Critical thoughts

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: GIBBS & BRADNER
06/21/05

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* Backspin columnist Mark Gibbs clears up a few points regarding
  Apple's iPhoto application
* Links related to Gibbs & Bradner
* Featured reader resource
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Today's focus: Critical thoughts

By Mark Gibbs

I'm still getting feedback following my recent BackSpin columns
"Shattered Mac illusions" (
<http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2005/052305backspin.html>
) and "Shameful engineering" (
<http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2005/053005backspin.html>
) that were critical of Apple's iPhoto application.

Now while I would like to move on, there are a few points we
need to clear up. First, to all of you who think that expecting
Apple's iPhoto to cope with 15,000 photos was way too
optimistic, you should read Apple's iPhoto Support Web site (
<http://tinyurl.com/dnp4n> ) wherein it specifically states the
software's limit is 25,000 photos.

Thanks to reader Mark Robson for that link. Robson also
mentioned that he runs a Dual CPU XServe G4 with 2G bytes of RAM
under OS X Server 10.2 supporting 32 eMacs configured in a
"managed client" setup. His problem? "There was such a memory
leak in the AFP daemon that it would cause the server kernel to
panic and reboot daily."

He never found a solution.

"We were forced to completely disconnect the 'managed'
configuration [after] four to five weeks of trying everything we
could think to stabilize the situation and [finally] we set up
each eMac as a stand-alone workstation. It's been like that ever
since."

Robson concluded: "My experience leaves me to agree with your
pronouncement of shoddy workmanship."

But let's also note that Apple is way beyond other vendors in
some areas. Reader Rusty Carruth wrote, "a job ago I had a
PowerBook ... running a version of [Mac OS] below X. One day,
something went horribly wrong and the system said I needed to
reinstall the operating system. Horrors, I thought! All this
set-up work I've got to redo! So I spent some time trying to
work around it, finally gave up and did the reinstall."

At this point most of us would expect the worst but Carruth got
a surprise. "I was completely amazed - it did a reinstall and
kept all my settings, somehow removing whatever had blown the
system up! I had no more problems either. So, while some things
are apparently not perfect, I must say that I was extremely
impressed with how well it fixed itself in my case."

Which, before you Macinistas out there firebomb my office, leads
to my second point: I am not pro-Microsoft or anti-Apple. If you
would care to peruse my previous BackSpin columns, you will see
that I am an equal-opportunity critic. I have been as nice and
as nasty to Microsoft as I have been to Apple.

Anyway, Microsoft and Apple aren't the only companies that need
to be criticized. As reader Bob Havey said: "After we get
through swearing at Microsoft, Symantec, McAfee, Intuit, HP,
Act, et al., we get to Linux - which is another whole can of
worms. And don't get me started on Oracle. ... One would think
that after 20 years we would have software that has been
designed according to software engineering principles, but it
hasn't happened yet."

We simply aren't critical enough. I have been amazed at some of
the stories you have sent me that, if boiled down to their bare
essentials, amount to, "This vendor sold us some software for a
lot of money and made lots of promises and we spent lots of
money trying to make it work and at the end of the exercise
[choose one or more of the following] our CTO fell on his sword
/ the disaster was hushed up / we never got [any or all] of our
money back / it has become the project that will not die."

This isn't only an issue for enterprise systems; it also plagues
personal productivity applications. Yet our criticisms don't
seem to get back to the vendors in a way that results in
changes.

What if we were to expect the same kind of performance and
feature improvement that the car industry has achieved over the
last 50 years? Would that be too much to expect?

Critical comments to <mailto:backspin@gibbs.com>. (Oh, got
Gearblog <http://www.networkworld.com/weblogs/gearblog>?).
_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Mark Gibbs

Mark Gibbs is a consultant, author, journalist, and columnist
and he writes the weekly Backspin
<http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/gibbs.html> and Gearhead
<http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/gearhead.html> columns
in Network World, as well as the Gearblog blog
<http://www.networkworld.com/weblogs/gearblog/> . We'll spare
you the rest of the bio but if you want to know more, go to
<http://www.gibbs.com/mgbio>. Contact him at
<mailto:webapps@gibbs.com>
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Good Technology
Network World Executive Guide: Wireless Security. New Standards
make it easier than ever

As wireless LAN technology reaches the mainstream of enterprise
IT, security continues to be the top barrier to adoption. In
this report, we detail the possible approaches to wireless LAN
security and talk to experts who provide analysis and
recommendations on which ones to use. Register today and get a
free copy of Network World's Wireless Security Executive Guide.

http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=107062
_______________________________________________________________
ARCHIVE LINKS

Gibbs archive:
http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/gibbs.html

Bradner archive:
http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/bradner.html
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