You won't believe this job description

sschmidlap · 12-19-2009, 07:52 AM

The following is not the entire job description but it includes the pertinent details I was so amazed to see. I thought " Are you freaking kidding me? This stuff is still out there"?

Experience 6 months -3 years in technical disciplines which relate to the duties assigned Vendor personnel to perform client personal computer builds and configurations plus customer assistance with problem source identification and problem resolution at the customers desktop. Includes consultation with the customer on the utilization of support groups such as Lan Admin, Networking, etc. Build and configure client personal computers. Provide deskside support to clients for PC hardware and software. Platform may be either OS/2, WIN 95,WIN 98, WIN 00 WIN NT, or other.

OS/2 Win 95 Wind 98? Is that cool or what?! Glad I saved my Windows 98 install CD after all these years!

Steve

wd40 · 12-19-2009, 08:15 AM

Actually, we still have a single OS/2 Server with a single NT workstation in production, they just refuse to go away.

we just got rid of around 10 of them in the past 6 months.

laidbackfreak · 12-19-2009, 08:16 AM

lol yep its still out there. I know we still have a few win98 & nt4 pc's around the place

Forsaken_GA · 12-19-2009, 08:34 AM

I sincerely miss OS/2. It's still one of the best operating systems I've ever had the pleasure of using

Turgon · 12-19-2009, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forsaken_GA

I sincerely miss OS/2. It's still one of the best operating systems I've ever had the pleasure of using

I believe it was very well put together and ORT'd before it went to market but they missed the boat. A colleague of mine swore by it back in 1997.

Turgon · 12-19-2009, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sschmidlap

The following is not the entire job description but it includes the pertinent details I was so amazed to see. I thought " Are you freaking kidding me? This stuff is still out there"?

Experience 6 months -3 years in technical disciplines which relate to the duties assigned Vendor personnel to perform client personal computer builds and configurations plus customer assistance with problem source identification and problem resolution at the customers desktop. Includes consultation with the customer on the utilization of support groups such as Lan Admin, Networking, etc. Build and configure client personal computers. Provide deskside support to clients for PC hardware and software. Platform may be either OS/2, WIN 95,WIN 98, WIN 00 WIN NT, or other.

OS/2 Win 95 Wind 98? Is that cool or what?! Glad I saved my Windows 98 install CD after all these years!

Steve

There is still a lot of legacy stuff sprinkled around there. This is why I recommend the newbies pick up a few used books on older tracks and technologies and set up some legacy OS at home if they can find the media. I will be doing the same when I get some time next year. I have amassed thanks to ebay NT Server 4.0, Netware 3.12, Netware 4.1, Netware 5 and MS-DOS! I need a DOS partition for the Netware installs anyway. The problem these days though can be finding suitable hardware to run it on.

Forsaken_GA · 12-19-2009, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Turgon

I believe it was very well put together and ORT'd before it went to market but they missed the boat. A colleague of mine swore by it back in 1997.

Well, back then, our options were limited, especially if you wanted to multi-task. You had Dos with DesqView, WFW3.11, NT4, or Win95. And NT4 was basically Microsoft's implementation of OS/2. Myself and several other sysops loved OS/2 because it handled multi-tasking for our BBS's like a dream. I started using it back in 1994 when IBM released OS/2 Warp, and continued using it as my full time OS until I finally gave up the ghost and switched to Windows 2000 after service pack 2 was released. OS/2 was a good and faithful friend.

TheShadow · 12-19-2009, 10:08 AM

Stop it Forsaken you are making me cry. Looks over at shelf of dusty OS/2 trash and trinkets. I still use my Microsoft OS/2 coffee cup, the IBM Warp one broke.

Turgon · 12-19-2009, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forsaken_GA

Well, back then, our options were limited, especially if you wanted to multi-task. You had Dos with DesqView, WFW3.11, NT4, or Win95. And NT4 was basically Microsoft's implementation of OS/2. Myself and several other sysops loved OS/2 because it handled multi-tasking for our BBS's like a dream. I started using it back in 1994 when IBM released OS/2 Warp, and continued using it as my full time OS until I finally gave up the ghost and switched to Windows 2000 after service pack 2 was released. OS/2 was a good and faithful friend.

Dave liked OS/2. He was less enamoured with Microsoft with its bells and whistles. Multitasking was what he liked about it. I think he used 'Visualiser' for his OS2 work and was happily remotely managing his OS/2 PCs on the Netbeui LAN at the command prompt level from his PC. You could open command prompts on all the machines across the LAN and work at the config file level on all of them remotely. No need for SMS or even TCP/IP I recall. There wasn't much UNIX about but he liked that too and Novell. He felt that Microsoft just didn't test things properly in the dash to get stuff to market. IBM just couldn't keep up with them in that regard. We stayed with OS/2 for a while because he faught tooth and nail to keep it as the platform of choice for factory systems due to it's stability. He would look at NT Workstation as an alternative if MS was going to have it's way for any new computer controlled manufacturing system.

Slowhand · 12-19-2009, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sschmidlap

Experience 6 months -3 years in technical disciplines which relate to the duties assigned Vendor personnel to perform client personal computer builds and configurations plus customer assistance with problem source identification and problem resolution at the customers desktop. Includes consultation with the customer on the utilization of support groups such as Lan Admin, Networking, etc. Build and configure client personal computers. Provide deskside support to clients for PC hardware and software. Platform may be either OS/2, WIN 95,WIN 98, WIN 00 WIN NT, or other.

I'm having a harder time keeping a straight face at the language of the post, not the platforms they want you to work on. I keep imagining that The Pointy-Haired Boss wrote this to replace Dilbert or Wally.

tpatt100 · 12-19-2009, 07:23 PM

When I used to work for local government they had to buy a certain amount of software from local companies. They had their bus system running off NT and Windows 95. When we were migrating to 2003 they could not because the vendor was still working on making their software compatible with XP....

Zartanasaurus · 12-19-2009, 08:56 PM

I have a couple of Win95 CDs still sealed in the package at work. Maybe I should break one open and put it on a VM.

Forsaken_GA · 12-19-2009, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Turgon

He felt that Microsoft just didn't test things properly in the dash to get stuff to market.

This was my biggest complaint with Microsoft for a very long time. They couldn't even get something as simple as file level security done right for a very long time. Around Win2k is when they finally started to get their act together, and when I was finally willing to use them again.

I still don't like Microsoft solutions, but they have their place. I still prefer to do as much with Unix as I possibly can, and open source software has come a very very long way in the past decade. Unfortunately, it still has a bit to go when it comes to enterprise solutions, but hell, if folks like Google have their way, all of that stuff will be in the 'cloud' anyway and accessed via the web. I was reading an article the other day about how Mozilla expects Firefox Mobile to kill the various smartphone app stores, because the developers will simply move to developing their stuff for the web just because it's less of a pain to deal with. They display a certain amount of hubris with their opinion that the web will win out in the end, but there may be something to it.

brad- · 12-19-2009, 09:55 PM

i just replaced 3 Win 95 machines last week

My previous job, I saw numerous NT and 98 machines that were tasked with something specific - and offices set them aside for that only, and they sat there for the decade.

I dont know why people scoff at it. If it aint broke dont fix it. Business are trying to make money, not fund Dell or HP & MS.

chrisone · 12-19-2009, 10:22 PM

wow thank God i am in networking, aside from IOS, i dont have to deal with operating systems.

Daniel333 · 12-20-2009, 12:27 AM

Actually, my last job we had a fleet of ATM's that were still on OS/2. Several thousand in production! I know they were migrating them to something new, no idea how it's come along.

Chrisdfur · 12-22-2009, 01:38 AM

Nassau County government in New York had a bunch of Windows 3.11 machines running some control and monitoring software for some critical infrastructure. That was about four years ago when I was working on a project with them.

JDMurray · 12-22-2009, 05:43 PM

And those old OSes will never die, as many of them are supported by VMware. DOS, Netware, Windows 9x and NT will live on in the "the cloud" forever!

veritas_libertas · 12-22-2009, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDMurray

And those old OSes will never die, as many of them are supported by VMware. DOS, Netware, Windows 9x and NT will live on in the "the cloud" forever!

Somehow that brought shivers up and down my spine

Paul Boz · 12-22-2009, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sschmidlap

OS/2 Win 95 Wind 98? Is that cool or what?! Glad I saved my Windows 98 install CD after all these years!

Steve

Most ATMs in use these days are running windows XP, but OS2 warp is still HIGHLY used. It's a little scary to think about that isn't it?

bwcarty · 12-22-2009, 06:57 PM

Is the company car for this job a DeLorean with a Flux Capacitor?

JDMurray · 12-23-2009, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Boz

Most ATMs in use these days are running windows XP, but OS2 warp is still HIGHLY used. It's a little scary to think about that isn't it?

I recently stayed in a very nice resort that was using Windows 2000 Pro to run their hotel management software. I also know POS distros that run only on top of Windows 95. I think the perception is that because MS no longer sells/supports those OSes that they much now be free to (re)use.

But, then again, there aren't too many Malwares for OS/2 Warp. Maybe using it is smarter that it seems.

veritas_libertas · 12-23-2009, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDMurray

But, then again, there aren't too many Malwares for OS/2 Warp. Maybe using it is smarter that it seems.

That is kinda of like security through obscurity in my mind.

Forsaken_GA · 12-23-2009, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by veritas_libertas

That is kinda of like security through obscurity in my mind.

I'm sure any added security benefits are purely a by product of someones desire to save money.

JDMurray · 12-23-2009, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by veritas_libertas

That is kinda of like security through obscurity in my mind.

And security through obscurity is fine when it is the natural result of a planned architecture and not relied up for a major part of a security framework. They using Warp because it's free, not because it's secure. However, Warp is so far off the radar of modern attack vectors its use inadvertently adds some security to the system.