Hostnames spring forward
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2006-03-02 05:58:19 - Graham EllisI remember Seal (Capital S as that was really the name) nestling in the bottom of my carry-on bag as I flew from London to Miami way back in the last millennium. There are only certain things you want to check in and - well - Seal was the Sun IPC workstation of 1992 vintage that formed the core of the Well House Consultants course development resource, running Framemaker and Perl for the purpose. A carefully wrapped keyboard in my case, and a monitor borrowed from David in Naples, and Lisa and I were well able to enjoy a week together AND get on with the exciting new course development.
Why was the computer called "Seal"? Well ... host names change from generation to generation. I remember trees, colours, planets and famous painters from way back (and I remember Snow White's seven dwarves too), but more recently we've been through generations of fish, water mammals (so Seal was around at the same time as Whale, Otter, Walrus and others), then on to the "Indian Cuisine" generation and we're now largely flowers and plants.
At each generation, hardware costs drop. I recall running course with two people sharing one computer. These days, with something like Apache Tomcat admin courses, delegate may even have two computers each - one to use as their own workstation (typically running Windows) and the second to use as the server that they're administering via the network (often running Linux). And so it is that I look through a list of the computers that I've got on site this week and I see ..Buttercup and Campion, Nutmeg and Dandelion, Bhajee and Vindaloo. Foxglove and Flipper, Parsley and Tansy, Daisy and Chopsuey. And that's not to forget Snowdrop and Tormentil, and Elderberry and Thyme.
Yellow Crocuses are peering up through the gravel on our driveway, even through there was a vicious frost yesterday morning and snow fell while I was on site in Oxfordshire. Driving home, a discussion on the radio was arguing whether Spring should be considered to start on 1st March or 21st March. Whilst it certainly feels like winter, there's already signs here of an exciting spring ahead.