Keeping Computers Synced
I utilize a number of computers on a daily basis to do my work. The problem is: there isn’t a single computer that is usable for all my tasks.
My single biggest problem is: my corporate laptop. The “standard” image is Windows 2000, which isn’t bad except they load a ton of other crap that really slows the system down. The other “standard” image (which my local helpdesk won’t load, but I can) is a modified Red Hat Linux distribution. I opted for that about a year and a half ago and haven’t looked back.
The biggest problem I have is that the “policy” is that when connected to the corporate VPN, you can’t connect to anything else. This includes print to my network printer. Fortunately it also supports USB and Frys sells extra-long USB cables so at least I can print now. I still use Windows machines for some tasks that are, let’s face it, much easier to perform on a Windows box instead of under the confines of Wine emulation.
And even when you’re not connected to the VPN, the firewall makes it a little difficult to do “other things,” which isn’t entirely a bad thing, especially since my laptop connects over WiFi usually. It makes it very difficult to share information between my computers.
Syncing data between these systems is painful to say the least.
