spongle
Impact analysis is essential to discover whether or not the issue is serious.
Our dev team use powershell for all sorts of things from data processing and clean up to fuzzing. It's great because it tries to preserve both the Unix semantics and introduce and object model which means it bridges the world of raw data and COM etc which has traditionally been pretty sticky. It can be quite slow in some circumstances though which is my only concern (this is usually due to the fact strings are immutable on the CLR). I used python for a bit as well but it doesn't hit the spot for COM.
regarding cost, the only major issue for us is SQL Server licensing but we argued with them and waved a postgresql server around and got a hefty discount ;)
We don't use Azure at all mainly due to security concerns (we store financial data). I use it for a couple of side projects as it's cheaper than a couple of dedicated servers.
I've not encountered any major trust issues with Azure despite the whole NSA controversy. I don't get much love for OSS other than from people who want to cut costs and they usually don't pay up.
Powershell allows automated maintenance and edge cases to be dealt with efficiently. DSC allows repeatable deployments i.e you can use it to represent all your basic tenets of a reliable secure system. You don't build a system then throw it in the field with fingers crossed that you remembered every step when you built it. I have personally written hundreds of pages on procedural documentation on this and I can now script up that knowledge easily.
RedHat is an option but the system is fragmented and randomly documented. Microsoft documentation is absolutely wonderful in comparison. Not only that, I can grab a competent sysadmin for the windows platform easily here in the UK. The Linux guys are few and far between and generally cowboys from experience (even at the £60k level).
Windows rarely needs rebooting unless you are doing something wrong. Not all updates need to be applied. We pick individual ones in scope with what is being deployed and used and push them out rather than use windows update. This is standard practice on servers. Desktops get windows updates on time as the attack window is usually way larger.
It is feasible not to update windows server if configured properly and if it's on a corporate LAN for example.
It's the ideal foundation to build research upon which is where standards can be developed.
Everyone has benefitted from NetBSD being around and will probably continue to for a long time yet.
I would, probably controversially, use Windows Server 2012 on mid-range HP DL or ML series kit. Since Windows 2008 R2 and the scriptability provided with PowerShell and PowerShell DSC have come around, it's a better compromise on usability versus automation that anything else I've seen so far. Not only that, it has a huge supported lifecycle.
Bear in mind I come from a very strong UNIX background going right back to M68K Sun3 era, through Solaris/HPUX and Linux and have used all on the desktop.
No statistics on SSH though as it wasn't even running and possibly wasn't even installed. I didn't check! :)
(not putting that bit on my resume ;)
Suspected hardware failure at that age.
Max uptime: 8 years, 122 days!
It was still being used (on a dialup). It stopped working due to the dialup company stopping service rather than a hardware failure.
Has been replaced by a cheap ADSL connection and router. Ironically this had only been an option for about 6 months due to the rural location and no DSLAM at the local exchange.
Wonderful OS although I'm ashamed to say I left telnet open to the public internet.
The same can actually be said for Windows NT4 as well which tends to show up unexpectedly sticking things together.
Edit: some other notes that might be of interest to long running UNIX admins: Firstly the log files had eaten up nearly all the disk space (2Gb) so rotate them! Secondly the clock had drifted by about 5 days so use ntp. Thirdly, don't assume that if you leave something that it'll be sensibly secure in a few years so they need to be kept religiously up to date. Fourthly, plan for connectivity modes to change over time and keep them up to date; the company was down for 4 days whilst BT got their arse in gear (not that they cared as they had 3G that worked reasonably well). Fifthly, buy good quality hardware - it does last!
Most people don't know the difference between Windows and Word. This is just going to confuse them further which is not a great way to win market share.
Its like going into McDonalds and finding a Burger King stall inside it.
This is going to be an experience as smooth as a 1974 land rover with no tyres on it.
Please continue to take the piss out of it :)
I actually knocked up a single new static error page for our main web application a few weeks ago in 620 bytes including inline css (quite big if you ask me). It had no dependencies. My coworkers were actually astounded that it was so small!?!?!
Go figure!
(this had happened to me twice)
Absolute arsehole recruiters and companies.
for ref, I refuse to work for gambling and gaming outfits as well as they're just as bad
Fucking infuriates me. It's safer to transfer your money in cash in a transparent bag with "steal me" on it.
A big chunk of the UK consists of nutters. Look at the EDL for example. I've lived places where idiots like that are worshipped.
Thoroughly depressing.
Perhaps the fragmentation it will cause will destroy closed media on the internet as a whole.
Nothing bad can come of it.
If you don't turn the same way as everyone else or risk your university's funding by having an opinion or a better idea than the status quo, you're no longer entitled to an education.
University for me was an exercise in cock sucking rather than education and that was a UK red brick.
I spent a couple of hours with visual studio python tooling a couple of months ago and couldn't face it. Its not the extensions that are bad, it's just I've been using Visual Studio since 6.0 up to 2012 and it's just fucked me in the eye socket constantly since day one. I've only just got rid of the sympathy for the kidnapper of my mind.
The only people who deliver little value are the paid up consultants. When a full penetration and code review misses 4 purposely placed obvious vulnerabilities (by myself) they get told to fuck off. Application firewalls which are circumvented trivially. QoS solutions that don't work.
So far, four well known, well respected companies offering certification and testing have missed the holes and have been fired.
That's the problem: no delivery.
My attitude might be wrong in your eyes but I refuse to employ box tickers which is what the entire white hat side of the industry is about. Canned report, where's my cheque?
No seesaw other than a bent twisted one that sucks up cash in exchange for a half arsed job.
If that was a modern vehicle you'd be screwed so don't have nightmares - it'll probably still get you home with no electrics (if it's pre-defender :)
This isn't unique to Tesla! I'd rather drive a Tesla but they're too small for me and too expensive.
Why? Price, poor products and service and "blame it on the customer" culture.
Local businesses have been hanging themselves for years on these fronts.
Amazon sorts the above perfectly and you don't have to leave your house.