Institutional Knowledge

3D models of campus buildings have begun to appear in Google Earth. Currently there are four of the more classical buildings:

1. Kendall Hall
2. Trinity Hall
3. Meriam Library
4. Performing Arts Center

Using RedHat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has many advantages, which nobody really cares about. What people want is a system where they can install the most common, yet “unsupported” packages. Fedora Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL) does just this very thing.

If you’re using RHEL you probably work in an environment where you don’t have root and the sysadmin will not just let you install random stuff you compiled, assuming gcc is installed at all. Even if you do have an area to install something from source, you’re now stuck with maintaining it. Enter EPEL, a community effort to take Fedora packages and make them available for RHEL 4 and 5. The list of packages is quite impressive, including painful things like php-mssql (for connecting PHP to Microsoft SQLServer).

Apart from providing packages, what it really provides is a sustainable way for your sysadmin to install and maintain packages that RedHat Network doesn’t provide. The basic setup is that your sysadmin installs a configuration RPM, which drops in the yum repository file and the GPG key used to verify the packages, and then just use yum like they normally would.

So, no more installing git from source.

1. Include people at every step of the process
2. Treat people as individuals
3. Recognize & encourage superior work

Motivation can never be forced. People have to want to do a good job

1. Make communications a top priority
2. Be open to other people: above, below, and beside you on the org. chart
3. Create a receptive environment

Communications is built on trusting relationships

By the time everyone on the committee has strongly influenced the colours, the functions, the placement of content, and every other detail, you’ll be left with a lifeless, senseless, overloaded site, and a powerful headache. — Mark Boulton