Steve wrote:

Linux DOES cruft up – you’re probably just one of the smarter (more educated) users that doesn’t download EVERY. SINGLE. PACKAGE. that looks cool in the repository, allows enough space for the root drive, checks his logfiles every so often…
But most Linux systems will cruft up VERY badly within anywhere from 6 months to a year with my experience, unless you’re VERY careful about what you install and how your partitioning scheme is set up (also, try to use Ext3 if possible, it’s the most reliable FS out there right now)…

I can’t say I have ever had this problem on Linux. By default, it is good about rotating log files, so no bloat there. RPMs do not keep backups of previous files like Solaris does (keeping a Solaris system patched at regular intervals will decimate a filesystem, filling it with all the backout files). The only thing that kills my Linux systems is my insistence of keeping audit logs.

Linux DOES cruft up – you’re probably just one of the smarter (more educated) users that doesn’t download EVERY. SINGLE. PACKAGE. that looks cool in the repository, allows enough space for the root drive, checks his logfiles every so often…

But most Linux systems will cruft up VERY badly within anywhere from 6 months to a year with my experience, unless you’re VERY careful about what you install and how your partitioning scheme is set up (also, try to use Ext3 if possible, it’s the most reliable FS out there right now)…

I’ve been meaning to find some kind of partition imaging software… I get my stuff set up the way I like it, then every so often I end up having to reinstall, and it takes a while to get it back the way I like it.

Would really prefer something with as few buttons as possible – if it had nothing but “Make image” and “Restore from image” then that would be great :P

If you want to live in the VM world, try Sun’s VirtualBox

@Matt`: You could try clonezilla. It’s a linux based imaging tool and it’s free!

I prefer Acronis TrueImage for ease of use. Using it at home and at work.

I’ve been meaning to find some kind of partition imaging software… I get my stuff set up the way I like it, then every so often I end up having to reinstall, and it takes a while to get it back the way I like it.

Would really prefer something with as few buttons as possible – if it had nothing but “Make image” and “Restore from image” then that would be great :P

Any recommendations (free software preferable)

So how does this work exactly? Do you have your workstations run a stripped down OS underneath, and then launch a full screen VM emulation at boot time? I’m not knocking it – I’m genuinely interested how one would set up an environment like that.

We are running Wyse VXO terminals with an embedded VMWare VDI Client. The terminal will use RDP to connect to a virtual workstation (XP or Vista) running on a VMWare ESX server. The VDI is the magic that allows a pool of virtual desktops to be used as needed. The VDI infrastructure can bring more systems online if needed in minutes (a clone takes about five minutes to build). We are using roaming profiles to distribute the same environment no matter which system a user gets.

This is not a good environment for CAD or multimedia, but is the perfect solution for most users, especially administrative personnel. It will also allow the use of regular workstations to be used instead of just the thin clients.

@Mart: I can confirm all of these are mac machines. I don’t think there is a single PC featured in that commercial. Also, if you look at the error messages you will notice that the text and windows in most of the shots are not parallel to the edges of the screen – they didn’t even bother to align the images they were pasting in.

@Craig A. Betts: So how does this work exactly? Do you have your workstations run a stripped down OS underneath, and then launch a full screen VM emulation at boot time? I’m not knocking it – I’m genuinely interested how one would set up an environment like that.

@MrJones: Answers:

#1. Standard answer for everything wine related: yes, but not without a lot of tweaking.

#2. Standard answer for everything blending related: yes it will.

@Gothmog: Ooh! I like this. Thanks for the suggestion – I might actually recommend this software (or something like it) for our company. Then again I’m not sure if it would work well in our distributed environment – most of our employees work from home and in the field and never visit the home office.

Actually- I have some experience with a similar setup. We use a nifty program called ‘Deep Freeze’ (made by Faronics) on all Sales, Customer Support & Accounting PCs that ‘freezes’ the primary windows partition. All user data is stored on a secondary partition. What this software does is allow windows and the user to make any changes they want to- it then wipes them on a reboot.

I have a script thaw the systems at night and pull down any windows updates from our WSUS.

All in all, it works pretty well. If the user needs a particular program to troubleshoot a client/customers issue, they can install it- it will be wiped away when they reboot. Same goes for 0-day virus outbreaks- reboot and its gone. it’s saved me countless hours of fixing little piddly annoying issues. Most everything can be fixed with a reboot. If a reboot can’t fix it, I deploy a spare system and copy over any files they might have on their 2nd partition.

Questions:
#1: Will it run in wine?
#2 Will it blend?

With companies looking at virtualization, “Window rot” is becoming a moot point. At my company, we are moving to virtualized workstations running virtualized apps (kinda like running portable apps, but easier to centralize and license). When a virtual desktop goes wakko, we reload it from an image and voila, everything is like new!

I actually keep a ghost image of my systems at home for this very reason. All the important data files are kept on a Samba share on my UNIX box (which is backed-up to tape) so I can always feel free to blow away Windows at any given time. I usually will reload whenever I get a new game so it performs at it’s best.