Why advocating Linux can be an up hill battle...
bscott at ntisys.com
bscott at ntisys.com
Thu Apr 24 16:00:08 EDT 2003
On Thu, 24 Apr 2003, at 3:10pm, hewitt_tech at attbi.com wrote:
> One of my clients is running an all windows shop. He does this because his
> primary application, QuickBooks, is Windows based and because the
> QuickBooks folks require a Windows server to host their application in a
> networked environment.
Yes. Intuit explictly requires this. They will not provide support if
the QuickBooks data files are kept on anything but an MS-Windows server.
If they find out you are using a Linux server, they will not provide
support. This despite the fact that it does not require any server-side
software; it only uses shared data files.
QuickBooks isn't very stable software to begin with; it has enough trouble
in an all-MS enviornment. Even then, corruptions, inconsistancies, and
other problems with the data files are common. I have been told that it
conflicts badly with the locking behavior present in some versions of Samba
or a distribution thereof.
If you're going to try it anyway, be sure you turn off oplocks, and turn
on strict locking. And pray.
> But here's the killer - my client stated that they were nervous about
> using a Linux server.
It is entirely a question of support. If they are depending on a product
(like QuickBooks), and the product OEM will not support Linux, then running
that product on Linux is likely a bad idea. It might be that the better
thing to do is find a product/OEM that doesn't suck, of course.
> P.S. I have also figured out how the client's NT server got nailed with
> the Nimda virus and at least a couple of their workstations mysteriously
> went belly up...
Be aware that Microsoft's recommendation after a Nimda compromise is to
wipe and reinstall the machine.
--
Ben Scott <bscott at ntisys.com>
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