[TriLUG] Outline for proposed Linux for Business presentation.

[Andrew C. Oliver]

Hi Ann Marie,

HyperSQL is a pure java database.  Its not a GUI alternative to Access,
I meant to say its a good "small thing" database alternative to Access.
You can find more information about it at:
http://hsqldb.sourceforge.net/

Its very nifty.

Truth be told Ann if you come to any TriLUG meeting and say "I need
this" you'll probably walk out with 10 resumes at the moment.  You can
also post to the trilug.org list (this is still allowed at present).  To
be sure in the Triangle area there are no shortage of Linux folks
(especially Java/Linux geeks like me :-p).  I'm not sure the statistics
would be quantifiable, but lets just say that "there are plenty" and the
statistics are currently depressing :-).  Furthermore, some companies
have existing Unix guys, and Unix and Linux have so much in common that
it would not be much different then switching from say HPUX to Solaris. 
In fact Linux is easier to use in my opinion.

Truth be told "certification" is not a real good judgment at present.
For one you need to know what the certification means and how it applies
to the position you're hiring for.  Are you looking for a web developer
who knows how to work on Linux or a sysadmin?  I'd look at this like I
looked at any other person to hire.  Get the references, see where
they've worked and run their experience past people you know in the
field.  Obviously if you can find people from TriLUG you're bound to
find people who know them and can give you the lowdown as far as what
talents they have.

Yes not only can Star Office run on Windows or Linux,it has decent Excel
file format support as of version 5.2.  (5.1 does some bad things).  I
have reasonable luck loading/editing word documents (they are off about
as much as when I switch printers in Word).  Sun is playing nice and has
committed to an opensource development process (www.openoffice.org). I'm
collaborating with one of their developers to fully document Microsoft's
Excel 97 file format.  OpenOffice is the *free* version of StarOffice.

Its native format is XML based (which is a really good thing for
publishing and document management).  I see you're in the web design
business.  Think of the ability to upload something you write in
StarOffice and automatically publish it to PDF and HTML without lifting
a finger.  (via XSLT - XML stylesheets).  Anyhow I'm off on a tangent. 
I really like the direction OpenOffice.  

As for free-isp's I use Road Runner which is certainly not free :-).

Other things you may be interested in.

1. www.mozilla.org - web browser, cross platform, opensource, basis for
netscape 6 only it actually works :-)

2. Samba - www.samba.org - replace your windows based file server/print
server and perhaps even your PDC while still maintaining compatibility!

Anyhow we're happy to help and give our opinions.  Perhaps if you gave
us some ideas of what kinds of things you're looking for we could make
some more pointed recommendations. 

-Andy

-- 
www.superlinksoftware.com
www.sourceforge.net/projects/poi - port of Excel format to java
http://developer.java.sun.com/developer/bugParade/bugs/4487555.html 
			- fix java generics!


The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to
vote.
-Ambassador Kosh