Article:		Unfinished Business: The One Missing Piece
Subject:		Most replies are picking nits
Date:		2003-04-29 12:20:05
From:		nygard
Whether we quibble about the meaning of "competition" or viable alternative products, the fact remains that AD is a huge powerhouse in the enterprise. Ignoring it doesn't help. Criticizing it (valid or otherwise) doesn't help. It is there because IT managers are buying it, and they're going to keep on buying it. Right now, the one single thing that keeps me from using Linux on my desktop is authentication against the corporate directory. If we can bridge that gap, it only opens doors. I'm very much looking forward to the next part of this article.

Showing messages 1 through 5 of 5.

• Most replies are picking nits
  2003-07-12 10:20:55  anonymous2 [View]
  
  
  Just because someone purchases Windows 200x Server does not automatically mean they are purchasing AD for use as well.
  
  On the other hand, Novell has sold hundreds of millions of nodes of eDirectory separately from NetWare for use on Windows, Linux and Solaris.
  
  

• Most replies are picking nits
  2003-06-13 16:33:11  anonymous2 [View]
  
  
  "the fact remains that AD is a huge powerhouse in the enterprise"
  
  Huge powerhouse in the enterprise? You're in fantasyland.
  
  The author does not know what he's talking about when it comes to Directory Services and should do some research (unless he's an MS shill) to re-write the article. Novell has over 1 billion licenses in the enterprise, is the fastest growing DS in the market and is multi-platform with 10 years of evolution behind it.
  
  I know personally of 3 multi-billion dollar companies who looked at AD and decided against it due to either immaturity, cost, or lack of functionality....they're sticking with eDirectory and DirXML. Most "enterprises" are multi-platform and cannot migrate completely to Windows (2000 or 2003 server, 2000 or XP desktop). AD is not a "powerhouse" and is more often avoided than not...people would even rather stay on NT 4 domains (even when unsupported) than try to move to the immature bloatware that is AD. Just look at the extremes MS is going through to get people to migrate off NT4 (they extend support, they make upgrade offers, they're re-writing Licensing 6, etc.).
  
  Get serious.
  

• Most replies are picking nits
  2003-06-12 21:50:58  anonymous2 [View]
  
  
  If you want to authenticate Linux to a corporate network look at eDirectory as a corporate directory. It has many advantages over AD including partitioning, replication and synchronization. Check it out. With nSure Resource you can even sync your AD, MS Domains, LDAP, Exchange, Notes, SAP, Peoplesoft, SQL, LDAP and ... Password and accounts. Imaging enabling and disabling accounts at one location.
  
  Remember eDirectory works with and on:
  
  IBM AIX
  Linux 8.0
  Microsoft Windows NT 4.0
  Microsoft Windows 2000 Server and Advanced Server
  Novell NetWare 5.x and 6
  Sun Solaris
  
  I would say it is complete Corporate Network and not just limited to Windows.
  
  Hope this isn't too nit picky:-)
• Most replies are picking nits
  2003-11-12 14:37:48  anonymous2 [View]
  
  
  AD is the 800 Lbs gorilla from what I've seen. I've been looking for a job for over a year and have seen a 10 to 1 ratio of AD to *nix jobs and at least a 50 to 1 ration of AD to Novell jobs. You can say Novell has so many licenses and all that but the real world just doesn't support your argument.
  
  The point of the article was that the Linux community has not made a good enough effort to comingle with AD based on ADs popularity. Novell eDirectory is not really from the Linux community and it isn't free either. It may be a viable alternative but it isn't from the Linux community.
  
  Put on your IT Director or CIO hat (if YOU can imagine ever attaining such a position) at think about how many vendors you want to manage. Obviously, you want interoperability between the various OSes you run and it would be great if you can reduce costs by reducing the amount of admin overhead. Now someone suggests adding in Novell or IBM products to make MS, Linux, and Unix all play nice. Great, now you have to hire another skillset to make it all work and cross train your existing admins... Doesn't jump out as a huge money saver does it.
  
  
  
  

• Most replies are picking nits
  2003-06-12 21:50:56  anonymous2 [View]
  
  
  If you want to authenticate Linux to a corporate network look at eDirectory as a corporate directory. It has many advantages over AD including partitioning, replication and synchronization. Check it out. With nSure Resource you can even sync your AD, MS Domains, LDAP, Exchange, Notes, SAP, Peoplesoft, SQL, LDAP and ... Password and accounts. Imaging enabling and disabling accounts at one location.
  
  Remember eDirectory works with and on:
  
  IBM AIX
  Linux 8.0
  Microsoft Windows NT 4.0
  Microsoft Windows 2000 Server and Advanced Server
  Novell NetWare 5.x and 6
  Sun Solaris
  
  I would say it is complete Corporate Network and not just limited to Windows.
  
  Hope this isn't too nit picky:-)