Re: Linux vs FreeBSD vs SCO

From: John Schmidt (js_at_radix.net)
Date: 05/27/05 

Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 08:01:47 -0400

Tony Lawrence wrote:

> First, the "ps" issue is more complicated than it first appears. See
> http://aplawrence.com/Blog/B1011.html and
> http://aplawrence.com/Blog/B1012.html

It's entirely possible I'm wrong, but I'm fairly sure (how's *that* for
a CYA statement) unconditionally accepting "-" for arguments is required
for a POSIX compliant ps.

> Secondly (and in spite of the first comment), you are absolutely correct
> that Linux changes too damn much, ignores legacy considerations and is
> well on the path to perdition by making things much more complex than
> they need to be.

Legacy apps are one of the many reasons Solaris is my OS of choice.
Almost any binary compiled on an old Sparc2 running Solaris 2.4 will
happily work on a shiny new V440 running Solaris 10.

One thing I have to force myself to remember is that "Linux" is the
kernel rather than the full OS install. Basic configuration, init stuff,
services, and userland programs can vary wildly from distribution to
distribution. Most Linux boxes customers have colocated with me are
Redhat, but the few I have use Slackware, which feels much more like a
"real" UNIX to me. A _LOT_ of core system administration stuff is
completely different between them, which can confuse the bejeezus out of
me (especially first thing in the morning when I'm still sadly caffeine
deficient).

I'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing, but as a purely
subjective matter I don't care for it one bit. <- YET ANOTHER CYA

<snip>

> You quoted "Linux is
> for MS haters. FreeBSD is for Unix lovers". I don't disagree with that,
> but I do remind you that the second group is very, very small indeed.

I find more zealotry than is needed in both camps. As I'm in this
business longer and longer though, I've become a bit more jaded. I
simply want to use the tools (hardware platform, OS, development
environment, etc.) that make *my* life easiest. I'm not out to change
the computing industry. I do confess to being an MS basher, though...

JS

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