Oh Windows...

After switching to Linux a couple of years ago (thanks to the every-so-friendly encouragement of the co-authors of this blog), I had more and more difficulty with Windows.  It is as if Windows' hardware auto-detect is so advanced it detects the Linux presence in your wetware processor and enables the  pain-generator-module to bring some joy to your day.

Having moved to a new employer, the first thing I did at my new job was to install Linux.  During the installation process I notice that I do not have any Internet access. "No problem", I thought, "it's only the proxy..." (this being semi-corporate, after-all).  So after the install I booted Windows, went to Internet Explorer to get the proxy details.  This is how it looks:

That was painless! So I booted back into Linux and set my global proxy... and then... nothing.  I then continued to spend a full two and a half days trying to get my Linux box to log onto the Windows domain (my assumption being that that is a requirement to gain Internet access around here).  I first tried Samba... but had no joy. I suspected it had to be a setting somewhere that a missed.  I then tried 'likewise' (https://help.ubuntu.com/8.04/serverguide/likewise-open.html) after being recommended by a couple of websites.  No luck... I ran diagnostics tools, pulled and sacrificed some hair to the Windows gods, fiddled some more with Samba, cried a little, searched the Interwebs, cried a lot, sacrificed some more hair, no luck...

Finally I mailed the one other person that I knew ran Linux.  "You only need the proxy... no need to log onto the domain." was his reply.  I started to get that metal-taste in my mouth and felt the hair in my neck rise... back into Windows... and yip, to my horror, the textfield was too small to accommodate the IP.  Logged back into Linux, set the correct IP and viola! Internet is working...

I hate Windows... (and the number 9 a little bit too)