Mailinglist Archive: opensuse (1123 mails)

[hattons@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Steven T. Hatton)]

Michael Lankton wrote:

> What you all need to take into consideration is that linux is a unix
> clone.  Unix systems need to be ADMINISTERED, they were never meant to
> be desktop boxes.  Joe User on a unix network runs his applications, but
> the sysadmin is responsible for all the administration tasks.  Well, if
> you are running a unix box at home, regardless of whether it's freebsd,
> linux or whatever, you have willingly chosen to become a unix system
> administrator.  I don't understand all the whining about something
> you've voluntarily chosen to do.  If people come to linux expecting a
> windows that isn't windows, they are going to be disappointed and
> frustrated.

<SoapBox>
I came to Linux in order to learn more about Unix system
administration.  I use
Solaris at work, and figured that Linux would be a good place to start. 
I could
have bought Solaris x86 for $99 as a student.  I would have done so,
except I found
Linux to be capable of much more than I had imagined.  I have been
configuring
systems since '92.  I also worked on guided missile, digital electronics
for 5
years.  In addition I have a CS degree with a concentration in
hardware.  I don't
mind configuring systems, and I'm pretty good at it.

I have been involved with NT since it was in beta.  I believe that Unix,
and open
systems in general,  are superior to NT for both technical and economic
reasons.
The big advantage that NT has over Linux is the ease with which a novice
can
configure it.  Linux is not nearly as easy to configure.  Grant you it
is capable
of doing a lot more than NT.  When one asserts that one operating system
is
superior to another, he is basically saying that the better OS is more
reliable,
efficient, and capable of performing a wider variety of tasks.  One of
the
functions that is being demanded of OS's these days is to provide easy
to use
configuration tools.  I see nothing wrong with this.  Ease of
configuration makes
sense if the OS is to move beyond the enclave of highly specialized
computer
scientist.  There are many very intelligent people who would love to use
Linux
except they don't want to spend hours or even days trying to configure
their
printer.  Personally, I want to start using it for Mathematica.  If I am
in the
middle of generating a very complex animation of a physical system I
don't want to
have to take time out to try and figure out how to reconfigure some
aspect of my
OS.

I have the feeling that the people who don't like all the talk about
Linux becoming
user-friendly are afraid they will loose some perceived advantage over
others if
this happens.  These are perhaps the same people who feel that they are
smarter
than everybody around them because others don't know as much about
computers.  This
is the "if you aren't an expert in my field, you can't be very smart"
syndrome.
There is also the "what are you doing on this road with your horseless
carriage?
You're scaring my horses" syndrome.  You guys who want to continue to
use vi to
write your doctoral thesis are free to do so.  I will still use vi to
edit my
/etc/hosts file.

Linux can beat the pants off Micro$oft in the open market, if it becomes
more user
friendly.  At work we have several Compaq Proliant 7000s with 4 CPU's, 4
Gig of
RAM, 450 Gig of hard drive and Windoze NT running on them.  This is
enough power to
handle most data processing need of a medium size organization.  All the
file and
print servers in the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) are
running NT.  All
the user work stations are running NT.  There are many people pushing
very hard to
try to do everything on NT.  The biggest advantage I can see NT has is
its GUI
configuration tool set.  M$ did a good job of designing the overall
architecture of
NT.  It is very modular, uses a micro-kernel concept, and uses a pretty
good VMM.
Some of these features are not part of the current Linux architecture,
as I
understand it.  This means that in the short run NT is probably easier
to modify
and improve.  There is no way that DISA could implement the same NT
based system
they currently have on Linux without a support staff with far more
computer
knowledge than the one that they have.

Making machines do things that are difficult, time consuming, or boring
is the
whole idea of computers.  If Linux and the GPL concept is so great, (and
I believe
it is) then Linux can be made to help the user configure his system in a
way
superior to M$.
</SoapBox>

Sorry if this rambles a bit.  I need to think about these ideas more so
that I can
find better words.

Steve


--

[<A HREF="http://counter.li.org";><A HREF="http://counter.li.org</A">http://counter.li.org</A</A>>]  Yo Bill!  Doo-bee, doo-bee, doo.

THE WORD OF GOD IS THE CREATION WE BEHOLD: And it is in this word, which
no human
invention can counterfeit or alter, that God speaketh universally to
man. - Thomas
Paine,  _The Age of Reason_

[L]et [the charter] be brought forth placed on the divine law, the word
of God; let
a crown be placed thereon, by which; the world may know, that so far as
we approve
of monarchy, that in America the law is king.  - Thomas Paine, *Common
Sense*,
February 14th, 1776
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