[no subject]

Which I could understand since it's pretty much a pain to implement in
1.3.x versions. Something 2.x has addressed, or so I am told from
colleagues.

> On the other hand - I am still waiting for the release of PHP 4.2.1 
> which was promised some time ago ...

Which brings me to my current dilemma. I am not so concerned with the
PHP aspects as I use Java and JSP.

But in general as my admin skills improve I find myself starting to
drift away from the Cobalts. Mostly because of the difficulty of
maintaining or upgrading software, that Cobalt developers have not had
the time do address.

Them having built the gui and modified the OS, if they do not feel
comfortable upgrading certain things how can we be expected to.

It's almost as if anyone using a Cobalt will not be taken to seriously
in the critical business app world. As for things like this, what I am
supposed to tell clients, I am waiting on Sun/Cobalt to make the changes
I need. Or make them myself and risk having catastrophic problems in the
process that may lead to an OS restore and etc.?

All for a admin GUI, that I also have to make sure clients, and I use
specific browsers or platforms. Is it really worth it?

I was really on the Cobalt band wagon a year ago, but the deeper I get
into them I find myself running into other issues. Limiting what I can
do and develop.

Therefore this has lead me to migrating certain services off my XTR and
starting to run dedicated machines, that I can maintain.

At the moment all that is left of my Cobalt is Web and Email, of course
FTP so that files can be uploaded, and SSH for admin purposes.

I am planning on setting up a dedicated email server and web server just
as soon as I finish some of my own admin apps.

Really the only thing I depend on the gui for at this point, from a
client point of view, is for email admin purposes.

Due to the nature of the apps I am deploying my clients really have no
need to deal with anything else. In fact the main things used via the
gui is the modify vacation messages. It's pretty rare for a client to
com on board and constantly be adding and removing users and email
addresses and aliases.

The other features they use are not included in the GUI, and some that
are I have specific apps for that they use.

So unless some major changes occur in the Cobalt line, I can see myself
migrating away.

Now I was pretty excited to learn of a feature on the XTR that disables
the gui permanently but then certain upgrades will still be somewhat
impossible, like upgrading the kernel safely. As my cobalt and a
dedicated Linux router that boots off a Zip disk and runs out of Ram are
the only servers I have using a 2.2 kernel. Everything else runs 2.4.

I am aware of a 2.4 kernel upgrade for the XTR but it also can be a
dangerous upgrade, and frankly I do not have the time to play/experiment
with it. Since my XTR is used for production/app deployment purposes.

-- 
Sincerely,
William L. Thomson Jr.
Obsidian-Studios, Inc.
439 Amber Way
Petaluma, Ca. 94952
Phone  707.766.9509
Fax    707.766.8989
http://www.obsidian-studios.com