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From: grante@reddwarf.rosemount.com (Grant Edwards)
Subject: Re: Linux thoroughly insulted by Infoworld!
Message-ID: <1995Jan24.175535.27286@rosevax.rosemount.com>
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References: <950116203411@lambada> <3fjcn4$24u@nkosi.well.com> <3fmi6c$ang@galaxy.ucr.edu> <3fvqbd$6v1@nkosi.well.com>
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 1995 17:55:35 GMT
Lines: 59
Henry Hwong (henryh@well.sf.ca.us) wrote:
: : >Nobody in their right mind is going to use Linux as a
: : >production database server.
: : I don't understand what you are trying to say here; can you explain what
: : you mean? Linux is currently being used in real-world mission-critical
: : applications. Perhaps those using it should hear your warning, if you
: : would care to explain it -
: Sure. I am in no way dis'ing Linux itself, but, rather, lamenting its
: state as a chaos-bred operating system. Fortune 500 businesses want
: certain things for their IS departments, one of which is support.
: Contracted support.
You can get that for Linux.
: Something you can hold over vendors when you don't get what you need.
And with Linux, if you don't get the support you think you're paying
for, you can go to another vendor -- and you don't have to change
operating systems! Cool, huh?
: Another thing they want is a skill that they can either hire (buy) or
: train their IS people for. Businesses want to have interchangable people
: (it's a harsh, cruel world out there), and, until Linux is used by a
: ton of other IS departments, which would create a large pool of people who
: could support Linux in a business environment, they aren't going to use it.
Linux only differs from other Unices in a few details. Anybody who is
familiar with Unix (and doesn't have his head up his ass) will catch
on to Linux faster than he can figure out what's good to eat in the
Cafeteria (I've been here 6 years and haven't figured that one out
yet, so maybe that's not a good point of comparison).
: Besides, Linux is (*gasp!*) just an operating system. Until Sybase,
: Oracle, or Informix port their products to Linux, why use it?
A ha! You've hit the nail on the head there.
: : I have been looking for ways to move more and more services from Sun
: : machines to linux machines, emboldened and encouraged by the spectacular
: : successes and rock-solid reliability I've seen so far...
: Stability should only be one factor when moving platforms. You should also
: consider what support you're going to get, as well as the cost of training
: your people on the idosyncracies of Linux.
I've used quite a few different Unixes (T-nix (v7-ish), BSD,
Coherent(v7-ish), Linux (Posix-ish), SVR4, SunOS 4 (BSD-ish), Solaris
2.3 (sV-ish)). If you're literate and have half a brain, there's
nothing so idiosyncratic about Linux that you can't be up to speed
in a day or two.
--
Grant Edwards | Microsoft isn't the | Yow! I left my WALLET in the
Rosemount Inc. | answer. Microsoft | BATHROOM!!
| is the question, and |
grante@rosemount.com | the answer is no. |