Amen to that. We had an enterprise-critical LIMS system that we kept going with spare parts off eBay for a couple of years.
Software as a Service
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AFAIK all releases are rolled out to customers if they need it or request it. Depends on what features they need sometimes, and what bugs have been fixed.
In our ecosystem each software release has the latest firmware built into it. That way firmware and software always match required versions.
Gesundheit!
(Other than I have an appreciation for what a true square wave is...)
As to the thread, remember when Microsoft made software for personal computers to save us from the mainframe?
Correct. It is all test-driven design so when a feature is implemented a test is written for it first, before the actual code is written. That means everything is checked for backward compatibility each build cycle.
We were a bit annoyed they dropped NMR too. I started with Varian back in 1999 in the optical spectroscopy division.
When I started learning to program it was on a Control Data mainframe- you had to get permission to use the mainframe and it did your work when it felt like it. I thought personal computers were great- you owned it and you told it what to do and when to do it. I don't agree with going back to relying on other people for your computer to work.
I've bought software before and then some years later I would pay to buy an upgrade. I expect that some software upgrades are included in the original purchase price. I don't want to have to buy regular updates, or to have to pay a subscription fee, and I really don't want to have to use cloud services.
I do a lot of photography- among photographers there are a lot of complaints about Adobe Photoshop going from a purchase model to a subscription model. I just bought Affinity Photo 2 which advertises to be subscription free and they may be luring some photographers away from Adobe.
Regarding Windows- I guess I benefit from constant updates but I haven't had to pay for updates either. I don't remember the last version I paid full price for, maybe 95, but I paid to upgrade it to 98, then XP, then free upgrade to 7 then free upgrade to 10. (I've used that computer for a long time.) When I build a new computer to replace that one I'll have to buy a new version of 10 for it.
jbsommerfeldt
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Here is my concern with SAS, USAS UCAS and any other aas cloud storage.
Im in the telecom industry, 35 years. Unified Communications As A Service is a huge industry push. It has its advantages. But it has some massive, complicated integration issues. The IT stuff aside here is my problem,
If you have an IP hosted phone system every call you make is recorded. With sophisticated software I can search conversations for “key” words. What would your competitor do with that information?
Im in the telecom industry, 35 years. Unified Communications As A Service is a huge industry push. It has its advantages. But it has some massive, complicated integration issues. The IT stuff aside here is my problem,
If you have an IP hosted phone system every call you make is recorded. With sophisticated software I can search conversations for “key” words. What would your competitor do with that information?
I lost about $20k of personal computing, network, phones, electronics, audio, etc. when a lightning strike hit the cable company's pedestal and traveled down the coax from the UNGROUNDED pedestal to the improperly grounded MPOE.
So I have ONLY this ONE desktop (built it for my XYL) for the last 2 years. I have been an IS/IT guy for almost 30 years and some years before that in the Army as an "additional duty".
NOW, that I am finally COMPLETELY retired, I am likely going to perform an exorcism on all Microsoft products in the house EXCEPT this machine.... as the XYL refuses to hate Microsoft.... yet.
I'll move over to Linux again in some flavor or another. I've kept my hand in since the late 90s since my co-lo server runs CentOS (free RedHat essentially). It has gotten a WHOLE lot easier since the days of WarpCore and cracking encryption with a Beowulf.
I'm going to build up an old Dell Latitude 870 that is still kicking here and use it for mobile and rocketry.
Or the government...
SaaS can be switched off.... I hate NOT being in control of my software....
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I don't mind cloud storage, as backup. As the only way to use this or that app I would hate it, but nothing (so far) has imposed that on me.
Tangentially, I'm annoyed (so far no more than that) every time I open a PDF file on my phone or tablet (both Android). The first thing Acrobat Viewer does is ask me to log in. "Do you want to log in with your Adobe account? Or maybe with Gmail or FaceBook?" "No!", I yell, "I just want you to open the damn file!" I can dismiss the login screen and it does open the file; I simply get annoyed by both the extra, useless screen interrupting my flow and by Adobe's presumptuous attitude.
Tangentially, I'm annoyed (so far no more than that) every time I open a PDF file on my phone or tablet (both Android). The first thing Acrobat Viewer does is ask me to log in. "Do you want to log in with your Adobe account? Or maybe with Gmail or FaceBook?" "No!", I yell, "I just want you to open the damn file!" I can dismiss the login screen and it does open the file; I simply get annoyed by both the extra, useless screen interrupting my flow and by Adobe's presumptuous attitude.
Do you mean every call -can- be recorded in an IP phone system? Because they certainly aren't all recorded in general.
dr wogz
Fly caster
I remember when software was a tool, not a lifestyle..
Exactly! I knew when I saw the registry in Windows 95 that things were headed downhill from there. Isn't bandwidth sparse enough? And we have to run our software over the interwebz? Like (I suspect) most of us dinosaurs, I like the software I've licensed on my PERSONAL computer. Ya know, in case connections go down or something. Looks like I'd better keep the old slide rule handy!
ETA: Most of us know better, but so many talk about "the cloud", and the cloud simply means "someone else's computing system, God knows where."
(Shuffles off grumbling and snarling and farting...)
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Look into Linux Mint. It's very easy for Windoze users to switch to Mint. Your wife might even like it. I run with the Cinnamon DE. Yet, when I want to get down to the shell, I can open up a terminal window and script to my heart's content.I lost about $20k of personal computing, network, phones, electronics, audio, etc. when a lightning strike hit the Cable Company's pedastal and traveled down the COAX from the UNGROUNDED pedsatal to the improperly grounded MPOE.
So I have ONLY this ONE desktop (built it for my XYL) for the last 2 years. I have been an IS/IT guy for almost 30 years and some years before that in the Army as an "additional duty".
NOW, that I am finally COMPLETELY retired, I am likely going to perform an exorcism on all Microsoftr product in the house EXCEPT this machine.... as the XYL refuses to hate Microsoft.... yet.
I'll move over to Linux again in some flavor or another. I've kept my hand in since the late 90s since my co-lo server runs CentOS (free RedHat essentially). It has gotten a WHOLE lot easier since the days of WarpCore and cracking encryption with a Beowulf.
I'm going to build up an old Dell Latitude 870 that is still kicking here and use it for mobile and rocketry.
Or the government...
SaaS can be switched off.... I hate NOT being in control of my software....
@John Kemker , I have an older Lenovo ThinkPad with a SSD, i7, & 16 Gb Ram. I've been thinking about making it dual boot, either Win 10 or Linux.
I'm a Linux newbie. I do have some software that only runs on Windows. Can Mint or Ubuntu run Windows programs?
I served my time as sysop of a Unix system. I was finally pardoned by IBM with their PC, never going back to Unix. I've expressed my opinion of Linus Torvald previously so won't do it again. Even though I don't have Linux on any of my computers I can't get it completely out of my house and suffer for it every day.
No. But yes. Sort of. What windows programs do you really need? I think you'll find equivalents in the Linux world. For absolutely essential windows stuff, it'll probably run in WINE under Linux.
You'll be pleasantly surprised how snappy your old laptop is running Linux.
Thank you.
[rest deleted; I was misunderstanding original intent]At this point, I just want to stick it to MicroSoft... and Intuit... and, and, and,...
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@cls I own 2 VWs and I bought VCDS, a diagnostic software to check all the different systems. It has helped me keep my Gold & Jetta Sportwagen running for many years. Much cheaper than going to a VW dealership.
https://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/
Along with SaaS, the other thing that is being rammed down our throats is "account needed to install" software like current Windows. They've been making it harder and harder to install Windows without a MS account. I refuse to do anything other than local user accounts. In fact just hours ago I had to do a reinstall on a server, and had to use an older version of the installer to avoid the gymnastics they make you do now. The version of the installer I have is I think one of the last ones that doesn't bug you too much if you install initially without internet.
On the newer releases, if you can't get around the request to set up an account, you can use [email protected] and any random password.
I use FORSCAN on our Fords.... tons of money saved.... about $3k on the Fusion this year alone.
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So, if you remove it, is that a circumcision? /ducks
IF I could find some of the engineers who designed the Fusion, I might perform some excisions of various types....
And when you do the install it will encrypt your hard drive and store the password under that user account. If the computer dies and you have to remove and access that hard drive you will need that password.
This happened to my wife- she had bought a new computer and upon activating it, it encrypted her hard drive without asking her or getting her permission. That computer died and I removed the hard drive but couldn't access it. I went to her microsoft account and got website errors when I tried to get the password so essentially a dead end. I did a large amount of internet searching and finally found another web address to go to get the password. During my searching I found a lot of people who were caught in this trap.
The lessons are to not get a microsoft account, and keep your data backed up elsewhere.
Still infinitely better than dealing with Unix.
I'm not sure what precisely you ran into, but I can assure you that the method I mentioned does not involve activating Bitlocker. You'll still end up creating a traditional local account. That just bypass the screens trying to force a connection to a Microsoft account.
My understanding is if you have a Microsoft account that will automatically activate bitlocker, without asking you.
I don't know the answer to that. But the steps I gave above don't create a Microsoft account. They bypass the process of creating one.
THAT right there..... Crap like that has been happening since at least Win7.... Makes me angry when Microsoft INFLICTS their "help" on me without asking.
I am perfectly capable and willing to do ALL of my own security and data storage/security. I do not WANT Microdoft's help.
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That all sounds like a vicious ransomware attack.
While I largely agree with many of the SaaS concerns posted here, I'd like to offer an alternative perspective that may apply to some situations.
I'm actually onboard with Office365 these days. Note, I use it as installed on my PC and not solely through the webapp. While I've long preferred the full license, lasts forever approach, the SaaS implementation works well for my family. I've got 4 people that need to use the software across at last count 7 machines. Individual licenses for each of those PCs would be expensive and frankly I'd have to maintain all that and deal with the need to move from one PC to the next every now and then. As I've got it now, my single $99/year subscription covers I think up to 5 people on as many PCs as they need to use. And we all have it installed, so we aren't dependent on connectivity and we are immune to the web outages like were reported earlier in this thread. None of us really use the paired OneDrive; we just save files locally. Works well, is easy to maintain, and is cost effective.
Similarly I have some paid Android apps that I use a fair amount that are subscription services. I've had plenty of apps where the designer makes it a one time fee, then a year realizes their business model doesn't work and the app goes away. A reasonably priced subscription-based app that does something I want, and lasts since it has a functional business model, is better than a pay-once app that then dies when the developer stops working on it.
So, my point being, SaaS isn't ALL bad.
I'm actually onboard with Office365 these days. Note, I use it as installed on my PC and not solely through the webapp. While I've long preferred the full license, lasts forever approach, the SaaS implementation works well for my family. I've got 4 people that need to use the software across at last count 7 machines. Individual licenses for each of those PCs would be expensive and frankly I'd have to maintain all that and deal with the need to move from one PC to the next every now and then. As I've got it now, my single $99/year subscription covers I think up to 5 people on as many PCs as they need to use. And we all have it installed, so we aren't dependent on connectivity and we are immune to the web outages like were reported earlier in this thread. None of us really use the paired OneDrive; we just save files locally. Works well, is easy to maintain, and is cost effective.
Similarly I have some paid Android apps that I use a fair amount that are subscription services. I've had plenty of apps where the designer makes it a one time fee, then a year realizes their business model doesn't work and the app goes away. A reasonably priced subscription-based app that does something I want, and lasts since it has a functional business model, is better than a pay-once app that then dies when the developer stops working on it.
So, my point being, SaaS isn't ALL bad.
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