I too am a h/w engineer but with plenty of software experience too. Linux
is a lot more forgiving, or just plain compatible with more hardware, than
just about any OS other than those from M$. This is mainly due to the
legions of developers banging out device drivers as fast as the new devices
appear :)
As you say, no OS will run on faulty hardware, and will not do much better
on non-supported kit. Anyone who has tried installing NT4 on a cheap &
cheerful pc will have plenty of experience of how limited the NT Hardware
Compatability List really is. M$ will not support it's OS installed on
non-HCL kit, so at least we have something they do not!!
With linux you have a fighting chance of compatibility issues actually
getting resolved before the next ice-age! Until the hardware manufacturers
themselves start to produce linux/Unix drivers it's a situation we'll have
to live with.
BTW, I tried a full release version of BeOS 4.5 recently - if you want
seriously limited hardware support, there is Public Enemy #1. Commercial
Unix can be just as bad - some systems have a Supported hardware list
shorter than the ingredients listing on a can of soup!
-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis [SMTP:dlbt@pacific.net.sg]
Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2000 1:46 PM
To: abrahams@acm.org; Francois Pinard
Cc: Anders Dahlqvist; Lenz Grimmer; suse-linux-e@suse.com
Subject: Re: [SLE] Linux / Solaris
I am a hardware oriented person, that's my cup of tea.
The philosophy I hope to success is:
If the hardware is bad, no matter how good the software or OS is, its
just going to fail.
But, how many system (software) implementor on this planet really know
hardware? by reading this list, we may be able to conclude that some of the
problems are caused by some 'not so compatible' hardware mainly due to
design or QA control of the manufacturer.
I believe Linux can be used for serious work if you have the proper
hardware. Cheapo or unmatching hardware simply not going to hold this
promise. Agree?
A real person should solve the problem instead of avoiding it, if not,
someone else will. Agree??
Dennis/SG
"Paul W. Abrahams"
There's a belief among a lot of old Unix hands that commercially developed systems are more reliable and perform better than Linux.
One thing is that Linux is delivered on cheap hardware, which is not
designed to be as solid as those machines for which there is better bus
and memory CRC checking, and such other things. This hardware being meant
to be more dependable, people also believe stronger in their systems.
The Linux machines I used are very dependable, or so they seem. I'm lucky,
and most of us are. However, I have some friends who had intermittent
memory problems, or other difficulties, which are seemingly hard to
diagnose precisely. We just speak of "cosmic rays", then :-). A bit
irritating for them, but bearable nevertheless.
Real people do not take such risks as running important programs on Intel
machines. Unless they also run Windows-NT on them, of course :-) :-(.
"WorldSecure Server
Paul Sims wrote:
BTW, I tried a full release version of BeOS 4.5 recently - if you want seriously limited hardware support, there is Public Enemy #1. Commercial Unix can be just as bad - some systems have a Supported hardware list shorter than the ingredients listing on a can of soup!
The lack of varied hardware support for commercial Unices isn't as much of a problem as it would seem at first. Linux users are generally an adventurous and exploratory lot. Commercial Unices, on the other hand, are often used in an environment where they have just one job to do, and most interaction is over a network. Under those circumstances you can get along with pretty simple hardware aside from the processor, storage peripherals, and network interface. Things like sound and video cards just aren't an issue, and those cards account for a lot of the problems people have with hardware under Linux. I won't argue that administrators of proprietary Unix systems are right in their perception that Linux is less reliable and has less support than the proprietary versions. The question is whether that perception is widespread - and if it is, whether anything can or ought be done about it. Paul Abrahams -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/
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