In The News

I have a good working relationship with the trade press. I am listed by the Canadian Information Processing Society as their prime contact for expertise on any Linux and Open Source issues.

As a result, I often get asked to comment on newsworthy items. Below is a collection of recent articles where I've been able to help. You will see that I contribute both to management oriented and technically oriented content.

I hope you find the content below both interesting and useful.

Recent Articles

Computing Canada, July 18, 2003
I was asked by Computing Canada to respond to this question:

Q. We're considering deploying an open source product on our desktops. What are the pros/cons?

An edited (abbreviated) response to this question was published by Computing Canada in their July 18th, 2003 issue. You can read my entire respons by clicking here.

BaseLine Tools, July 10, 2003
A Baseline reader wanted to know about Open Source network monitoring tools. I've used many and mentioned the three I like best. These include the Multi-Router Traffic Grapher, the Nagios network monitor and the Big Brother network monitor.

BigBrother and Nagios are poor-mans (persons) Network Operations Center (NOC) software that should meet the needs of medium size organizations.

BaseLine Tools, July 3, 2003
Another Baseline reader wanted the story on Linux and Open Source office suites. It turns out that there ar lots of choices including OpenOffice, StarOffice, KOffice, Gnome's Office, Hancom Office, SIAG and others. While none are as powerful (or as expensive) as M$ office, most are more than suitable for every day use.

BaseLine Tools, April 17, 2003
I was asked by Baseline to respond to a reader's query on Linux based Integrated Development Environments. I was pleased (and suprised) to find that they actually dedicated most of the e-zine to my reply.

Security Matters, October 23, 2001
I was asked to provide some insight on why organizations were having so many security issues. Fundamentally, my position is that because organizations still don't reward security and don't budget realistically for it, managers do just enough to get by.

Network World, March 22, 2002. Comments on wireless networking.
NetWorld asked for my comments on the applicability of Wireless computing. I went against conventional wisdom and said that wireless networking is a niche product with significant security concerns. In hind-sight, I was right.

Sorry, no hyper-link on this one. The publisher has taken down the page.

IT World Canada, May 1, 2002. I comment on problems with Anti-Virus software.
In this article, I was asked to comment on the effectiveness of anti-virus software. My opinon is that in many cases, the cure is worse than the disease. Anti-virus software robs computers of power, causes instability and may give users a false sense of security. The best solution is to practice safe computing and to protect your system at the perimeter.

E-Business Management. January 29, 2002. Linux moves ahead.
I was asked to comment on IBM's formal anouncement of support for Linux. My feeling then (and now) is that IBM's endorsement is essential for large scale business adoption.

Computer World, August 9, 2002. Linux opportunities in the enterprise.
In this article, I was asked to comment on how large organizations are deploying Linux. My position was that Linux is the right O/S for organizations who are budget constrained, who need to move fast and who want a stable, reliable system without the headaches of licensing and forced upgrades.