Author Topic: The Good News Thread (Read 1164548 times)

rogerzilla · « **Reply #6050 on:** 19 December, 2013, 07:20:43 pm »

I got third most popular in b3ta's QOTW. And it is a true story.

David Martin · « **Reply #6051 on:** 19 December, 2013, 07:40:21 pm »

A parcel has arived from another forumite. That should keep me busy for a while once I hook it up and get it running

Vince · « **Reply #6052 on:** 22 December, 2013, 09:23:31 pm »

I plugged in two sets of Christmas lights and they both worked first time. They were still working after having been applied to the tree.

Mrs Pingu · « **Reply #6053 on:** 23 December, 2013, 05:03:40 pm »

It was so quiet at work today I've been mega-productive. Reviewed and made changes to 2 of my colleagues reports (quite big fat juicy ones too), did a bit of real work and thrn even managed to squeeze in the changes I needed to make to a conference paper I'd pretty much resigned myself to doing during the chrimbo hollybobs.
So no sitting hunched over a laptop at the kitchen table instead of having a lie in for me! \o/

David Martin · « **Reply #6054 on:** 23 December, 2013, 05:37:53 pm »

My latest nephew arrived safely on Christmas Eve - mother and baby are doing fine, father as well as can be expected..

Mrs Pingu · « **Reply #6055 on:** 23 December, 2013, 05:39:45 pm »

Quote from: David Martin on 23 December, 2013, 05:37:53 pm

My latest nephew arrived safely on Christmas Eve - mother and baby are doing fine, father as well as can be expected..

Did you travel into the future, or just really out of date with family news?

mcshroom · « **Reply #6056 on:** 23 December, 2013, 06:31:20 pm »

Or is David's new nephew Antipodean?

David Martin · « **Reply #6057 on:** 23 December, 2013, 06:45:12 pm »

mcshroom gets it - arrived 02:09 in Waikatu on 24/12/2013.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #6058 on:** 24 December, 2013, 03:47:23 pm »

On Friday I had the first meeting with my younger daughter since September. We had a hug and a conversation, which were both very nice. One thing that cropped up in the conversation was the bicycle referred to in this thread.

It seems that her boyfriend uses it every day and is very pleased with it, after a brief period of introduction in which the bike and he took a while to make friends with each other.

I am so happy for them!

Mrs Pingu · « **Reply #6059 on:** 26 December, 2013, 11:27:26 pm »

Had attempt #4 at hacking back Pippin's Mega claw today and it finally splintered and fell apart (the old one, that is).
And I didn't get bitten

Dibdib · « **Reply #6060 on:** 10 January, 2014, 01:03:15 pm »

Just got a phone call at work - apparently the Cocacola prize draw our catering company were running has blagged me an iPod. Sweet!

Canardly · « **Reply #6061 on:** 10 January, 2014, 08:52:42 pm »

Quote from: Dibdib on 10 January, 2014, 01:03:15 pm

Just got a phone call at work - apparently the Cocacola prize draw our catering company were running has blagged me an iPod. Sweet!

Er Git! (jammy etc)

tiermat · « **Reply #6062 on:** 15 January, 2014, 01:09:38 pm »

Apparently, as told to me by a slave trader, and backed up by other information from other sources, there is a shortage of good Linux contractors in the North.

What I am going to do with that information is left to the reader...

Dibdib · « **Reply #6063 on:** 15 January, 2014, 11:12:26 pm »

I wish I'd done my LPIC etc and carried on learning that stuff when I had the chance.

Then maybe I wouldn't be stuck doing dull-as-dishwater spreadsheets.

David Martin · « **Reply #6064 on:** 16 January, 2014, 10:16:42 am »

What is LPIC?

clarion · « **Reply #6065 on:** 16 January, 2014, 10:31:04 am »

Linux mumble mumble Certificate

tiermat · « **Reply #6066 on:** 16 January, 2014, 10:32:47 am »

Linux Professional Institute, they have a series of exams, non-distro specific (so basically based around LSB (Linux Standards Base).

The first exam is really easy, but quite vague, I have an ongoing discussion with the UK moderator regarding the wording of some of the questions.

From a commercial perspective, though the LPI exams are not readily recognised, however the RedHat ones are (RHCSA, RHCE, RHCA etc), but they are a) more expensive ($450 for the exam alone) and b) harder. However, as the majority of major commerce use RHEL they are of more use (in my experience).

As a side note, as a Linux contractor, I run a mile if the customer uses Ubuntu,Gentoo and even CENTOS as it tells me they are not serious about their Linux infrastructure.

mrcharly-YHT · « **Reply #6067 on:** 16 January, 2014, 10:44:32 am »

Interesting that you say that, Phil.

We build software to run under Centos, but are finding that of our customers who develop on Linux, most use a Debian-based distribution these days, frequently Ubuntu (which personally I loath).
That's the desktop OS, not server, of course.

mrcharly-YHT · « **Reply #6068 on:** 16 January, 2014, 10:46:21 am »

and in other news.

We seem to have bought a house. It smells of cig smoke. The walls in the living room are stained a faint yellow.

The foul carpet in the hall was ripped up to reveal undamaged red tiles. That's several hundred pounds of new carpet saved.

It has 22 sockets in the kitchen. 22.

tiermat · « **Reply #6069 on:** 16 January, 2014, 10:49:02 am »

Quote from: mrcharly on 16 January, 2014, 10:44:32 am

Interesting that you say that, Phil.

We build software to run under Centos, but are finding that of our customers who develop on Linux, most use a Debian-based distribution these days, frequently Ubuntu (which personally I loath).
That's the desktop OS, not server, of course.

Ah! Developers are a wonderful bunch, aren't they? Every software company I have worked for has used a Debian based distro (of which, as you will know, there are many!). Part of the appeal (apart from the zero cost) is the (sometimes wrong) view that it is the most secure.

FWIW I know IBM offer it's employees and contractors a debian based build for their laptops, as well as a RHEL/CENTOS one.

There is, obviously, a world of difference between desktop and server usage, my comment about running a mile relates to server side.

Greenbank · « **Reply #6070 on:** 16 January, 2014, 11:28:40 am »

Wondered what to do with my old Open University modules, seems they have a reasonable resale value to people wanting to get a head start on a course (or just study something without getting official credit for it).

My old modules should fetch ~£600 if I can get rid of them all. Two (or 10) gone within minutes of listing them.

Dibdib · « **Reply #6071 on:** 16 January, 2014, 12:38:18 pm »

Quote from: Greenbank on 16 January, 2014, 11:28:40 am

Wondered what to do with my old Open University modules, seems they have a reasonable resale value to people wanting to get a head start on a course (or just study something without getting official credit for it).

My old modules should fetch ~£600 if I can get rid of them all. Two (or 10) gone within minutes of listing them.

Really? I have a stack of Computing course materials from my fairly recent OU days. I might have to investigate. Cheers

hellymedic · « **Reply #6072 on:** 16 January, 2014, 12:59:23 pm »

Quote from: mrcharly on 16 January, 2014, 10:46:21 am

and in other news.

We seem to have bought a house. It smells of cig smoke. The walls in the living room are stained a faint yellow.

The foul carpet in the hall was ripped up to reveal undamaged red tiles. That's several hundred pounds of new carpet saved.

It has 22 sockets in the kitchen. 22.

That's nice; every member of your ménage will be able to charge their phone and laptop without disconnecting anyone else's gadget.
Shame if you need space for food preparation at Gadget Central...

interzen · « **Reply #6073 on:** 16 January, 2014, 01:07:23 pm »

Quote from: tiermat on 16 January, 2014, 10:32:47 am

As a side note, as a Linux contractor, I run a mile if the customer uses Ubuntu,Gentoo and even CENTOS as it tells me they are not serious about their Linux infrastructure.

Ubuntu, yes - anyone running Ubuntu, even LTS, on a server needs their heads examining; this is why stock Debian exists.

CentOS is a perfectly acceptable enterprise-grade distribution if you're happy to remain a bit behind the curve (itself a desireable thing in some cases) and Gentoo is widely used in performance-critical environments (HPC and *spit*finance*spit* to name but two), and its usage is generally a sign that the people running the systems know what they're doing.

CentOS is also a pretty decent way to ensure a degree of interoperability with RHEL without being tied into iniquitous support contracts.

But then, I'm a developer so what do I know ...

clarion · « **Reply #6074 on:** 16 January, 2014, 01:12:13 pm »

Hey, splendid news, mrc! Enjoy your new house.