September 2006 - main

MS SBS 2003 replacement
by Wayne Stallwood 06 Sep '06

06 Sep '06

Has anyone looked at either of the following http://www.scalix.com/ http://www.open-xchange.com/ I am looking for an alternative to SBS to offer small businesses. The key points are point and click manageability for everyday tasks such as adding users, mail account administration etc, Simple deployment, and inter-operation with Outlook (preferably with most if not all features supported (public folders, calendar sharing etc etc.) As to the other SBS features, VPN's, File and Print sharing and some thing to replace sharepoint I already know how to do quite well in linux so the only missing link is a point and clicky administration interface (some of which is filled by webmin) but these are secondary requirements to the Exchange like functionality. Open-Xchange looks to be pretty suitable, however the GPL version is a complete pig to install unless you are running SuSE or Redhat enterprise products. Also it is pretty dependant on the paid version (with closed source additions) to get the desired functionality (too much dependence on closed source additions puts me in the same boat as SBS and if I include Redhat or SuSE server products, puts me in at the same or higher price point) However I would be interested to hear of any experience with these (or any other similar) products.

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DGS
by Bob Dove 04 Sep '06

04 Sep '06

Hi folks, I suppose you've all picked yourselves up of the floor after hearing the news that DGS (Dixons/Currys/PC World) are creating two thousand jobs in a new advisory service aimed at users of 'technology.' It doesn't matter where you bought your technology - you'll get straight talking expert advice DGS expect to earn billions from this venture - they haven't told us how but one has to presume a very expensive call centre. A story needed to bring mirth to a Monday morning! Ho Ho Ho! Perhaps some of the 2K new experts will advise them on how to explain a dual core processor! Cheers, Bob Dove.

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Weekly IRC reminder
by Brett Parker 04 Sep '06

04 Sep '06

This is the automated ALUG IRC meeting reminder sent to remind you that there is an IRC meeting tonight (Monday) at 8.00pm. Historically, these used to be the only time a lot of us would be about, now the channel has some usual faces that are there most of the time (except at silly o'clock, when we might be sleeping, or on the second thursday of the month, where we might be drinking in the Reindeer), so don't feel limited to visit during this time, come visit us when ever you feel like it! The meeting takes place on the irc server irc.alug.org.uk in the #alug channel. Most IRC clients should allow you to get there with the commands "/server irc.alug.org.uk" and "/join #alug". Popular IRC clients include xchat, irssi and EPIC on Unix, and Mirc under windows. Here are some links to help you get started with irc. Unix http://www.xchat.org/ http://www.irssi.org/ http://www.epicsol.org/ Windows http://xchat.org/windows/ - the UNIX client has a windows port! http://www.mirc.com/ (loads of help with irc for newbies!)

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I'm so glad ... [OT]
by Ted.Harding＠nessie.mcc.ac.uk 03 Sep '06

03 Sep '06

Hi Folks, Found on the Sunday Times "Doors"/"Don't Panic" web page this morning: The Sunday Times - Doors The Sunday Times September 03, 2006 Don't panic Nigel Powell answers your technology queries Q: I have an AVI file that I cannot delete. Help! Waleed El Tair, via e-mail A: Try creating a simple text file. Give it the same name as the file you want to delete, and copy it into the same directory. When Windows asks to overwrite, click yes, and delete. Alternatively, change your Windows Explorer view to icons and try again. If this fails, go to Start, Run and type in "cmd". Once the command prompt appears, type regsvr32/ u shmedia.dll, then delete the file. That's pure Kafka! I'm so glad I don't live in that world! Good morning! Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding(a)nessie.mcc.ac.uk> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 03-Sep-06 Time: 08:38:33 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

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