HP Announces Support for Debian Linux 145
Bain writes "PC World reports that HP is to offer support for Debian Linux on its ProLiant and HP BladeSystem servers. Support will be provided by HP telephone operators rather than the discussion-group method that current Debian users rely on. The move to support Debian continues HP's relationship with the community-based OS, which stretches back to 1995."
hooray! (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:hooray! (Score:2)
"Ok, now open the control panel."
"What control panel?"
"Click Start, then click control panel."
"Start? What Start?"
Re:hooray! (Score:5, Funny)
> "What control panel?"
> "Click Start, then click control panel."
> "Start? What Start?"
Exasperated tech support guy takes a deep breath to stop from screaming.
"Ok, use the mouse, point to the lower left of the screen..."
"What mouse?"
"Arrrgghhh!!!!"
Level two support:
"Do you have ssh?"
"Of course"
"Ok, what the ip address and the root password?"
"Nice try."
"Well, I can't help you if you don't give me the root password."
"You said it."
"I said what?"
"You can't help me."
Level three uber-tech-support from hell:
"Ah, yes, I can see what the problem is."
"You can?"
"Of course. Lemme fix it"
"But how can you get in? You don't even have an account on the server?"
"Correction, it's you that doesn't have an account... anymore. BWAHAHAHA."
Sorry. I'll go back to coding crappy corporate proprietary code...
Did ANYONE RTFA? (Score:2)
well if you DID, you would notice that the support is for thin client servers. I very much doubt the people calling for support will have these kinds of issues
Re:hooray! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:hooray! (Score:2)
So, will Knoppix work in these boxes?
Knoppix is aimed more at desktop users, but has a lot more in there. It's worth a try, to see what is/isn't supported.
-- Rapidweather
Re:hooray! (Score:2)
Re:hooray! (Score:2)
Re:hooray! (Score:3, Interesting)
Now why am I imagining some ominous music and a fade to black?
I feel very, very bad for the poor folks answering the help line in 3-4 years when there are hundreds of small companies without someone who knows what they are doing. You think helpline support for Windows is bad? Wait until you've got to help someone who's only ever used Windows with their Debian install. And no, you can't tell them to RTFM.
/shudder
Troubleshooting Linux is easier than Windows. (Score:4, Insightful)
Remember, this won't be troubleshooting Apache/SSL or anything. This will be determining why the OS doesn't like the hardware and whether it is an OS problem or hardware problem.
Re:Troubleshooting Linux is easier than Windows. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Troubleshooting Linux is easier than Windows. (Score:3, Informative)
If you want to take a raw look at the files, they're located in c:\windows\system32\config\... event, application and security.
This isn't anything new. It's been around for ages.
Re:Troubleshooting Linux is easier than Windows. (Score:4, Funny)
Ahh, Windows. Stick a log file in a configuration directory, then take that configuration directory and stick it in a system file directory. Brillant!
Re:Troubleshooting Linux is easier than Windows. (Score:2)
In general, randomly browsing around a Windows filesystem won't tell you much, because most system file formats are binary, and system files are treated more like central repositories
Re:hooray! (Score:3, Insightful)
I suppose that there are always the HP-UX and ex-D
Re:hooray! (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:hooray! (Score:2)
Poor Folk: I have a problem with my Windows computer.
Help Desk: Reboot.
Debian Version:
Poor Folk: I have a problem with my Debian computer.
Help Desk: apt-get update && apt-get upgrade
Oh god... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:hooray! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:hooray! (Score:2)
Re:hooray! (Score:3, Funny)
<troll>And I'm so glad it's not bloody Ubuntu!</troll>
Heh. Or Gentoo.
Can you imagine phone support for Gentoo?
Customer: "I try to run Firefox, but it says "command not found".
Support: "Okay, Sir, just type emerge firefox"
Customer: "Okay."
Support [45 minutes later]: "Sir?"
Customer: "It's still compiling."
Support: "Ah, okay."
Customer [30 minutes later]: "Okay, done, but now it crashes."
Support: "Okay, I'll log in remotely."
Support [15 minutes later]: "I don't know how you di
Re:hooray! (Score:2)
Re:hooray! (Score:2)
Another Layer of goo (Score:5, Funny)
So when I call HP for support, I can watch for their posting on the Debian mailing list to find out the answer? This should be fun!
Re:Another Layer of goo (Score:2)
Re:Another Layer of goo (Score:2)
That's the beauty of open-source software--anybody can support it and become an expert just by examining the code. I'm confident HP's support technicians will have an intimate knowledge of administering and running Debian and will consistently provide helpful and accurate answers to all questions that customers bring to them . . .
*snicker*
Re:Another Layer of goo (Score:2)
It's tough to teach an old dog new tricks. Especially since the HP support folk are just used to saying: Download the latest Windows Update patches, restart your pc, and try again.
Re:Another Layer of goo (Score:2)
Re:Another Layer of goo (Score:2)
Re:Another Layer of goo (Score:1)
Re:Another Layer of goo (Score:2)
No, but they're windows users. A person can have 10 years of experience with windows and not really know how it works.
How many clueless debian users do you know?
Re:Another Layer of goo (Score:2)
Was that a trick question? You'd be surprised, unlike people who've
visited the various IRC channels.
Re:Another Layer of goo (Score:2)
Re:Another Layer of goo (Score:2)
Indeed. On the other hand, the users who attend #debian on Sundays all had the ability to start up an IRC client and find the channel.
Re:Another Layer of goo (Score:2)
How hard will it be to teach them say "aptitude update && aptitude dist-upgrade"??
Re:Another Layer of goo (Score:2)
customer: you mean like bash?
tech: uh, yeah, sure, try that, now type attitude update
customer: command not found
tech: really? oh wait, this one is weird, try a-p-t-i-t-u-d-e update
customer: there we go
tech: now when that's finished type attitude d-i-s-t minus upgrade
customer: command not found. try it again.
tech: a-p-t-i-t-u-d-e space d-i-s-t minus sign upgrade
customer: there we go
tech: next time RTFM and don't call me. you interrupted my new addiction, frozen bu
Re:Another Layer of goo (Score:2)
Damn it Jim, it's upgrade! Nobody (except Debian developers) should ever have done a dist-upgrade of any given Debian machine more than a dozen times. dist-upgrade is for switching between major versions of the distribution. It's not for everyday use!
On the other hand, it's exactly what I'd expect from some techs, just like a lot of them thing ping is a DNS query tool.
Re: (Score:2)
Not hard, but that rarely fixes any real problems. You need to stop thinking like a Windows User and actually start thinking like you have functional grey matter between your ears.
Linux support (Score:2, Insightful)
Knoppix is a linux distroy anyone can use, the automated hardware detection etc is supurb. The DVD 4.0 version does demonstrate a lot of the incompatability issues he's talking about though. because knoppix has about 6 GB of applications (they're compressed on the DVD image) many of the applications are broken.
Debian is the distro Knoppix is based of of, so it has really good hardware detection, but the "stable" version is using the "older" proven stable detection routines. That means it doesn't configure
Re:Linux support (Score:2)
Re:Linux support (Score:2, Insightful)
Knoppix has failed me many times (but worked even more times) on desktop machines. Even knoppix 5.0.1 failed to do the simple task of installing grub. Any grub related command completly froze on an opteron, something you kinda need after moving the root partition to soft RAID-1.
And the persons who made the new debian installer images should be the first ones against the wall. Please supply some utilities with the installer, a cp with recursion or a tar that can actualy create
Re:Linux support (Score:2)
You could always, you know, help, if you think you can do better.
Re:Linux support (Score:2)
i don't have to be an experienced cook to say that a panckake is burnt.
i don't have to be an automotive expert to tell that a car has damaged headlights.
don't get me wrong, it is nice to help if a person can do that - but posts like this are useless.
there are cases when such a response is in place, but even then it can be crafted much, much more politely.
like, "those sound like good suggestions - unfortunately, currently all developers/documentation writers are busy with other t
Re:Linux support (Score:2)
Well, I don't agree that they're good suggestions, because I do have the knowledge to help with the Debian installer.
The Debian installer is designed to install Debian in the common case. It's not a rescue disc, nor is it a way to get Debian installed on weird configurations. If you need a diagnostics disc, use a live CD (there are ones besides Knoppix). If you need to install Debian on esoteric systems, then boot that live CD and use debootstrap.
grub is a fragile program (though less fragile than LI
Re:Linux support (Score:2)
of course. i'd even say that is stupid and arrogant :) ;) ) would be way better. remember to suggest possible help in writing or proofreading documentation, testing & reporting problems, and also helping on forums/irc etc. ;)
in any way, i believe that explaining the situation and suggesting ways to help (no, "code it yourself" does not count
that could get you one more supporter instead of annoyed user
of course, in cases when somebody who compl
Other Debian distro's? (Score:4, Interesting)
Still, good for HP.
Re:Other Debian distro's? (Score:1)
Re:Other Debian distro's? (Score:5, Informative)
HP's offer will apply to the current "Sarge" version 3 of Debian and to version 4, "Etch," due in December. (Debian versions are named after characters in the movie "Toy Story.")
Re:Other Debian distro's? (Score:3, Insightful)
I thought the above quote from the CNet article was also particularly interesting. Hooray for those HP customers that spoke up. When HP says "a number of customers", I assume they don't just mean 5 or 10.
Re:Other Debian distro's? (Score:2)
Actually it was 3.14159265 customers who spoke up.
Re:Other Debian distro's? (Score:2)
Wow, talk about a Round Estimate...
Solomon
Etch in December? (Score:2)
Sarcasm aside, good job Debian, congrats on earning vendor recognition. News like this does affect hardware purchases. Rather fond of Debian, and a nice blade chasis may be just the ticket.
Re:Other Debian distro's? (Score:2)
Since it's on servers, I find it natural that they support only stable. Testing/unstable is completely out of the question for that kind of support, too much of a moving target. Maybe you're running some backports on stable because of its age but not as the distro. As for Ubuntu, don't they have their own support program?
Still, good for HP.
A bunch of
Re:Other Debian distro's? (Score:2)
all other compatibility isues are more or less solvable, but having unsupported hardware can cause a lot more work.
this is especially true for hw monitoring modules in proiant series
Obligatory "the IT Crowd" quote: (Score:5, Funny)
Hello, I.T.
Have you tried turning it off and on again?
Are you sure it's plugged in? (Score:2)
Reboot Hell! (Score:2)
Everybody Loves Linux (Score:2, Interesting)
So where is Linux in all of this? Sure, some of the companies mentioned above have actually shown their support for Linux. Some others seem not to go much further than lip service. Dell comes to mind -- couldn't hunt down a preinstalled Linux box
Re:Everybody Loves Linux (Score:2)
I initially tried to buy the laptop with just linux, no windows, but they couldn't do it. The impression I got was that they weren't able to do it because you still had to buy a windows license with a
Re:Everybody Loves Linux (Score:2)
It's more likely that the HD's they put into these laptops come pre-loaded with an Windows image, it's quicker than installing Windows on the machine after its build. After the machine is ready, probably they are tested using some standart built-in auto-test. So there is no way a Dell notebook will come out of the factory without Windows installed.
It's just industrial scale economics.
I also tryed to argue with them, without success... but in the end is easier t
Companies selling preinstalled Linux (Score:2)
couldn't hunt down a preinstalled Linux box easily
Here's the LIST.
Companies selling preinstalled Linux Desktops and Laptops
http://lxer.com/module/forums/t/23168/ [lxer.com]
Re:Everybody Loves Linux (Score:2)
Re:Everybody Loves Linux (Score:2)
bdale garbee? (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.gag.com/~bdale/ [gag.com]
He's a former Debian Project Leader and now Linux/OSS CTO at HP.
Re:bdale garbee? (Score:3, Interesting)
apt-get install aclue (Score:2, Funny)
Re:apt-get install aclue (Score:2)
Go HP! (Score:2)
Somebody ought to say it:
Well done, HP! I hope this boosts your sales!
And on the day HP overtakes Dell in PC sales, I'll be opening the champagne.
Re:Go HP! (Score:1)
You don't drink much, do you?
define "support" (Score:2)
Re:define "support" (Score:3, Interesting)
Only time will tell I guess but they do have the know-how in the company... since Debian is used as an internal development platform for Linux and they also host one full primary mirror site.
HP also has a handful of employees that are Debian developers.
Source:http://opensource.hp.com/opensource_project s.html [hp.com]
Re:define "support" (Score:2)
Re:define "support" (Score:2)
Re:define "support" (Score:2)
Re:define "support" (Score:2)
Re:define "support" (Score:2)
Re:define "support" (Score:2)
There's a reason why it was removed in the first place. If . is in your path, the following commands can wipe out your system: "cd /home/someuser ; ls". The reason it could is that there could be a shell script called "/home/someuser/ls" that contains the command "/bin/rm -rf /". With . removed from your path, "ls" will always mean "ls".
Otherwise, you have a point.
Re:define "support" (Score:2, Informative)
As I said, only time will tell. But this isn't a service for Joe Shmoe. It's only available for HP Integrity and HP Proliant servers with some HP specific programs added to the Debian install. Which most likely means it
Re:define "support" (Score:3, Interesting)
I think the slashdot community is out of touch with who is really running linux. I can't even begin to guesstimate the amount of clueless windows admins who were thrown a linux box and to
Re:define "support" (Score:2)
Re:define "support" (Score:2)
This is vital (Score:5, Insightful)
If there's a Windows problem they can't fix they can fly someone in from Redmond to get the job done in a few hours. Unfortunately Red Hat can't compete with that (yet). If minutes of downtime = millions in losses, Official support that always gets the job done is a requirement that can't be ignored.
Re:This is vital (Score:2)
If a company is in a business where minutes of downtime means millions (of dollars) in losses, then they have the resources to be able to afford a guru on staff and official support is limited to hardware.
Re:This is vital (Score:3, Informative)
They sure are ramping up though. They're heavily recruiting. I went through a round of interviews with them for a travelling support position.
When I say travelling, I mean 95% of your job is travelling to other sites.
win-win? (Score:2)
I would guess this is going to be very inexpensive for HP to do. The article doesn't say, but I assume they're going to be selling the servers with Debian preinstalled, in which case not much should go wrong, and it should be easy to support. And if a lot of their customers have already been buying servers and installing Linux distros on them themselves, HP is probably already getting tech support calls from them (even if they're phrased as hardware support calls). The difference would be that now, the cust
Debian wins! Debian wins! Debian wins! (Score:1)
Enterprise Support != Home Support (Score:1)
Debian support means any GNU/Linux should work (Score:2, Insightful)
The bigger bonus is that if vanilla Debian can do it, any Linux disto can: Ubuntu, Gentoo, Slackware, whatever.
Re:Debian support means any GNU/Linux should work (Score:2)
of course, that would be pretty dumb from hp, so i really hope they are not going that way... at least when i was concerned with it, their h
Better than OpenView I hope (Score:2)
Security Support (Score:2, Informative)
Those of us working in the real world don't change versions unless we have to, because it lowers our TCO.
I know a data center that was still using RH8 on some of their servers up until 4 months ago and last year I talked with
Wow! (Score:1, Funny)
.debs?! (Score:4, Insightful)
--
Phil
Woo Hoo (Score:1)
How long before (Score:2)
Support and inevitability (Score:2)
Hey, It's a start (Score:3, Insightful)
But it's a start. HP offers Debian support. Next comes Company X. Then Company Y. Now there is competition, cause 3 companies support Debian. HP decides they want to jump out ahead of the crowd, so they start supporting Ubuntu and Fedora. Company X and Y slowly follow suite. The process continues. Boom, Linux is now part of every Server company's business plan.
Re:what about printers? (Score:1)
Whell, what else whould you whant from them? Whe need to start somewhere to get Linux mainstream.
Anywhay, I don't think Debian is as hard as some whant to think it is. Those having problems are usually working hard at being clueless. It's like whatching someone try to set the time on a VCR: "What? Press 'setup', select 'set time' and enter the time? Why make it soooooo complicated? I don't understand! If I try that it might exploide! They
Re:what about printers? (Score:2)
My HP printer [linuxprinting.org] works fine, thanks to hplip [sourceforge.net] (which, incidentally, is also a Debian package).
Re:Have you tryed (Score:2)
Oh is this for servers
Yeah, duh [slashdot.org]. For servers you type: rm -rf /