Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2001 04:09:35 -0500 (EST) From: "Brandon D. Valentine" <bandix@looksharp.net> To: Anthony Atkielski <anthony@freebie.atkielski.com> Cc: Jamie Oulman <jamie@techsquare.com>, Brad Knowles <brad.knowles@skynet.be>, <chat@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: Just lost one to Linux. Compaq server support. Message-ID: <20011220035021.Y21508-100000@turtle.looksharp.net> In-Reply-To: <017201c18931$e44933d0$0a00000a@atkielski.com>
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On Thu, 20 Dec 2001, Anthony Atkielski wrote: >> I agree with that sentiment wholeheartedly. > >It was a significant factor in my choice of FreeBSD. I really did not wish >to become tied to a new vendor after being tied to Microsoft--what would be >the point? Exactly. Although I must admit that Apple's OS X is pretty tempting. You are at the mercy of Apple, but at least you have the added bonus of knowing that some really good BSDers are working for them, that they've made the bulk of their codebase available, and that minor revision updates are essentially free. I love the BSDs and use them every place they're appropriate. Right now my home desktop PC is a FreeBSD RELENG_4 system running the latest XFree86 4 and all the goodies and it does okay but there are times I wish I could tap into a larger commercial software base. I used an SGI IRIS Indigo on my home desktop for a long time and still use an Indigo2 IMPACT daily as my office workstation. SGI IRIX is one of the better commercial unices in my opinion and it's essential I force myself to stay current with it since it runs a lot of our big iron. I'm not averse to commercial software on the desktop. I certainly can tell you than when I used the IRIS Indigo at home most of my workspaces were filled with shells logged into my FreeBSD machines though. =) I probably need to keep myself current on OS X anyway since it's a potential replacement for IRIX workstations if SGI goes under. Apple AIUI essentially purchased SGI's OpenGL implementation and worked it into Aqua. They've also got support for some killer hardware like the Radeons. >Do they really think that any >of these distributors will resist the temptation to move towards >proprietary, commercial products and increasingly away from anything that is >public and free? RMS provided them a license that puts a very annoying limit on how much money these companies can make. As Value Add increases one sees diminishing returns on the investment. >Linux has been dramatically overhyped and overmarketed--and these are always >bad signs for any type of software product, as they demonstrate that there >are people with ulterior motives promoting them. It doesn't just apply to software. See the Billboard charts, Siskel and Ebert, and the NY Times Bestseller list. ;-) >My impression is that >Linux appeals to people who have no previous exposure to UNIX, and do not >know just how scraggly and primitive Linux is compared to established >versions of the operating system. I have seen the same thing. People with previous UNIX experience generally feel the same way about linux that I do. >I honestly do not see any advantage to Linux over other versions of UNIX, >but I do see disadvantages. Agreed. >> I cringe at the way RH and its derivatives do >> things. > >It will only get worse. As Thomas Andrews said in _Titanic_, "It is a >mathematical certainty." Oh I'm sure it will. >> I would add however that, when I must deal with >> linux and I have a choice I prefer using Debian. > >Hmm ... it looks sort of free, for the time being. Anyway, if Linux were a >real OS, you wouldn't have to buy or acquire anyone's distribution; the OS >would be complete in itself, just like FreeBSD. As soon as you have to >_buy_ something from someone to get the OS to work, you've shot yourself in >the foot--you are tied to one organization. You do not have to buy Debian. It's a non-profit like FreeBSD. You simply need to download a floppy or CDROM image and boot it and you can install over the net. Debian does sell CDs but they're the same type of deal as the FreeBSD CDROMs, they benefit the Debian project. >> Some people's largest complaint about Debian >> is that the stable release is so far behind the >> linux mainstream but others would argue that >> this is what makes it so good. > >The latter group probably has a lot more IT experience than the former. >Anyone who salivates over every new release has never had to maintain >production computer systems. The more experience a person has as a system >administrator, the more likely he is to be extremely reluctant about >upgrading to a new release except when absolutely, unavoidably necessary. Amen. Brandon D. Valentine -- "Iam mens praetrepidans avet vagari." - G. Valerius Catullus, Carmina, XLVI To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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