What's "elective"? I have psoriasis. Like most people with the disease I can live just fine with few treatments that cost me a couple hundred dollars per year. I can also get some medicines that cost about $2000/month and treat it a little better.

This is part of why the cost of healthcare goes up dramatically if it's suddenly "free". People get treatments for things they wouldn't have had treated otherwise. Sometimes that good - sometimes it's a poor person who really *needs* the treatment. But it's as likely that it's someone like me.

What's the solution?

Exxon doesn't get "subsidies" - they get tax breaks. The government isn't giving them money, just allowing them to keep some.

Let me explain this from another standpoint. Having a web site that works with whatever browser doesn't mean that I'm anxiously waiting for Linux or Apple to take over the world. I don't believe Linux is going to take over the enterprise desktop any time soon if at all, anyway.

But I don't know what's coming down the pike in IT. Just 7 years ago I don't think anybody but Steve Jobs would have truly known how much folks would be hitting web sites from phones and tablets now. Even Windows has had dramatic changes from version to version.

We're in a position now where almost everybody who still uses IE6 does so because they have some shitty software at their company that requires it. Think about that. "Interoperability" doesn't just mean "Mac, Linux, Windows, whatever". It also means "Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, etc.". This is key: even if you're just going to stick with Microsoft interoperability is just as important. People stuck on IE6 now are using a browser that isn't even safe to use on the internet and doesn't work well with modern sites, anyway.

I've also found that folks who write code that works just about anywhere also tend to write code that also works "later".

So, yeah, this stuff is important. I have to think about it a lot in my business, and I help others think about it, too.

I did the software setup as an outside consultant. Someone else placed the server in its room. I would have never done that.

And, if you think that's bad - I had another client one time that had their Sun e450 plugged in to the same power strip as their laptop. They nearly lost their web site when they accidentally pulled the plug on the 450 instead of the laptop one Friday evening. Oh, and no backups.

I do what I can...

LOL. I was an "outside consultant" - I would have never set it up like that. The reason it was like that was that they moved the server at one point and didn't want to power cycle it. But it was outside my control.

I spent plenty of years in corporate IT, sorry. Interoperability was always a big thing - even bigger now with smart phones and tablets and all kinds of other ways to get at apps and data.

You remind me of a guy at a local company I used to do work with here. He ran the company on an AS/400 and couldn't understand why people weren't happy getting their reports as TIFFs. I was able to get his data out of the AS/400 and into an actual database that folks could connect to using odbc from their desktops, allowing them to not only run the same reports themselves but also pull the data into Excel and manipulate it further.

It doesn't take infinite money - hell, the server I set up to run it was pulled from the trash bin (literally) and reconfigured with FreeBSD in about an hour. It went down one time in 3 years when someone tripped over the power cord in the server room.

I know how to run IT, and I also know how to explain patiently to "upper management" why it might make sense to spend an extra $10 now for longer term benefits. These are skills you should learn.

I'm head IT manager... In fact, Firefox and Safari don't work with our ASP software either.

You need to lose your job - you're lucky I don't know the people who own/run your company.

Yep, Ubuntu makes Debian even easier to use and I get more up-to-date packages. I don't think I have to toot my own horn around here after Xmas of 1999, but I've been using Linux since 1995 starting with Slackware. Ubuntu is a great distribution, and that's largely because Debian is great.

I don't get it. I've used postgresql for years and I've never bothered tuning it. It's always worked fine out of the box for tiny databases and fairly large ones. I use Ubuntu for most server stuff, so "setting it up" involves "apt-get install postgresql" or whatever. After that I create a user, create a db, and get to work. It's about 4 statements that I have to type in. MySQL is no more work, but I'm not sure why anybody would use it given that postgresql is as easy to set up and does far more with no effort.

I like Inc. - they've definitely done a good job of keeping the magazine fresh and unique. Popular Mechanics is also just wonderful. They cover not only automotive stuff but pretty much all kinds of DIY issues. They even pushed Linux as a good OS for a home entertainment system a few years ago. Lots of different topics in there, it's an interesting magazine.

They actually tried, but NK pulled the phone cable out of the modem.

But they've never lied about the effects of drug usage, right?

Right?

Um, right?

"desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones powered by Microsoft's various Windows operating systems"

"tablet" and "smartphone" shouldn't be plural.

It's also devastating to individuals, families, and communities to take someone like Anaya and throw him in jail for 24 years. Pretending that it's harmless undermines other points.

Yep, video games, spreadsheets, guns - anything but that person who actually committed the crime...