The itmWEB Information Technology Report

Produced by

http://www.itmweb.com
http://mis.miningco.com
http://www.jeffgainer.com

A monthly report featuring selected IT topics and time sensitive links.

Volume 2, Number 8, October 1998

ISSN: 1099-8411

Welcome to the 20th distribution of the itmWEB Information Technology Report. This month's edition is being distributed worldwide to 1,245 IT professionals and associates. You are receiving this report because you either requested it from one of the sites above, or you have been referred to the email list as having a potential interest. itmWEB's policy is not to SPAM. The itmWEB report is a non-commercial, professional resource, and care is taken to only send the report to interested readers.

Please find instructions for unsubscribing at the end of this report.

Please send comments or contributions to: feedback@itmweb.com

CONTENTS:

1. The Up Front Links - Technology News of the Day
2. Product News - New Developments and Offerings
3. Jeff Gainer's Critical Path - IT Insights
4. Management Quickies - Tips for IT Executives
5. Bug, Virus, & Hacker Alerts - Problem Awareness
6. Tech Bits - Rumors, Opinions, and Diversions
7. Selected IT Resources - Hand picked for Quality

I have been accumulating the items in this edition for about two months. For these last 20 issues, I have tried to locate items of interest to IT executives - who are about 80% of the itmWEB Report subscribers - in both the mainstream media, as well as the fringe rumor sites.

If this edition seems anti-Microsoft, it is not because of my personal opinion, it is because Microsoft news, and the company's actions, are currently dominating all of the IT information sources.

If you care to comment on any of this (and I hope you will), please try out the newest itmWEB Forums:

http://www.itmweb.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/Ultimate.cgi

Enjoy the read, this issue is packed with many choice IT tidbits.

- Russ Finney

Here is a bit of news regarding Microsoft's recent changes to its licensing policies. Worth a read if you are responsible for licensing within your organization:

http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/zdnn_smgraph_display/0,3441,2134891,00.html

If you have end users running PointCast at your company, you will want to read this next article. Our company has recently implemented this new "cache server", and it does take the bandwidth pressure off our internet gateway.

PointCast Fixes Bandwidth Headaches

http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19980831S0011

According to this article Netscape Communications Corp. has lost its lead in the Internet browser market to Microsoft Corp:

http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556342723-573

I have since seen other statistics which dispute this story. Bottom line - it's very close.

Intel and Netscape have both invested in Red Hat Software Inc. which distributes Linux. Developed by a Finnish programmer in 1991, Linux has since been given away on the Internet as "freeware". Linux is a version of the UNIX operating system. This gives the operating system a huge credibility boost:

http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556345286-ede
http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19980929S0013?ls=twb_text
http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/CWFlash/9809292redhat

Microsoft is reacting by considering a release of the source code for some modules of the company's NT operating system:

http://www.computerworld.com/home/print.nsf/all/9809216A56

(Recently, an important Microsoft strategy document was leaked regarding these developments - see the full details below in the "Tech Bits" section)

On the other hand, Microsoft continues its hardball strategy with its recent approach (or un-approach?) to Samba. They are changing their Server Message Block (SMB) communications protocol, and wiping out all support for Samba on the Microsoft website, in an attempt to kill this competing product. See the inside details in this recent Bob Cringely column:

http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit19980924.html

Patrick Van Renterghem, at his Belgium based "IT Works" website, has assembled a good links page for following the Microsoft anti-trust case:

http://www.itworks.be/msvsdoj.html

Remember Novell? NetWare 5.0 seems to be catching on with companies still committed to this platform. Ease of use, power, and scalability seem to have stemmed the defection:

http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/CWFlash/9809255netware

Some good news for AMD - its newest chip, a low-power 300-MHz K6 processor will be used by Compaq in its Presario notebook PC:

http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/CWFlash/9809233mobile

The new K6-300 will sell for $229, compared with $637 for Intel's 300-megahertz Pentium II:

http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556199938-883

As the battle for the internet continues between the browser makers, website designer headaches are increasing. I know many professionals who regularly test their pages with up to seven different browser products - and guess what? Their pages all look slightly different in each product. In some cases, designers simply can't make their pages work on all seven platforms. This is very frustrating for the designer, and ultimately you the website visitor. Read more about this issue directly from the inventor of the internet, Tim Berners-Lee:

http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/all/9809045berners

Here is something from the "gee whiz" department. IBM is working on a tiny disk drive which will be available for use in pocket sized devices. I'm ready for a new Pilot with a gig or two of storage:

http://www.techweb.com/news/story/TWB19980907S0001

Speaking of IBM, are you aware that the company has put its huge Global Network for sale?

http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/CWFlash/9809211ibmbuy

Rick Roscitt, president and chief executive officer of AT&T Solutions, has stated that they have an interest:

http://www.infoworld.com/scoop/scx?981001nw1

The new NT SERVICE PACK 4 is not drawing very good reviews. As usual, our company will take a wait and see approach to this new patch:

http://www.zdnet.com/windows/nt/security/ntbugtraq/

Here is a example of exactly why we frequently follow that strategy:

PLUG PULLED ON NEW OFFICE 97 PATCH

Microsoft yanks the Office 97 SR 2 patch after complaints that major bugs pop up during installation. Get the lowdown on what you should do (more on this in the "Bug Alerts" section):

http://www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/office_help/wow98/wow_sr/092898_01.html

Here is no big surprise. Guess what the only component of the new class of low cost PCs is which has not gone down in price? Windows. It has actually increased in price. This is impacting the major PC makers' cost structures:

http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19980918S0013?ls=twb_text

By the way, a $500 PC is a Network Computer (NC) killer. Oracle has already recognized this with their latest pronouncements. Why go to an NC if a PC is the same price? The software maintenance argument will not hold up a this hardware cost level.

Have you been to the "Unofficial Iomega Click of Death Homepage" yet? It tracks the Zip disk casualty figures:

http://www.thirdeyesp.com/isage/iomega/

Hitachi Data Systems continues to give IBM stiff competition in the mainframe arena. They are announcing plans to develop the industry's most powerful mainframe computer:

http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19980922S0004?ls=twb_text

Tech-Careers is sponsoring this edition of the itmWEB Report.

http://www.tech-careers.com/home1.html

Their well-designed, fast web site is built specifically for IT Professionals. At Tech-Careers you will find:

* Quality job listings directly from the employers * No job listings from recruiting services or temp agencies

If you're tired of wading through thousands of headhunter job listings to seek (or advertise) an IT position, check out this very professionally run service.

"Backlash"

By Jeff Gainer

Surely you remember this one:

What do you call a thousand lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?

A good start.

IT professionals and lawyers have a lot in common:

· Like lawyers, we are highly educated, highly skilled.
· Like lawyers, we are in high demand.
· Like lawyers, we and our firms survive on billable hours.
· Consequently, like lawyers, we work long hours.
· And like lawyers, we have an image problem.

These are indeed heady times for information technology professionals. Depending on which statistics you believe, there are 250,000 to 375,000 unfilled IT positions. Salaries are up 11% or 20%, again, depending on whose statistics you believe. Demand for new information systems continues to spiral upward. Internet use increases exponentially. Fixing the Year 2000 problem exacerbates the programmer shortage. These are heady times indeed.

But still, we have an image problem. College enrollments in computer science are declining and the central reason, it seems, it that it is viewed as distinctly uncool to be a computer scientist.

The supply is down and dwindling, and the demand is up and rising. Could it get any better than the present situation? It sure could get a lot worse. Here are some possible scenarios of the near future:

1. The programmer shortage eventually cripples the US economy.
2. The economic crisis in Asia and Russia finally, inevitably, affects North America.
   
3. The Years 2000 bug causes a recession.
   
4. All of the above.
   

The economic boom in the United States is now in its 90th month, the third-longest expansion on record. Yet the stock market has stumbled--not because of domestic news, but because of events abroad. The southeast Asian economies are in crisis, the "Japanese Miracle" has paused for a well-deserved breath, and that the Russian economy imploded long, long ago.

The United States simply cannot, to paraphrase Dr. Greenspan, remain an oasis of prosperity in a desert of economic drought. Further, even though the US and Canada are certainly better prepared than Europe or South America for January 1st, 2000, the chance of the Millennium Bug causing a recession, even a mild one, remains at an estimated 100%.

Our image problem is bad enough now. But remember the backlash on lawyers, investment bankers, stockbrokers, and other recipients of the largess of the Reagan years after that economic boom stopped? When the Y2K problem, the programmer shortage, or a combination of the two, or in combination with other factors, we may face a far more serious image problem that merely being propellerheads or nerds. We may take the blame for the whole mess.

Now, what do you call a thousand IT professionals at the bottom of the ocean?

Manhattan Beach, California
September 1998

Copyright 1998, Jeff Gainer, All Rights Reserved

Known in some circles as "Jeff the Evangelist," Jeff Gainer teaches software testing and test project management for Intersolv. He is a contributing author to Developing Web Applications with Visual Basic 5 and Platinum Edition Using Visual Basic 5, both from Que. An occasional contributor to industry publications, Jeff's road-warrior lifestyle has been profiled in Computerworld and Infoworld. In addition to his technical writings, Jeff sometimes writes mystery fiction; his work has been published by The Case. On quiet summer evenings, he dons a patriotic costume, flies through the air, and fights crime.

You can visit Jeff's Web site and read some of his writings at http://www.jeffgainer.com/, or contact him by email at: gainerj@jeffgainer.com.

CIO magazine has a good article which points out that the bottom line for judging a IT department is the end user's opinion - not impressive metrics or statistics:

http://www.cio.com/archive/enterprise/091598_reality.html

My philosophy is even more basic. The only systems which really matter are those that actually get implemented into production. Period. In my years as a consultant, I saw many departments with "good intention" efforts which never made it into the hands of the end user. Good intentions don't count for anything if the results don't impact the business.

If your company is global like mine, getting systems implemented on a worldwide basis is even more challenging. The ultimate effort may include project team members from all over the planet. CIO magazine looks at this process, and some of the mistakes to avoid:

Team Heat
http://www.cio.com/archive/090198_team.html

How tuned into your software license process are you? The rules are changing and it is incumbent on the IT executive to understand these agreements. Another CIO article examines this issue in detail:

http://www.cio.com/archive/webbusiness/100198_gray.html

By the way, Microsoft has changed its licensing terms. The new language could mean a higher cost to your organization:

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/98/0907/6205050a.htm

Here is the latest round-up of dangers to your operation:

Alert 1:

Network Associates has reported a new virus, called W97/X97M Shiver. This nasty new bug can actually jump between your Word and Excel documents:

http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/CWFlash/9809012newv

http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?98091.wnshiver.htm

Alert 2:

This virus hits MS-Access and actually damages the data records:

http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/zdnn_smgraph_display/0,3441,2131609,00.html

Alert 3:

If you use the Cisco Systems PIX firewall, the company has admitted to a security hole:

http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/all/9809045fire1

Alert 4:

Microsoft's new Office 97 service pack was so buggy that they actually pulled it from distribution:

http://cnn.com/TECH/computing/9809/30/officeusers.idg/index.html

They replacement patch is now available:

http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19981030S0014

I am definitely taking a "wait and see" stance on this upgrade.

Alert 5:

This next one really surprised me. Depending on when you reboot your computer the last few seconds before midnight, you can actually screw up the date of your computer in Windows 98. This could be an issue for your financial applications:

Windows 98 bug strikes before midnight

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/1998/31/ns-5219.html

Alert 6:

And even more unbelievable is this report:

"Microsoft said that users working with its FrontPage Web authoring tool can inadvertently delete the contents of their hard drives".

http://www2.computerworld.com/home/online9697.nsf/CWFlash/980505frontpage1F252

Alert 7:

And to make matters worse, here is a report about an internationally coordinated hacker group which goes after non-classified government sites and corporate networks:

http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/CWFlash/9809281hack

Many of you are probably already aware of "open source software". These are free programs written by virtual worldwide teams and posted on the internet. Many of these products are running the server side operations at the major internet service providers (ISPs). Examples include: Linux, Apache, Sendmail, and others.

Slowly, these products are find their way into corporate computer rooms. This is Microsoft territory, and the company is beginning to notice. Recently, a confidential Microsoft analysis which examined this situation was sent to independent programmer Eric Raymond. Eric is not revealing his source, but he has posted it on the web with his comments. He called it the "Halloween Document" since he put it up on October 31:

http://www.opensource.org/halloween.html

I found it to be fascinating reading. The document was originally written by Microsoft's Vinod Valloppillil, an engineer who analyzes industry trends, and it seems to be written for Microsoft executive management (including Gates):

http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,28215,00.html

My folks are speculating that the reason this was leaked was to build the case the Microsoft is really not a monopoly after all.

Do you lots of AOL CDs at your home and company every week? Get ready for some more - Microsoft will use the same approach for MSN starting this month:

http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2157708,00.html

I stopped by Ed Yourdon's site recently and found the following article in his Y2K section. It is an analysis of Bill Clinton's Year 2000 speech. Somehow, Ed managed to frame it within Walt Whitman's eulogy to Abraham Lincoln, O Captain, my Captain. This clever approach really is worth the read:

http://www.yourdon.com/books/fallback/CH10/Clintonspeech.html

NEW RESOURCES:

Wow! I have been staggered by the quality of the IT links accumulating in the itmWEB Selected Resources pages. It is worth a quick look into the 50+ technology categories:

http://www.itmweb.com/cgi-bin/dclinks98/dclinks98.cgi

Submitted links are added on the spot. Off-topic links get deleted.

NEW FORUM:

OK, this is my third try to implement forum software at the itmWEB site which might get some positive feedback and usage. I get many emails from IT folks stating they want to leave postings, but software is just too painful to use. After some really careful searching and beta testing, I think the latest offering meets the usability test.

Please stop in a give it a try:

itmWEB: Worldwide IT Forum

http://www.itmweb.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/Ultimate.cgi

Microsoft vs. the DOJ

Information technology developments continue to dominate the news headlines. The last two months have been no exception. The biggest news of course is the Microsoft trial. This case, brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, is seeking to prove abuses by Microsoft under U.S. anti-trust laws. The outcome could have a huge impact on the manner in which software companies conduct business in the future.

So far, the DOJ is bringing to light alleged "strong-arm" tactics employed by Microsoft to force third party companies to give up their distribution of the Netscape internet browser in favor of distributing their Internet Explorer product. In some cases, the DOJ is producing memos and testimony which suggest that Microsoft threatened to use its operating system and office products as leverage to insure that the third party companies complied. In Apple's case, the DOJ is suggesting that Microsoft threatened to withdraw support for MS-Office on the Macintosh if Apple did not switch to distributing Internet Explorer. Much more evidence needs to be presented before passing judgments, but the case is giving us a unique look at the backroom hardball negotiations occurring between these companies as everyone fights for their share of the internet boom.

SQL Server 7.0 Due Mid-November

Contrary to popular opinion, this is not a simple upgrade from version 6.5 to 7.0. This new database release from Microsoft has been rebuilt from the ground up. Version 7.0 is the product of the elite team of DB experts Microsoft has hired over the last several years into its database development team. This upgrade is Microsoft's play to become a enterprise caliber database on par with Oracle. only time and mission critical production use will validate this long sought objective.

Some News from Austin, Texas

Fortune Magazine just listed Austin as the No. 1 city in the U.S. for technology companies. The same week Newsweek listed Austin first in its list of hot technology cities. The numbers are amazing. In 1989, the number of software firms doing business in Austin was 177. Today the number is over 600 and growing! Over 32 companies have gone public since 1994.

Many of you may not be aware that the PowerPC Chip (used in the Macintosh) and the AMD K6 line of processors are designed here in Austin. The city boasts a deep pool of leading edge chip designers. Intel has finally noticed. They recently announced the establishment of their newest Microprocessor Design Center here in Austin. This is good news and bad news For the city, it means that a very high concentration of processor design activity will be firmly rooted in Austin. For Motorola and AMD, it means a potential raid of their high- powered design talent. To make matters worse for Motorola, Intel has hired away one of their very best design leaders, Mark McDermott.

For several years, McDermott headed the Somerset design center which was responsible for creating the PowerPC processor. McDermott knows, and is respected by, everyone in the chip design community.

He will attract many capable folks with the huge budget Intel is entrusting to him. I really have mixed feelings about the situation. Motorola and AMD have been gaining ground with their excellent products into Intel's huge market share. This could impact that momentum if certain people move to Intel. Technology continues to be a high stakes business, and everyone is playing to win these days. Here is the story from TechWeb:

Intel Opens Austin Development Center

http://www.techweb.com/news/story/TWB19980925S0015

itmWEB IT Report Archive (Past issues of this report):
http://www.itmweb.com/archive.html

Annotated MIS Net Links:
http://www.itmweb.com/cgi-bin/dclinks98/dclinks98.cgi

MIS Benchmarks and Metrics Scoreboard:
http://www.itmweb.com/bench.htm

Job/Career Resource Center:
http://www.itmweb.com/jobs.htm

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