John, Re: http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/opinion/0608/08week.html Since you wrote your article about Linux, I am sure you have received numerous responses. I wish to make a few points about Linux and how it may be used instead of Microsoft platforms and how it may be used in conjunction with them. I have been using Linux since late 1993. I have installed it on computers from 386SX16 systems to PII/300, Dec Alpha, and Sparc. I have it running on laptops and desktops. I have even played with the real-time extensions. My uptimes (times between reboots) are measured in months (usually I reboot after a major upgrade or replacing the kernel). My laptop experience: ================ Until I got my Toshiba Tecra, I had a Thinkpad 755CD. It ran Linux well, but no sound or modem (IBM's MWave), so most of the time I had to use Win95 for my Internet access. Win95 crashed often and I always rebooted each morning so as to try to have a working system. When I got my boss's old Toshiba with built in sound and a PCMCIA modem, I loaded Linux on it (RedHat 5.0). Since that time, I rarely reboot, I just suspend every night and when I come in the next morning, all my windows are where I left off (including Netscape, WordPerfect, etc.). I even leave it suspended over the weekend with no problems. It even has an internal ZIP drive, no problems. My development experience: ===================== I have several engineers working for me writing code in the NT world. They started out being MS fans, but now "spit" at the mention of MS. They are tired of how each time MS comes out with a new release of Visual C++ something is broken. They are tired of how MS no longer supports even Win32S (for Win3.1, which a major client uses still). They are tired of how some features work well with NT, sort of with Win95 OSR2, and not at all with Win95 initial release. They are tired of how difficult or impossible it is to uninstall programs. They are tired of how hard it is to manage DLLs (load a new version of C++, it overwrites system DLLs and now Borland C++ no longer works, or another 3rd party program is killed). Linux, for the most part, does NOT have such problems. With RPM-based systems, each program is a package and you can clearly see what belongs to what, e.g., the GCC package contains files X, Y, and Z. Newer versions of RPM include package dependencies, i.e., package A depends on package B, and your are told if you try to install or uninstall A. Linux's DLLs are in separate directories. The binaries are in separate directories, etc. If you see a file, you can see where it came from (using RPM, do a query and you can find what package it came from, who made the package, other files in the package, etc.). Viruses and security: ================ Why do we still have them in the MS world? Since the 386 came out, computers have been capable of running in protected mode where most viruses would not be able to cause much damage. MS continues to sell Win95/98/NT with DOS FAT with no protection against viruses (is this on purpose so people can load software to snoop or steal your files)? Linux, like most UNIXs run in protected mode. You do most of your sysadmin work as root (able to do most anything), but you do most of your day to day work as a user with limited capabilities. The file systems are MUCH more robust than DOS FAT. Since the source is usually distributed, there is little chance for any type of virus (and making viruses in a protected environment is very difficult, some say impossible). Linux had a fix for the FOOF non-MMX pentium bug in a few days, but Microsoft said it was not a problem and did not provide a fix (they may have eventually). With the source code available, people fix the security holes and patches are available very rapidly. MS takes months to fix security holes (and many of them were reported and/or fixed in the UNIX/Linux world years earlier). Linux was the first to have a patch out for the Ping of Death. For security, compare Linux's open model to RSA versus Clipper. The Government wanted everyone to use Clipper (with no access to the code), supporting security through obscurity. Everyone flocked to the other models (where you could see the code and hence try to break it). Security by being open is a big plus. What about Active X -- if you enable it and trust a site that site can upgrade your machine (i.e., replace files, read files like your quicken files or spreadsheets, etc.). Do you trust corporations to not take advantage of this? MS wants you to use this despite the security problems (is anyone else behind this movement so they too can read your files?). Servers: ====== NT costs mega$ when you add the E-MAIL licenses, etc. Linux is cheap with unlimited E-MAIL, etc. I have a CD-ROM that has bluescreened about 12 NT 4.0 SP 3 boxes and messed up a Win98 beta, just by clicking on a directory. My new Dell WS 400 will bluescreen when a program goes to check on my parallel port ZIP and no disk is in the drive (about every 3-4 days). (The Blue Screen of Death, or BSOD). Linux is stable. It almost never crashes (only when something REALLY BAD happens, e.g., memory, disk crash, etc.). You can do system administration WITHOUT rebooting (try upgrading a package, loading a new software package, etc., on NT, you always are asked to reboot -- too bad for the other users of your machine). I have even changed the IP address of a Linux server remotely, without rebooting it. NT requires a reboot for about anything. Using SAMBA, Linux can be used as a file and print server for Windows clients (or Mars NWE or other packages that provide Netware compatibiltiy). Most Linux distributions include the Apache web server, the most popular on the Internet. Most Linux distributions support POP3 EMAIL out of the box. I have been using Linux as my server for years, with few problems. Take your old 386 or 486 and turn it into a print server on your net using Linux, instead of just trashing it. Further Reading: ============ Please do some research. There are some great articles about NT versus UNIX including: http://www.jimmo.com/Debate/intro.html http://www.kirch.net/unix-nt.html http://www.caldera.com http://currents.net:80/magazine/national/1524/inet1524.html http://www.ncworldmag.com/ncworld/ncw-04-1998/ncw-04-nextten.html Visit the WWW sites of Corel, Netscape, Sun, Caldera, Redhat, Suse, SSC, and others. There is much information out there. I would love for you to load a version of Linux and try it. Could RedHat send a copy of 5.1 to Mr. Dodge? Try it, you might just like it! -- W. Wade, Hampton Use Linux -- stability, performance, compatibility, flexibility, scalability, and FREE! Support Sun and the U.S. Government! -- PLEASE read the Red Hat FAQ, Tips, Errata and the MAILING LIST ARCHIVES! http://www.redhat.com/RedHat-FAQ /RedHat-Errata /RedHat-Tips /mailing-lists To unsubscribe: mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe" as the Subject.
