Our CIO did an information session about a year ago. He made one interesting comment. He said that in WORLD CLASS IT organizations, 25% of their computer systems (hardware/software) were obsolete! An organization of any significant size just can't afford to keep everything current, especially when what you have is running without issue. And given the steady stream of industry stories about upgrades gone bad, is it any wonder organizations will just leave well enough alone and deal with it when it breaks? I don't think so.

The best thing to do if you have these types of systems under your care is (1) warn management about the risks involved and (2) have a contingency plan for when it does break. Of course, when it does break, that won't necessarily stop them from wanting it fixed immediately or placing blame off of themselves (with good managers it should but how many of those are there?).

Nope. They went electronic a few years ago.

Nice trick I'll have to try it (just finished the starter toner cartridge and sent it back).

I would also give a thumbs up to Brother laser printers. Bought a HL-2270DW (I think that's the model -- wireless duplex) at Christmas specifically because they support Linux. Works great.

Thank you for this story. Laughed so hard I'm still crying, as this is what goes on in my head every time I hear some order coffee.

I lived in Toronto when the OSC opened. What great place for a 10 year old.

I just went to my 30th HS reunion. There were only a couple of my HS friends there (but enough that I went). The couple that my wife and I found we had the most in common with was someone I didn't even know in HS. As was pointed out earlier -- its amazing what 30 years will do.