[PLUG] RE: the plight of Beaverton Library

[Brian P. Martin]

>   Regardless of Web browsing, how is the card catalog run? It used to be
> 'dyna' and I could telnet to it from home. That suggests it's running on a
> non-Microsoft host somewhere central. If so, linux and the Web browser of
> your choice(s) would work just fine. OTOH, if it's a custom app running
> locally then it may work only with Microsoft.

I agree we should get involved in this, and I think Linux can probably
provide a good solution once we know the requirements.  Web browsing
services are trivial, of course.  Regarding the card catalogs, surely
someone else has already wrestled with this problem, either victoriously or
otherwise.  I think we need to make contact with the Library staff, find out
what the requirements are, and then do some research on what's already been
done before we try to reinvent the wheel.

Possibly related, Ed Sawicki is part of a new venture in which they have
customized the kernel to provide a "sealed system".  The basic idea is that
the O/S has an area (probably a partition) for binaries and such that it
will refuse to update.  This is supposed make it highly resistant to
viruses, user tampering, etc.  This also makes it very easy to lock down the
systems.  I'm not sure if we need this, but it might be valuable in a
public-computer setting.  It might increase the Library's costs, but Ed may
be willing to make some sort of arrangement in exchange for exposure,
advertising rights, etc.  Ed, obviously, can explain his product and it's
benefits better than I.

-Brian

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Brian P. Martin
Martin Consulting Services, Inc.
Telephone:  503-617-4500