PGTS Journal Edition 0001
April, 2002

Installing a real LAN used to be the province of the major corporates and cashed up SMEs. These days with affordable hardware and Open Source software, it is possible to set one up in your broom closet. All you need is a very big broom closet with a UPS!

This month concentrates on installing and configuring a LAN and website for a small business or SOHO. The remarkable improvements in Open Source software, and the reduction in hardware costs now make it affordable to own and install your own LAN. However, despite the low price tab for hardware and software, the complexities of System Administration, network configuration and security have, if anything, increased. In this inaugural edition of the PGTS Journal we look at setting up a SOHO network using Mandrake Linux and BSD 4.4.

The future looks bright for Microsoft. Or Does it? The giant corporation is the undisputed market leader. However, there are some striking parallels beween the apparently unassailable position enjoyed by Microsoft today and a similar position held by IBM twenty years ago. This article examines these similarities and asks the question: Could history repeat itself?