RE: [ga] Working Group Decision-Making Software

[Roeland Meyer <rmeyer@mhsc.com>]

> From: k@widgital.com [mailto:k@widgital.com]
> Sent: Saturday, April 21, 2001 9:46 AM
> 
> As long as everyone is okay with the requirements posted on 
> their FAQ page:
> 
> Memory Requirements:  64M of RAM (96M recommended)
> Recommended Screen Resolution: 17" Screen running at 1024x768
> Operating System:  Microsoft Windows NT4 or 98
> Browser Version:  Internet Explorer 4.x or 5.x only

I have a few problems with this, for general use.

1) Windows-only: Many of either co-run or are exclusively on, some form of
Unix box. The software doesn't run there (maybe, under WINE, someone will
have to look).

2) Closed source. 'nuff said.

3) Some (myself) routinely run 1280x1024 resolution on 15-inch monitors.
Software that forces a de-rez generally doesn't live long here.

> I think the software looks great & I'd love to give it a try. 
>  Meeting 
> Maker is another possibility; but they haven't offered to let 
> us use it... 

We've standardized on MS-Office2K (Outlook2K) and MS-Exchange (ja, I know
what I said above). It works ... sort of (that's why I said ... what I said,
above). I know quite a few sites that are running iCalender to good effect.
Tinker-factor is a bit large, however.

> Don't think finding a server to house the product will be a 
> problem; but 
> need to take a look at the technical requirements -- Danny, could you 
> conjure up some machine specs for FreeBSD, Red Hat, or NTwhatever?

For the sorts of traffic we see here, it shouldn't cost anywhere over $1K
and I would almost say under $500. I have MS bloatware (MS-Exchange under
Win2Kserver) running on a AMD Athelon 500Mhz, 400MG RAM, and 16GB usable
SCSI RAID5. It is over-kill. I also, recently, built a dual Intel
PIII(500Mhz), with 30GB FastTrak RAID10, and 512MB RAM, for under $1000 (San
Francisco, East Bay Area). Yes, the software cost 5 times what the hardware
did. The larger cost will be colo housing and bandwidth (recurring costs
tend to overrun non-recurring costs, over time). 

What you want could be run on a BookPC i810
(http://www.pcchips.com/product.html) with a largish hard drive.

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