| Minimum Workstation and Software Site License Subcommittee Minutes |
August 15, 2002
Meeting in AH-1120 at 10 a.m.
Diana Osborn, Chair
XP Training
Carol Tohsaku queried department representatives whether or not they have deployed Windows XP on their departmental computers. Several spoke up but it was for a limited number of computers, with a few holding the OS to just their laptop machines. The Library is going to have their faculty/staff machines moving to XP during this semester, but a problem with Zen works is holding their public and SCC machines from using it until Spring 03. BATS training in Windows XP is not scheduled until Spring 03. Some discussion continued about departments who have New Horizon coupons.
Standard Software Survey
Diana brought up her test site on shannara.sdsu.edu for the proposed Standard Software Survey. Since it is not yet ready for "prime time", comments were given on further improvements (need to get quantities of each software selected, an addition version of Windows needs to be listed under Servers, etc.). Diana and Cyndi will continue to work on this, as everyone feels the data can assist with planning software purchases and software training. It was requested that the survey be done yearly. Initial survey will be done from the test site, subsequent surveys will be in a standard site off the MWSSLS web page.
MS Select vs. Enterprise
Discussion was held on the differences of the two Microsoft agreements and how that information is found on the MWSSLS/Chancellor's Office web sites. Diana mentioned the URL for the Microsoft Enterprise agreement through the Chancellor's office: http://msadmin.calstate.edu/
SIMS/R Client update
There is a new installer on the SIMS/R web site. Since Cyndi made a presentation at the recent IACC meeting, it was noted that further details could be found in the August 5th minutes of the IACC meeting.
SPAM
Ron Nash announced the implementation of SPAM filtering on ROHAN using SPAM Assassin. Using a rule based scoring system; Spam Assassin makes a wide range of heuristic tests on mail headers and body text (i.e. looking for common phrases or coding errors). The ROHAN System Manager has set the test scoring to 9 for identification as SPAM. This free and open source software utilizes distributed databases from Razor and SpamCop. Email messages identified as SPAM are not deleted from your ROHAN account. They are only marked with ****SPAM**** on the Subject: line. Occasionally an Email message is falsely marked as ****SPAM**** by the Spam Assassin program. A white list is being maintained to reduce this false SPAM detection.
Calendar Software
Odom Ky mentioned that the Meeting Maker license had been extended for 1 year and won't expire until June 2003. Consensus from those present was to reactivate the Calendar committee to assess possible alternatives.
General Discussion
After some discussion, it was agreed that Diana would send out Meeting Maker announcements of future MWSSLS meetings.
Keith Burt mentioned a recent attack on his department's computers that failed because of his use of Zone Alarm Pro 3 (paid version) and the value of layering security. Adam Royce said that the Shareware version 3 of this software is known to be buggy. There was discussion about configuration and the need to make it easier for the general user. According to Diana, Tiny is another software tool found to offer good security.
Adam Royce announced that his department's experiences with DEX, a local computer vendor in Poway, were excellent. DEX has great service and a cool deal on upgrading RAM.
Next MWSSLS meeting will be September 19, 2002 in AH-1120 at 10 a.m.
PLEASE NOTE: The statements found on the MWSSLS Home Page are for informational purposes only. While every effort is made to ensure that this information is up to date and accurate, official information can be found in the University publications.
Last modified on August 19, 2002
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