Re: www.microsoft.com sure needs a lot of silicon

Michael Parson (mparson_at_roloc.bl.org) wrote:
: In article <5ksobd$hvb_at_panix.com>, Bryan Althaus <bryan_at_panix.com> wrote:
: >Colin Smith (colin_at_mellifluous.europe.dg.com) wrote:
: >:
: >: I think Linux is going to hurt the big name unixes more and more in the near
: >: future. They may not be able to compete and to be honest I think they deserve
: >: everything they get.
: >:
: >The big name Unixes only care about selling hardware. The OS comes with
: >the workstation. Only Sun sells their Solaris OS for INtel. But the bottom
: >line is no company is going to save a few pennies going with Linux unless
: >there is another benefit above cost.
:
: Source. Getting source is the biggest reason. Supporting the hardware
: that I want to use. If I have a problem with a particular driver, I can
: probably find the email address of the coder and exchange ideas directly
: with him AND get the problem solved.
:

My hardware works fine and I don't have *any* source. I run a Tyan dual PPRO 200 MHz box (1CPU), Adaptec 2940UW, IBM 2GB UltraWide HD, 16X EIDE CD-ROM, Matrox Millenium 4MB, 3COM 10/100 3C900 and a Sound Blaster 32.

: >Applications? Nope. Solaris Sparc kicks Linux' butt. More stable
:
: What kind of applications are you talking about? 'Office-suites' types?
: Linux has Applixware, a bog-standard office package for UNIX sytems.
: Other Apps? check out the Linux Commercial-HOWTO, it lists /plenty/ of
: applications: http://sunsite.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/Commercial-HOWTO.html
:

Where is Oracle, Sybase and Informix? If I want 'Office-suites' I'll run Windows 95.

: >can do I/O a PC just can't touch. Better development environment?
:
: And the Linux/PPRO can do fp that the UltraSparc just can't touch, just
: look at the specs being fed into all of these DES cracking contests going
: on net-wide. The PPROs are beating the pants of the UltraSparcs.
:

Solaris can run on PPRO (see above). How many application or fp intensive?

: >Call me when an IDE like Java Workshop or Visual Workshop C++ show
: >up on Linux. This is professional tools for professionals. And what
: >does Linux have compared to say Solstice on Solaris?
:
: It's not all point-and-clicky like Visual-foo from MS, but Emacs is
: a pretty damn robust development environment.
:

Now I see why you run Linux! Visual Workshop is from Sun as is Java Workshop.

: >In any case, I see alot of Solaris Sparc servers and workstations with
: >PPRO/Pentium PC's running Solaris x86 and WABI. This way you still
: >got your windows apps when you need them.
:
: Wabi has been available for Linux for a while now.
:

For $200. It comes with Solaris. And if I want Motif/CDE more $$$. The nice attraction of Linux is that it's FREE.

:>: I mean why bother with Sun or Dec if you can do the same job for a fraction 
:>: of the price on a PC running Red Hat or Caldera Linux? SCO is already 
:>: feeling the pinch.
 
:>If I run Solaris x86 on the same hardware as Linux, how much more expensive
:>is this?  Since most companies already have Solaris Sparc in-house, using
:>Solaris x86 would make much more sense than Linux.

If it's on the Sun HCL it will.

: My roommate bought a shiny new Micron PPRO with some top-of-the-line
: cards in it. He spent hours on the the phone with Sun's Support
: trying to get the proper video drivers and updated net-card drivers
: to get Solaris x86-2.5 to work.
: Not to mention the megs and megs of 'Recommended patches' that he had to
: dl after he got the OS installed.

Solaris 2.5.1 is the latest version not Solaris 2.5. Once the OS ships, recommended patches are put up for download. If the hardware is on the Sun HCL, then your OK.

: Linux installed the first time, had X11 up within minutes of the first
: reboot.
:

Ok, no one has ever had problems installing Linux!? Please. I'm sure the people at Microsoft are saying how can we make Windows 95 as simple to install and use as Linux.

: Once I recompiled the kernel to include only the hardware that he had,

Why recompile? On Solaris boot -r. It's a dynamic kernel. Why should you ever need to recompile a kernel? This went out with SunOS 4.1.3.

:
: I've run more OSes than I care to think about in production
: environments, they all have their problems, and they all have their
: positive sides, but I'll take an OS that i have full source for
: any day.
:
: >Solaris x86 desktop with one years worth of FREE updates (which includes
: >Solaris 2.6) is $275. This includes WABI and CDE (Motif).
:
: RedHat Linux 4.1 $49.95 www.redhat.com
: Wabi for Linux 199.00 www.caldera.com
: CDE for Linux 274.95 www.xig.com
: ------
: 523.90
:
: Ahh, but you also get FULL SOURCE to your OS! What do you pay to
: get that with Solaris? =)
:

Game over. Linux is no longer free. There is no way I paying $500 for Linux. Linux's biggest thing in it's favor is price, it's FREE. If it cost money, Linux would never have taken off.

Who gives a damn about source except hackers? I saw UNIX source code in college (4.3BSD) and back then I learned a few things (like grep goto *.c comes back with alot of output), but in my present profession, just gives me an OS that corporate america runs on and some good development tools along with the exact RDBMS they run.

As a C++ coder I'm sure I would love looking at some .c modules :)

: >http://www.etools.com/gold.html
 

: >: Linux is cutting across all the markets. PC, low-med Unix. The big problems
: >: will start when Oracle & the other major DB vendors start to release the
: >: Linux versions of their flagship products.
: >:
: >Not gonna happen. Because Oracle, Informix, and Sybase are in this game
: >for not only the money, but the contracts. How many Linux people will
: >pay UNIX prices for an RDBMS? Oracle cost thousands of dollars.
:
: We did. Check out Empress (www.empress.com).
:

Your company is not exactly Oracle.

: >When your done buying your raid drives and Oracle and etc. the cost
: >of the OS is meaningless. At that point why run Linux?
:
: Cuz it performs.
:

Oh, that could explain why I never see Linux at any of the banks I work at, or down on Wall St. Other OS's perform to, it just can't be a religious thing. Received on Fri May 09 1997 - 00:00:00 CDT