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From: robert@slip.cc.uq.oz.au (Robert Brockway)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.advocacy,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.unix.advocacy,comp.unix.misc
Subject: Re: Linux vs FreeBSD
Followup-To: comp.os.linux.advocacy,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.unix.advocacy,comp.unix.misc
Date: 3 Dec 1995 08:27:50 GMT
Organization: The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
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Message-ID: <49rn26$pf5@dingo.cc.uq.oz.au>
References: <489kuu$rbo@pelican.cs.ucla.edu> <4972bn$psq@bell.maths.tcd.ie> <49ijf9$9rc@tombstone.kent.edu> <30BD2617.23585C28@mcs.net> <49k0dd$pfg@nntp5.u.washington.edu> <49ksgl$2pit@ns4-1.CC.Lehigh.EDU> <nelsoni.817779588@rintintin.Colorado.EDU>
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Ian S. Nelson (nelsoni@rintintin.Colorado.EDU) wrote:
: fjw2@Lehigh.EDU (FRANK JUDE WOJCIK) writes:
: >: Most importantly, Slackware releases rearely synced with stable
: >: releases of the kernel!!! Separate distributions from the kernel
: >: caused us no end of grief.
: >I fail to understand why getting and compiling new kernel sources is a
: >problem. True, installing a new kernel requires a reboot, but...
: I can think of two problems. a) Rebooting is not acceptalbe in some situations
: if you are running a business server (I had to deal with this issue at IBM a
: couple of time.. It's amazing how many people get pissed off because the
: server was down to reboot for 5 minutes) I highly doubt that Walnut Creek
: reboot very often. b) You have to spend/waste the time to keep on top of
: the kernel releases and issues regarding it. If you have to do work then that
: can be a problem. I run linux on one of my machines and I have been fairly
: happy with it, there are a few things that bug me but not too many. Now
: start looking for new kernels because of those few bugs? If I haven't upgraded
: in a year then they could be a lot of kernels to look through and they may not
I don't see why u have to look throught kernels. get the latest stable
kernel (where y is even in the x.y.z number), or the lastest development
kenrel if u need a special feature only available there (y is odd in x.y.z).
The kernel sites even have a file clearly telling u which one is the latest,
for eg: LATEST-IS-1.2.13.
: fix anything, it's realistic to assume that they could even break something
: else. This is one area AIX, BSD, HPUX, and all the other organized unixi will
: always have an edge; and it's an important edge to a lot of people.
The open developmen model allows for more alpha/beta testers, and thus
quicker development. Stick to stable kernels if that is what u need.
Anyway FreeBSD, and NetBSD have snapshots of current (alpha/beta) kernels
don't they?
: I guess a third problem with this is that recompiling the kernel isn't seen by
: everybody as an okay thing to do. Commercial unixi are starting to move
: towards the more dynamic methods. On an AIX box you can plug things into it
: and activate them with out ever rebooting or recompiling the kernel. There is
Linux has kernel loadable modules (and has had since pre 1.0). in addition
Linux can now have dynamically loaded modules thanks to kerneld.
-Robert
--Robert Brockway, email: ec531667@student.uq.edu.au
WWW: http://student.uq.edu.au/~ec531667
"Since the dodecahedron has 12 faces, it makes an ideal desk calendar."
Gary Chartrand and Ortrud R. Oellermann, Applied and Algorithmic Graph Theory.