DB hell

Right now, I'm trying to use a troubled motherboard. It's like, part of i686 instruction set has gotten blown up, and it may have? I tried to upgrade a case, but the new case went and shorted the thing out-bad! No spark or smoke thankfully, but it was flat as a pancake for 3 days. I thought for sure, I was going to have to invest in a new one. Then like a biblical miracle it recovered, sorta! When I say recovered, I mean it let me have back Fedora 6, but will not let me upgrade. And clearly, it doesn't want me data processing.

That's right, data processing is broken. I can install PostgreSQL, and MySQL, but that's about it. Meanwhile, I know PHP libraries are working, because I can attach to my (remote) host's systems. But I can't get it to "listen" to my own (intranet). And MySQL will not even launch the server daemon.

I think it's because all these things use a i686 instruction set, that is now broken in this box. As I said before, I can't upgrade ANYTHING, either!

With PG, I can use the command line 'psql' tool, but not PHP, which I use for making forms and reports, and doing my data entry. Remember the same stuff works connecting to my host, so don't tell me it's a setup issue, please: psql is working, exactly as it should.

So then we come to Open Office Base. Which is working. However, JavaScript debugger geeks out, and locks up the second you start it. So..? Not that it matters, because I don't know what the BASE url would be to use it to open my forms anyhow.

This article was to tell/warn you, to take some things I have to say with a grain of salt. My Linux box is corrupted, and only 90% functional. I'm trying to avoid talking about stability issue, once I know I've gone corrupt on many things. I can't use Ubuntu, or Fedora 10, neither seems to be able to detect my video card, much less launch on my motherboard.

I just wonder why the fates don't want me doing my data processing, right now? Clearly I've got to get a new PC, it's just $400 I don't want to spend on this. And the reason there is kind of strange too: White Label boxes have become more expensive than Name Brand Desktop PCs with Vista. Once so many devices now, only work on XP/Vista, I'm not willing to throw that away, right now. But if I buy an extra hard drive, we're back were we started with a White Label with no operating system, you see? And once this box will not serve as a server- well? I feel boxed in- pun intended.

As I've said before, this is not a website that bashes Windows! Frequently, Windows is all that is supported by new hardware, so only a complete fool throws out Windows entirely. But if your trying to control costs in a growing office, your only choice is Unix systems, particularly Linux. Frankly, most workstations will function just fine on completely FREE software. It's only the people who absolutely need to be on the cutting edge, that can't! I am disappointed that Kodak and Logitech are two company that aren't making the transition.

My dilemma is that I'm falling behind on what's going on in PC's, because I don't have a Vista box in my office at all. I do have XP, and Squirrel Cam is still hosted on Windows 98, but my desktop has been Fedora for the last 7 years. If I had never tried to upgrade the case from a cast off, I wouldn't have shorted this motherboard out, but my office would still need an Vista machine at this point- which leads right back to my dilemma! While I've had 3 very old PC's fail in this last year, I'm not willing to buy 2 new, right now. But I've got data processing that I need to get done, so do I sacrifice a new cheap VISTA box to Linux, just for that?

Open Office 3

Open Office is yet, just Open Office. Frankly version 3.0.1, while it seems a bit more complete than earlier versions, is frankly disappointing. The Draw tool, no longer has a spine curve. The curve tool in it, is down right retarded! And it's attempt to clone Access, has all the bugs you expect to find in a Java application, including not staying within the lines (bounds).

The biggest failure of Open Office, is Sun's inability to make a user friendly macro system. I'm a programmer with 25 years of experience, and I couldn't just sit down and open my database form with a macro, when it file is opened. Not without hours of study of their Uno language, that I'm just not willing to invest to this!

I really think there is a comperiacy in Tech, to justify their degrees these days. And what I mean, is they don't want anyone with just a high school education to be able to use these tools anymore, just to justify the degree. And that is a recipe for bankruptcy, and just another part of our idiot business culture. It's as bad, and as delinquent as engineered job security, which somebody needs about million more hours of ethics training.

Frankly, the thing that really disturbs me about Open Office, is it's inability to open files made from earlier versions. Oh yes, they did! I have a complete set of Draw files, XCF's that it will not open anymore. That didn't make me at all happy! But what really concerns me, is their insistence to make a Java driven macro system for the whole package, rather than a simple menu driven thing, that we can all understand and apply.

My days as a programmer are over- and not because of this. I'm old, and I don't have that kind of time to invest anymore. There comes a point where you are no longer getting payback. I want and expect today, something to be far more intuitive to us. And Open Office Base is a failure to that ideal.