Re: Thinking about upgrading to Solaris 10

From: Richard B. Gilbert (rgilbert88_at_comcast.net)
Date: 01/24/05 

Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 17:36:24 -0500

Greg Menke wrote:

>"Richard B. Gilbert" <rgilbert88@comcast.net> writes:
>
>
>
>>Is it so unreasonable to expect the vendor to provide documentation?
>>The specific problem and its solution were not covered in the SA238
>>course materials. The "Solaris System Administration Guide, Volume 2"
>>(805-7229-10) does not discuss the problem that I can find. Creating
>>print filters, filter definitions, etc. is discussed only in the most
>>general of terms. Is every sysadmin expected to re-invent the wheel?
>>Is it really so wrong to expect the stuff most people will need will
>>exist, be documented in such a way that it can be found, and will just
>>work? The necessary stuff is there for the Sparc architecture because
>>HP provided it but, for whatever reason, neither HP nor Sun provided
>>any such support for the X86 platform
>>
>>
>
>docs.sun.com and google worked fine for me. I export two queues for
>my laserjet at home, one raw PCL straight thru and one that pipes thru
>ghostscript so I can print postscript. The jetdirect laserjet at work
>is in lpr mode, driven from the Solaris server via a raw queue since
>the printer can handle postscript- no HP drivers required. In both
>cases I only had to tweak the config files that lpadmin generated.
>Not a big deal once you've set it up a couple times.
>
>As far as jetdirect goes, just telnet onto the printer, enable lpr and
>optionally disable everything else. No HP drivers required, plain old
>bsd stuff works fine here.
>
>As far as the parallel interface goes, just hook it up. Ensure the
>port isn't running too fast- this is characterized by single page text
>jobs working fine but multipage or graphic jobs start showing
>corruption.
>
>If the sysadmin is in learning mode, they will only go through this
>problem once or twice. As I said before, Solaris is not inexperienced
>friendly. The OS and the docs are arranged to maximize the efficiency
>of people experienced with the OS. Which makes working with Solaris
>like greased lightning, theres always a tool to hand- some better than
>others to be sure, but you're almost never stuck hanging out in the
>wind unable to do or change something. Your frustration indicates you
>are still on the learning curve.
>
>
>
>
>>I am new to Solaris but I wrote my first computer program, in assembly
>>language, for an SDS 930 ca. 1966 which, if memory serves me, was a
>>year or two before there was such a thing as Unix. My subsequent
>>background was IBM OS 360/370, IBM System/7, HP RTE-III and RTE-IV,
>>VAX/VMS, two years of IRIX, with brief exposures to Digital
>>Unix/True-64, and HP-UX. Except for IRIX the bulk of my experience
>>has been VAX/Alpha VMS for the last twenty years with some Solaris
>>(X86 and Sparc) in the last three years. I think I've paid my dues!
>>
>>
>
>So you've been a computer user for some time, but are a newbie at
>system administration. Its a different ballgame, would you expect an
>experienced carpenter to be a good machinist without spending the time
>on the learning curve?
>
>Gregm
>
>
I'm a newbie at Solaris system administration. I've been a VMS system
administrator for twenty years and have had two years experience
administering IRIX, 1992-1994. A long time ago and a lot of things have
changed. I've always found the various flavors of Unix a little
puzzling. There seems to be a lot of folklore instead of documentation,
things that "everybody knows" and nobody ever writes down or at least
nobody ever publishes. Whatever book I read never seems to apply fully
and exactly to the Unix system I'm trying to work with at the moment!
It's fine if you have the source code and the time and skills to reverse
engineer it but is there anywhere you can just read how to do it and
then go practice with some hope of success?

 

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