A Brave New World – Truly Technology Agnostic

I am (perhaps overly ambitious…) going to start a series of posts titled “For the Linux Server Noob…”

If you have been a Windows guy or gal your entire life, and have started dipping your toes into the wild and exciting world of Linux… well, it can be a bit overwhelming. I know, I was that person… (and often still am as I am learning all the time.)

First, I commend you. In the words of Obi-Wan, “You have taken your first step into a larger world.”

Many (dark forces…) have divided the tech world into factions…

• Windows versus Mac
• Open versus Closed
• Symantec versus Trend
• Apache versus IIS
• iOS versus Android
• SQL versus NoSQL
• Quake versus Unreal Tournament

And on and on and on…

I have seen this personally in several areas. Here is who I have most often personally observed creating such distinctions…

1. People that have been doing something the same way for years… often think that their way is the best and don’t like to change
2. Folks that consume/play with technology usually are rife with strong opinions (ex. Xbox is > PS because… Apple owns all… etc.)
3. Tech Sales Guys that sell solutions professionally for a particular company… oh this is by far most common…
4. CIO’s and other decision makers that bought from the Tech Sales Guys at XYZ company and now live with those solutions

However, I believe there is a growing movement (the forces of light…?) comprised of people that have to actually work with all of this stuff on an ongoing basis. It is a growing phenomenon. More folks are starting to just not care about the label. They just care that the bloody thing works. Or perhaps more positively speaking… those who think critically are starting to see the possibilities of merging worlds and not ham-stringing their creativity by only focusing on one vein of technology.

This group of thinkers asks questions like…

• What happens when we add non-core functionality to our predominantly Microsoft network by throwing in some open-source solutions?
• Does my organization really need another Acronis backup license or can this particular project get by with just using built-in Windows Server Backup?
• Does open-source really make sense in this particular solution or would I benefit from having Microsoft at my back as my cloud provider rather than going it alone?
• Can this client benefit from an almost pure HTML website utilizing a tool like Jekyll rather than over complicating things with a database?
• Can I split off portions of my MSSQL database and convert them to NoSQL to better utilize the resources I have on hand?

I am not denying that this “group” has long existed. I am stating that I believe it is growing, and that it encourages me greatly. The democratization of information (aka the Internet…) has only just begun to re-shape how we think about things.

The smell of burnt rubber is heavy in the air as the days of monolithic architecture are screeching and sliding to a stop. There will always be some hold outs… But I believe that we are entering an era when more networks are going to be a colorful heterogeneous mix of Open-Source and closed-source, custom and pre-packaged, in-house and farmed out, virtual and physical, on-site and offsite, expensive and free, technologies all working together (and as we stumble into this new age… all breaking and blowing up as we get our legs underneath of us…) to deliver the end-services that we want and need in the most efficient and incredible ways possible.

So to you who are dipping your toes in the waters of Linux, I would like to offer some swimming lessons. I think part of the time I might just be throwing you in the deep-end (i.e. offering you lots of helpful links on a topic and telling you to go read and research) in addition to teaching you how to doggy paddle in the shallow end.

I took the plunge several years back and I want even more people to dive in. Let’s see what we can create!

What kind of world do you want? Think anything… – John Ondasik – Five for Fighting