However, in 2001, the company's corporate Web site, www.valero.com, was created by an outside consulting firm using a proprietary content management system and hosted on a Linux/Apache server.
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Don't forget to throw in that old scare word "proprietary". Heck, maybe demon possessed would be a little less worrisome. Nope, no spin here.
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First, the (unix) site was extremely difficult to update and maintain for the Windows-trained IT staff.
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Hmm, you know, I feel the same way when asked to manage anything Windows. Its extremely difficult to update and maintain for this unix skilled guy. D'ya think maybe a little training might be in order?
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"Everyone maintaining the site was skilled in Microsoft rather than Linux technologies, so no one wanted to work on the site," explains Peter Ray, Senior Manager of Technology Assessment and Development Services.
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And Peter didn't see a problem with that? What kind of mis-manager is this Peter Ray. I pronounce him to be a total tool. Perhaps he'd be of more use parking cars out front.
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Both the source code for the site and the back-end data repository (the open source MySQL) resided on a server outside the Valero firewall. "Because we are a Microsoft shop, no one on staff knew how to create a distributed, secure Web model in Linux,"
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And apparently a 2 day short course was out of the question. Guess your data just isn't worth much to you Petey.
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Ray says. "A couple of years ago, we experienced a security breach and the destruction of quite a bit of content on our Web server.
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Really?!?! With the source code and the database outside the firewall? You don't say. And this surprised you how?
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Lastly, the site was difficult to scale because load balancing with Linux was far more difficult to do than it is with the Windows operating system.
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Hmmm, I betcha a short course can be found for that as well. Of course, that would be investing in your people and infrastructure. Mustn't do that.
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"Load balancing is built into Windows but is very complex to implement in Linux," says Shane Garza, Technical Analyst at Valero. "More people wanted to post content to the site, but we were running out of computing power and database capacity.
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Yeah, so maybe a little bit of actual capacity management might be called for. Oh, I forgot, all your managers are completely incompetent.

I don't know who said "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance", but these guys are really a brilliant illustration of the truth in that statement.

I have no sympathy for these people. They are pariahs in the industry taking up resources that competent people could use.