Tony Lawrence <pcunix@gmail.com> hath wroth:
>I have to disagree to some extent. Yes, there's no reason to dump a
>working system. However, this is far past the time when you should BE
>READY to dump it.
Let's go through the current excuses for my customers still old
hardware and software:
1. The business is being sold. This is not a good time for changes.
2. I'm ready to retire. Let my kids decide what they want to do.
3. Business sucks. I don't have the money to do anything more than
tread water.
4. The current stuff works for us. We don't need anything better.
5. Moving applications from a terminal to a desktop means all new
desktops (and wiring) for everyone. Maybe later.
There are a few others, but that's roughly what's stopping any
upgrades. Incidentally, I also keep two Novell 3.1 servers alive.
There's no question that all of these customers should kicked into the
21st century, but I don't run their business or make their decisions.
I could go on strike and refuse to work on the old junk, or raise my
rates for old junk, but I won't do that.
>You don't want to be flailing around at the last minute trying to
>figure out what to do.
Actually, it's easier to deal with the old systems. The main
advantage is the very small sizes of the OS and applications. For
example, the Xenix system fits in about 500MBytes, most of which is
data. My ODT3 box is only 1.5GBytes, most of which is spam. The
typical 3.2v5.0.x system is running about 2GBytes, again mostly data.
I backup these as image files to portable NAS drive dumpster. If I
need to do "maintenance", I just restore the image file. Old hardware
is always a problem, but I disposed of the exotic cards and
controllers long ago. Most of these systems have a backup machine
sitting nearby waiting for an image reload. I don't like doing it
this way, but it does get the system back online quickly.
>Start investigating alternatives now, research
>at your leisure, and be ready to move under your terms.
Around 2001, I scribbled quotes for replacement hardware and software
to each of my SCO Unix/Xenix customers. I gave everyone the choice of
a Windoze or Linux upgrade path. I revise these quotes regularly as
things change. I've done trial application transplants to Linux and
found numerous surprises and complications (bbx4 runtimes). My
remaining customers are well aware of the costs and alternatives.
However, it's their decision and I won't force them into doing
anything.
>http://aplawrence.com/OSR5/selfdefense.html
>http://aplawrence.com/Blog/B831.html
>
>I also have a small pile of articles related to converting from SCO at
>http://aplawrence.com/cgi-bin/indexget.pl?Conversion
Very nice. I wish I had known about those when I was trying to
transplant various SCO applications to Linux. However, I don't think
any of it will be used by me. If history repeats itself, most of my
customers will choose the Windoze path because they have existing
Windoze machines. That implies that the SCO applications will be
replaced rather than transplanted to a new operating system.
--
Jeff Liebermann
jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D
http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060
http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558