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William Peckham |
Who am I, eh? Well...
I am an experienced System Administrator, Programmer, and System
Analyst with YEARS working these machines. I started in 1969 with
Fortran (IBM Punch cards) on IBM 360 style machines at the
University, and worked my way through the years since. Sometimes
teaching, sometimes programming. Most of the programming in BASIC,
FORTRAN, Assembler, COBOL, and (most recently) C and Pascal. My
personal preference is Pascal, though I have begun to appreciate
Object Oriented languages.
I have recently worked mostly AIX, HP-UX, Linux, and Sun UNIX systems, and some OpenVMS and Tru64Unix HP systems. Less recently some Ethernet and Token Ring networks running mostly TCPIP traffic with Windows (3.1 - 2000), DOS, and OS2 PC clients. I am now working mostly AIX RISC-6000 system administration with some Linux, HP-UX, and Solaris mixed in for spice. I have enjoyed doing some admin programming and scripting in BASH and Perl, occasionally using some C: mostly for some AICX, SCO, Tru64 Unix, and LINUX System Administration. I was also working with LINUX and WindowsNT to keep some old desktops alive.
I find I prefer ANY version of UNIX to ANY version of Windows for most critical functions. The relative reliability for servers makes WinNT (and Win2k-XP, despite some significant improvements) look like a bad option. I can support it, but I like an operating system that is built to STAY running and does not require a daily patch check! I can see more reason for supporting Windows for client machines. OUTLOOK and a single EXCHANGE server makes for a powerful meeting management and communications tool!
Late in 1978 I joined the UNITED STATES ARMY RESERVE NATIONAL GUARD of NORTH DAKOTA. I served for almost 23 good years, earning E-6 rank and MOS qualifications on both 12B (Combat Engineer) and 92Y (Supply). The 164 Engineer Battalion (Mech.) is one of the finest units I have EVER seen, and I am grateful for my time with them.
I am currently retired from Det 1, C company, 1092 Engineer Combat Battalion of the West Virginia National Guard.
I am one of those strange ducks that did not join for benefits, education (I already had one BS degree when I joined up), or social reasons. I joined for purest patriotism. I love my country, its flag and constitution, and the freedoms that men have lived and died to preserve here. One of my favorite quotes, though I have long since lost the source, follows here:
"WAR: War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling that thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he cares about more than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. "
After working for almost 11 years for UniMed Medical Center in MINOT, North Dakota, I was hired by (i)Structure,Inc. in OMAHA, Nebraska as UNIX SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATOR. I worked out of an office at Weirton Steel of Weirton West Virginia for seven years, almost to the day. I worked remote from my home office in Weirton to support systems in Nebraska, Colorado, and at remote customer sites until a reduction in force in Aug 2005. (i)Structure is a GREAT company supported by the best people, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
The main language in use at CINI was 4thright (originally from Infostat, then CHC, now KEENE who purchased it to shut it down. DARN)! There were also many INFORMIX databases (many that I wrote myself) for single departments. I will miss the database work there, but I must say it was something of a love/hate relationship! More modern engines, while no more powerful, are MUCH more friendly!
I have somewhat less than love for our old ATT 3B2 series machines, but they do the work for small groups. While I enjoyed working on IBM RISC machines somewhat less than on the HP machines, they are a VERY GOOD platform. NOTHING native beats IBM when it comes to Disaster Recovery! AIX (with mksysb and savevg) and TSM whips every other DR solution I have seen. Any good System Administrator with experience can tell you that DR (Disaster Recovery) should be a factor in every decision, and every install. IBM is not inexpensive, but they make DR easy.
The list on my main page is free. As with all things, you get what you pay for. ;-) Any time used to recheck or maintain this list takes time from my wife Marge, and my sons Dan and Jerad. Please do not expect it to remain current. If all else fails, use a search site to look for what you need.
I can hardly stress heavily enough how important it is to learn to maintain your OWN list. You do this by first learning to use at least two good SEARCH sites, and picking the BEST of what you find to take with FAVORITES or BOOKMARKS. Such a list, in whatever format, saved on your local machine and to a network or removable media is your insurance that the sites you need most are only a click away.
| You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.  |
Designed by William Peckham © 1986 ANP BBS INC.