Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 00:09:36 +0200 From: Brad Knowles <blk@skynet.be> To: Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com> Cc: Luigi Rizzo <luigi@labinfo.iet.unipi.it>, Dag-Erling Smorgrav <des@flood.ping.uio.no>, jcarlos@bahianet.com.br, stable@FreeBSD.ORG, questions@FreeBSD.ORG, security@FreeBSD.ORG, hitech@bahianet.com.br Subject: Re: Out of mbuf clusters Message-ID: <v04205501b40c5bd009bf@[195.238.25.190]> In-Reply-To: <37E6A807.7E07D48A@softweyr.com> References: <199909201247.OAA08309@labinfo.iet.unipi.it> <v0420551fb40c1bf1992f@[195.238.1.121]> <37E6A807.7E07D48A@softweyr.com>
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At 3:32 PM -0600 1999/9/20, Wes Peters wrote: > Granted, the answer DES gave was a little cryptic. Cryptic. Hmm. That's not exactly the word I'd choose, but I'm willing to leave it at that for now. > He was also pointing > out some of the crucial operational knowlege you need to SUCCESSFULLY > operate an IRC server. I disagree. I read what he wrote, and while those might be the necessary steps to run the world's largest IRC server, or the world's most secure, I think we can all agree that not everyone in the world needs to be a Superman in order to have an IRC server that doesn't spontaneously crash. Yes, some of those steps were necessary (most importantly, the one you outline below), but not all of them. > Let me paraphrase the simple answer: > > "You're running out of mbuf clusters, which causes FreeBSD panic. It is > quite simple to expand the number of mbuf clusters in your system. Go > search for the phrase 'mbuf clusters' in the FreeBSD handbook or the > -questions archives if you don't already know how to." This is precisely the answer that should have been given in the first place. Regardless of why he did it, what DES did was drive just one more wedge between the FreeBSD "haves", and the folks who'd like to learn more about what I still feel is the best overall implementation of Unix for servers (and arguably for desktop workstations). In the process, he's destroying a lot of good work by people such as yourself who would presumably attempt to close that knowledge gap in some way other than slamming the questioner at each and every step. I've known a lot of University professors like that. Regardless of how much they know, they are unable or unwilling to communicate that information in a manner which is useful and non-abusive to anyone not already operating on or very near their level. This makes life extremely (and unnecessarily) unpleasant for all the students who are forced to endure them, and the grad students who have to work even more closely with them. Many simply choose to go elsewhere. We'll never know how many Einsteins or Mother Theresas we'll never have, because they never got the chance to properly discover that side of themselves. > It seems highly likely that ridiculing those who not only took the time > to respond to your question, but also to GIVE YOU THE SYSTEM IN THE FIRST > PLACE is NOT a good strategy for getting more questions answered in the > future. In the end we all die. What will we be remembered for? Who will remember us that way? How many people will remember all the significant contributions that DES has made to the history of FreeBSD and the good of freely available OSes around the world, and how many will remember him for precisely the sort of thing that got this whole thread started? Of the people who remember him each way, how many other people will they pass on that memory to? How far will those passed on memories keeping getting passed on? Myself, I'd like very much to remember DES as a key contributor to what is still (for the moment, anyway) my favourite server OS, and I would hope that one day I might actually eliminate enough of my ignorance that I could possibly be capable of comprehending some of the stuff that he might have to share. However, at the moment, this seems rather unlikely. > Having a sense of humor will certainly help. It's very hard to recognize humour when it's so well camoflaged as vitriol. -- These are my opinions -- not to be taken as official Skynet policy ____________________________________________________________________ |o| Brad Knowles, <blk@skynet.be> Belgacom Skynet NV/SA |o| |o| Systems Architect, News & FTP Admin Rue Col. Bourg, 124 |o| |o| Phone/Fax: +32-2-706.11.11/12.49 B-1140 Brussels |o| |o| http://www.skynet.be Belgium |o| \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ Unix is like a wigwam -- no Gates, no Windows, and an Apache inside. Unix is very user-friendly. It's just picky who its friends are. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-stable" in the body of the message
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