem to be going out of their way to introduce themselves and step out of their comfort zones to ask questions and just talk. For example, on the way back to the hotel I ran into 2 very nice folks from Montana (who's names I forgot to ask) that are having issues with their migration. I asked about their NUI group (they dont' have one) and offered to give them my business card next time I see them so I can get them connected to this blog, and to Norm as well. (Again, senior moment forgot to tell them my name).
So, while I'm sunburned and tired, I'm still geeked enough to pull out my beloved little mini and post to this blog (although I'm not much of a blogger). We miss those of you who couldn't make it this year, and I'm very thankful I did manage to make it with the help of some very supportive organizations.
The Novell Community ROCKS!!!
Hit the GWAVA Movie - good choice Richard! - then hit the GWAVA VIP Party after. Again, wonderful choices in food - love, love, love! the chocolate cake at the Marriott. Although, you can rarely go wrong with chocolate cake. Rhonda had a chance to tease me after the movie, she and Patrick and Craig headed off for food after the movie while Rusty, Brian and I headed to the party for the free food. I am a mooch after all.
I did miss a chance to say hello to Howard Tayler - creator of Scholock Mercenary and GWAVA Man who I rarely get to see these days. He was at the GWAVA movie helping throw out t-shirts and such. Hoping to catch him at Penguicon later this year if I can't catch him here.
Did get to see Christel's hat, it's cooler than mine (mine's very girlie and not at all like me), and Holly made it in as well. Christel got out of Chicago just in time. Brian and Dan (a new acquaintance from Toronto) both got stuck in Chicago last night due to weather. I ran into Kathryn on the way out of the movie and totally forgot to ask if she'd need to borrow my Dell mini. Had a senior moment, the first of many this week I suspect.
I missed catching Norm at the GWAVA Party, but did get to see Jimmy, and Teresa Kratzer, and Roger Dills (a virtual WMNUG member). Phil and Matt arrived, and then Jose showed up much to my surprise! So we have a bigger contingent from WMNUG than I expected.
Best luck was running into John Dragoon, and Ken Muir at the GWAVA party. Where, as usual, I rudely interrupted their conversations to say hello and thank you. And then I had the great pleasure of running into Ron Hovsepian outside of the Marriott where I again rudely interrupted a conversation (y'all know I mouthy, right?) and Rusty and I absconded with a few minutes of his time. Ron agrees with me that Rusty's very cool wife, Karen, is a saint.
I know there are people who may not agree with me, but I've always felt that Ron and John make a great team. I love these guys! They're genuinely nice, they put up with me (which says a lot about how tolerant they are), and they always stop to listen to people at BrainShare. When was the last time Bill Gates or any of the MS execs showed up and actually talked and listened to customers at TechNet? (Do I have that name correct? Here it is Sunday and I'm already a bit brain-fried).
I'm really liking this smaller format so far. Things are closer in and people are talking more and sharing more already. More people seem to be going out of their way to introduce themselves and step out of their comfort zones to ask questions and just talk. For example, on the way back to the hotel I ran into 2 very nice folks from Montana (who's names I forgot to ask) that are having issues with their migration. I asked about their NUI group (they dont' have one) and offered to give them my business card next time I see them so I can get them connected to this blog, and to Norm as well. (Again, senior moment forgot to tell them my name).
So, while I'm sunburned and tired, I'm still geeked enough to pull out my beloved little mini and post to this blog (although I'm not much of a blogger). We miss those of you who couldn't make it this year, and I'm very thankful I did manage to make it with the help of some very supportive organizations.
The Novell Community ROCKS!!!
Saturday, March 20, 2010
BrainShare 2010 & TTP Summit schedules
Figured I'd dump stuff here so I can direct people to one spot.
We will be missing Danita Zanre, Melissa Mitchell and Josee Greenshields this year, so the event will be a little lacking.
My hotel situation is a bit confusing. Friday and Saturday I'll be in the Shilo, Sunday thru Friday a.m I'll be at the Plaza.
Schedules are as follows:
Saturday:
TTP Summit 8:15-5:30
Evening is wide open at this point
Sunday:
TTP Summit 8:15-5:30 with a break for switching hotels.
GWAVA Movie Night - Meet at the corner by the Shilo to head over to the GateWay
Monday:
8:00-4:30 Salt Palace for BrainShare
4:30pm meet up by Shilo to head over for MA's BrewFest
6:00-9:00pm Biker Bash
7:00-10:00pm GWAVA's Game Night
Tuesday:
8:00-5:00 Salt Palace for BrainShare
5:30 Meet up in the lobby at Salt Palace for picts and to get ready for Party with the Partners
Wednesday:
8:00-5:00 Salt Palace for BrainShare
5:10pm - Meet at GroupLink booth for escort to the Marriott for their party
6:00-9:00 IT Tech Talk at Salt Palace
Thursday:
8:00-5:00 Salt Palace for BrainShare
5:30 Meet up somewhere for dinner planning
Can't wait to see everyone and I'm having fun at TTP Summit!
We will be missing Danita Zanre, Melissa Mitchell and Josee Greenshields this year, so the event will be a little lacking.
My hotel situation is a bit confusing. Friday and Saturday I'll be in the Shilo, Sunday thru Friday a.m I'll be at the Plaza.
Schedules are as follows:
Saturday:
TTP Summit 8:15-5:30
Evening is wide open at this point
Sunday:
TTP Summit 8:15-5:30 with a break for switching hotels.
GWAVA Movie Night - Meet at the corner by the Shilo to head over to the GateWay
Monday:
8:00-4:30 Salt Palace for BrainShare
4:30pm meet up by Shilo to head over for MA's BrewFest
6:00-9:00pm Biker Bash
7:00-10:00pm GWAVA's Game Night
Tuesday:
8:00-5:00 Salt Palace for BrainShare
5:30 Meet up in the lobby at Salt Palace for picts and to get ready for Party with the Partners
Wednesday:
8:00-5:00 Salt Palace for BrainShare
5:10pm - Meet at GroupLink booth for escort to the Marriott for their party
6:00-9:00 IT Tech Talk at Salt Palace
Thursday:
8:00-5:00 Salt Palace for BrainShare
5:30 Meet up somewhere for dinner planning
Can't wait to see everyone and I'm having fun at TTP Summit!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
BrainShare 2010
I have some last minute crafting to do tonight for a Super Heroes costume "contest" of sorts for this year's BrainShare. Look for the Fab 5 wearing red hats and purple capes at the Partner Party on Tueday night.
The cookies will be safely guarded by Pam Robello, so if you're looking for them you'll have to find her and make sure to thank her and all the rest of the SysOps for the help all year round.
My flight takes off in the morning, at least it's later than my return flight - for which I have to leave for the airport at 4:00 a.m. uggghh!
Things seem to be fairly buttoned up here. I've adjusted the SMTP send threads and that seems to be taking care of most of our stuck messages (reminder to self to post exactly how to do that when I get back).
For those that can make it I hope to see you there! I'm antsy to get going already...I have less and less patience as I get older.
The cookies will be safely guarded by Pam Robello, so if you're looking for them you'll have to find her and make sure to thank her and all the rest of the SysOps for the help all year round.
My flight takes off in the morning, at least it's later than my return flight - for which I have to leave for the airport at 4:00 a.m. uggghh!
Things seem to be fairly buttoned up here. I've adjusted the SMTP send threads and that seems to be taking care of most of our stuck messages (reminder to self to post exactly how to do that when I get back).
For those that can make it I hope to see you there! I'm antsy to get going already...I have less and less patience as I get older.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
BrainShare is Next Week!!!
BrainShare 2010 is back, hooray!, and I'm flying out on Friday. I'm doing the TTP Summit junket in addition to BrainShare as that's how my flights worked out. And since it's my vacation time I'm focusing on classes I want to take and not necessarily what I need for work. My employer's not paying a penny towards this trip (although we seem to have plenty of money to send other staff members off to conferences), so I'm planning on having fun and relaxing a bit instead of doing the typical whirlwind, constant running to sessions, vendor booths, and evening events that I typically do.
Due to the last minute nature of my trip I didn't have time to coordinate my BrainShare Buddies program that I've done for the past several years. I feel like I'm shirking my duties there, but with the event being smaller this year, I'm hoping it won't be missed as much. I have been playing BrainShare Concierge/Planner to the friends I know are going, making sure they're all in the loops for the various parties and prize winning opportunities.
Oh sure, I'll be at the PartnerNet Breakfasts (the food and info is better) and I'll be doing my usual round to visit all the parties The Big EveNt sponsors are throwing. I appreciate their support and showing up gives me another chance to say Thank You to all of the companies that have supported me and WMNUG over the years.
Packing is always at the last minute as I wait until the night before I leave to bake up all the Snickerdoodles I have been taking with me since Boomer's departure from BrainShare. (I never got a chance at his reknowned truffles.) My clothes provide the necessary cushion now that I can't take as much on a plane and actually have to check them through.
I'm anxious to get back to SLC and see all the friends I missed seeing after last year's event was canceled. The big surprise this year will be for the vendors...the only one I'm mooching for this year is me. Sorry WMNUG folks, but I'm no longer on the board and can't afford to ship back any boxes. Besides, I'm not sure if there's going to be a WMNUG BrainShare Highlights meeting this year or not. (I'm not on the board any more, remember?)
Due to the last minute nature of my trip I didn't have time to coordinate my BrainShare Buddies program that I've done for the past several years. I feel like I'm shirking my duties there, but with the event being smaller this year, I'm hoping it won't be missed as much. I have been playing BrainShare Concierge/Planner to the friends I know are going, making sure they're all in the loops for the various parties and prize winning opportunities.
Oh sure, I'll be at the PartnerNet Breakfasts (the food and info is better) and I'll be doing my usual round to visit all the parties The Big EveNt sponsors are throwing. I appreciate their support and showing up gives me another chance to say Thank You to all of the companies that have supported me and WMNUG over the years.
Packing is always at the last minute as I wait until the night before I leave to bake up all the Snickerdoodles I have been taking with me since Boomer's departure from BrainShare. (I never got a chance at his reknowned truffles.) My clothes provide the necessary cushion now that I can't take as much on a plane and actually have to check them through.
I'm anxious to get back to SLC and see all the friends I missed seeing after last year's event was canceled. The big surprise this year will be for the vendors...the only one I'm mooching for this year is me. Sorry WMNUG folks, but I'm no longer on the board and can't afford to ship back any boxes. Besides, I'm not sure if there's going to be a WMNUG BrainShare Highlights meeting this year or not. (I'm not on the board any more, remember?)
Monday, March 15, 2010
Another DST surprise and a reminder to read labels
I haven't dug into the "why" just yet, but my cool, fun HP Mini running SLED 11 didn't adjust for DST. I reset the time myself and it's working all hunky dory now.
Bummer is that I purchased an external DVD-burner for my other mini and didn't pay enough attention to it when I bought it - it only works on Windows machines. Which means I can't use it with my favorite Netbook. I was hoping to get away with one Netbook for BrainShare, I may carry two instead so I can watch movies on the flights. Then again...I do have several Laura Chappell classes, the extra mini may come in handy as my sacrificial device. :)
Bummer is that I purchased an external DVD-burner for my other mini and didn't pay enough attention to it when I bought it - it only works on Windows machines. Which means I can't use it with my favorite Netbook. I was hoping to get away with one Netbook for BrainShare, I may carry two instead so I can watch movies on the flights. Then again...I do have several Laura Chappell classes, the extra mini may come in handy as my sacrificial device. :)
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
DST Problems reoccuring
When the bozos in our government decided to change Daylights Savings Time, we had issues with the GroupWise calendars showing appointments off by an hour.
It's baa-ack! In GW 8.0.1 HP1 the DST problem is rearing it's head again. This time we're seeing it mainly affect multiple calender users and Calendar Publishing. Either way it's a problem for me.
Get ready for 2 weeks of questions while time adjusts again. There is no apparent fix for it at this point and I've no idea how far flung it will be as we have users still running GW7 clients. It's another round of wait-and-see. At least I'll miss most of it as I'll be on vacation over Spring Break.
It's baa-ack! In GW 8.0.1 HP1 the DST problem is rearing it's head again. This time we're seeing it mainly affect multiple calender users and Calendar Publishing. Either way it's a problem for me.
Get ready for 2 weeks of questions while time adjusts again. There is no apparent fix for it at this point and I've no idea how far flung it will be as we have users still running GW7 clients. It's another round of wait-and-see. At least I'll miss most of it as I'll be on vacation over Spring Break.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Novell Community humbles me
I had no idea the number of people that were truly bummed out when it looked like I wasn't going to be able to make it to BrainShare. The outpouring of "yays" when I finally figured I was going was amazing to me. I'm truly humbled that so many people would have missed me, and not just for the cookies. (I already had a "mule" targeted to carry cookies for me).
In addition to BrainShare I'll be attending TTP Summit. The only way flights worked out was for me to leave on the Friday before anyway, so I might as well overwork my brain as much as possible. I'll see a few WMNUG folks there, which will be the first time I've seen them since The Big EveNt as we haven't been meeting. (And please don't email me about that - I'm not on the board any more - go bug Phil or Steven about it).
I'm looking forward to BrainShare, not just for the tech stuff, but as a chance to reconnect with the many friends I've made over the years. I'm always surprised when people remember me (I always assume I'm forgettable), so it's always a surprise when someone does. I just hope I can match everyone's faces to their names. I always remember a face, but as I get older and meet more and more people I am consistently mismatching names to faces. It's not personal, it's more of an "indexing" problem in my brain.
Looking forward to seeing you all there!
In addition to BrainShare I'll be attending TTP Summit. The only way flights worked out was for me to leave on the Friday before anyway, so I might as well overwork my brain as much as possible. I'll see a few WMNUG folks there, which will be the first time I've seen them since The Big EveNt as we haven't been meeting. (And please don't email me about that - I'm not on the board any more - go bug Phil or Steven about it).
I'm looking forward to BrainShare, not just for the tech stuff, but as a chance to reconnect with the many friends I've made over the years. I'm always surprised when people remember me (I always assume I'm forgettable), so it's always a surprise when someone does. I just hope I can match everyone's faces to their names. I always remember a face, but as I get older and meet more and more people I am consistently mismatching names to faces. It's not personal, it's more of an "indexing" problem in my brain.
Looking forward to seeing you all there!
Friday, March 5, 2010
I'm going to BrainShare! Yay!
Thanks to GroupLink I have a BrainShare pass and thanks to other assistance I'm able to make it to BrainShare this year. My employer isn't sending anyone to conferences this year so I'm taking vacation time and paying my way.
It wouldn't have been possible without the outside help so MANY, MANY thanks to GroupLink. And I'm crossing my fingers that we get to put in their Everything HelpDesk product this summer and replace our existing help desk system (that I despise).
Check out their product, it's pretty sweet and flexible enough to do more than just routine IT help desk functions.GroupLink
It wouldn't have been possible without the outside help so MANY, MANY thanks to GroupLink. And I'm crossing my fingers that we get to put in their Everything HelpDesk product this summer and replace our existing help desk system (that I despise).
Check out their product, it's pretty sweet and flexible enough to do more than just routine IT help desk functions.GroupLink
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Novell News
First a bit of a sales pitch: Danita's released a guide for GroupWise on iPhones. Go check it out at calendonia.net. She loves GroupWise and she loves her iPhone so I'm sure this new guide will be as useful to iPhone users as her GroupWise upgrade guides are to GroupWise Admins. Well worth shelling out the bucks!
Okay, so now the interesting Novell news. There's a bid to buy out Novell. Check out the article at: http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-10462638-260.html.
It seems at this point the majority of us talkative Novell customers/partners are concerned about the merger. We're not necessarily assuming this is a positive move.
Although, when I think about it, perhaps this will be good. That is if the purchasing group will actually LISTEN to the customer base about issues such as buggy code and bad tech support.
Back in the 1990's more than once I said that if Novell were to put out a Linux distro and couple it with their world class support Corporate America would be more likely to consider it as a serious contender in their computer centers. Of course back then Novell still had regional support. Meaning, we had support centers in each large regional area that spoke our native languages and understood our cultures. Really, Canada and the US are pretty much kissin' cousins so one center in Utah would be just fine to support both countries, but a big place like Brazil may need it's own center. And it was easier to get past the first line support when calling in for a bug fix than it is now.
And off she goes into another rant about India support....kind of. Having support in India for India-based customers makes sense. They understand their culture, speaking patterns, and language. But India support for a female US-based customer is insufficient at best. I end up in "Certifications pissing contests" with men who weren't even considered yet when I started in the industry (okay, so I'm old and crotchety but I have a point). Colleen O'Keefe seems to think it is all an issue of accents And that's SO not it! I understand them just fine, no linguistics class will solve the major problem. There's a huge difference in culture - women in India are still second class citizens and no manner of US "re-training" is going to change that attitude any time soon. (Heck I still struggle with it here in the US MidWest!) Front-line support in India is also afraid to go off-script or escalate calls and that's a cultural thing as well. Free-thinking and risk-taking is not something most folks there are comfortable with given their unemployment rates.
My point is, if the bidding company does due diligence and talks to Novell's long time customers and actually listens, Novell may have a chance at one last resurgence. But there's been so much damage already - and this is coming from a Bleeding Red "N" fanatic - most customers are going to very cynical of any new promises.
So, my suggestion to Elliott Investments is this: put back the WorldWide support the way it was in the late 80's/ early 90's when it was truly world class support. Make it easier for partners to open calls and have access to back-line engineers and developers when reporting a bug. It's a sad day when it is easier and cheaper to get an SR open and resolved with Microsoft than it is Novell. Talk to the partners left in the channel (there aren't that many) and really listen to their needs. Then follow through. And finally - bring back the innovative coding to the US/UK/EU programmers who can think outside of the box and have proven time and again they can deliver solid, reliable code. India is best used for commodity coding, not new products. It can be done, and it can be done in a cost effective way if you get creative about it. Reverse the off-shore trend and instead invest in a quality product and you may win back customers who left. May, being the key "gotcha" word.
All-in-all, I'm on the fence about the deal if it goes through. And for my environment, it looks like it's time to take a closer look about the pros and cons to move from Novell to Microsoft. Which is a very sad day for me, but not a first in a long career that's had me in the programing chair, training chair, engineer chair, consultant, and "All things IT" chair.
Okay, so now the interesting Novell news. There's a bid to buy out Novell. Check out the article at: http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-10462638-260.html.
It seems at this point the majority of us talkative Novell customers/partners are concerned about the merger. We're not necessarily assuming this is a positive move.
Although, when I think about it, perhaps this will be good. That is if the purchasing group will actually LISTEN to the customer base about issues such as buggy code and bad tech support.
Back in the 1990's more than once I said that if Novell were to put out a Linux distro and couple it with their world class support Corporate America would be more likely to consider it as a serious contender in their computer centers. Of course back then Novell still had regional support. Meaning, we had support centers in each large regional area that spoke our native languages and understood our cultures. Really, Canada and the US are pretty much kissin' cousins so one center in Utah would be just fine to support both countries, but a big place like Brazil may need it's own center. And it was easier to get past the first line support when calling in for a bug fix than it is now.
And off she goes into another rant about India support....kind of. Having support in India for India-based customers makes sense. They understand their culture, speaking patterns, and language. But India support for a female US-based customer is insufficient at best. I end up in "Certifications pissing contests" with men who weren't even considered yet when I started in the industry (okay, so I'm old and crotchety but I have a point). Colleen O'Keefe seems to think it is all an issue of accents And that's SO not it! I understand them just fine, no linguistics class will solve the major problem. There's a huge difference in culture - women in India are still second class citizens and no manner of US "re-training" is going to change that attitude any time soon. (Heck I still struggle with it here in the US MidWest!) Front-line support in India is also afraid to go off-script or escalate calls and that's a cultural thing as well. Free-thinking and risk-taking is not something most folks there are comfortable with given their unemployment rates.
My point is, if the bidding company does due diligence and talks to Novell's long time customers and actually listens, Novell may have a chance at one last resurgence. But there's been so much damage already - and this is coming from a Bleeding Red "N" fanatic - most customers are going to very cynical of any new promises.
So, my suggestion to Elliott Investments is this: put back the WorldWide support the way it was in the late 80's/ early 90's when it was truly world class support. Make it easier for partners to open calls and have access to back-line engineers and developers when reporting a bug. It's a sad day when it is easier and cheaper to get an SR open and resolved with Microsoft than it is Novell. Talk to the partners left in the channel (there aren't that many) and really listen to their needs. Then follow through. And finally - bring back the innovative coding to the US/UK/EU programmers who can think outside of the box and have proven time and again they can deliver solid, reliable code. India is best used for commodity coding, not new products. It can be done, and it can be done in a cost effective way if you get creative about it. Reverse the off-shore trend and instead invest in a quality product and you may win back customers who left. May, being the key "gotcha" word.
All-in-all, I'm on the fence about the deal if it goes through. And for my environment, it looks like it's time to take a closer look about the pros and cons to move from Novell to Microsoft. Which is a very sad day for me, but not a first in a long career that's had me in the programing chair, training chair, engineer chair, consultant, and "All things IT" chair.
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