Subject: Re: NT vs Linux (was: Re: truth or dare) From: system@fallout.lonestar.org Date: 12 Jul 1993 22:06:43 CST
In article <742261785rommel.root@ars.muc.de>, rommel@ars.muc.de (Kai Uwe Rommel) writes:
> Apparently, now that Cutler has left them, they can't write an OS any
> longer. One again they rush after MS for NT (after selling OS/2 1.x
> for quite a while) and even sell an old one (VMS) for new (and call
> that OpenVMS). I have yet to understand what there is open about
> OpenVMS.
Can't let this one pass folks...
OpenVMS has implemented more Open Systems Standards out of the box than
any single U*** varient out there. Not to start a flame war but OpenVMS
has Posix (1003.1/1003.2/1003.4), DCE, Motif, is XPG3 Branded, is being
evaluated for XPG4 branding, and supports a whole host of hidden and
not so hidden ANSI,ISO, FIPS, and IEEE standards.
Add all those standards and the other Features (True Clustering, Real
batch processing, job scheduling, Striping, Shadowing, Raid, and
High speed I/O drivers (even on PCs and Workstations))and you get the
difference between something that's free and something that works out
of the box without having to rebuild the kernel every time you need a
new command;-)
OpenVMS supports different applications and computer services than
Linux or Unix or WNT or MSDOS (unless you count ls, delete, and copy
as applications). It depends on the particular problem as to which
one provides the best/best-cost computing solution.
You can buy all the pieces for a Car from Autoparts Shop and assemble
it in the parking lot or just buy it pre-assembled from the car-lot.
It turns out to be a whole lot cheaper (in the long-run) to buy it
assembled and you sometimes get that added bonus of Factory Air,
trim packages, and CD player;-) (Although I bought, drove and tinkered
VW Bugs while I was in school and was never more pleased when I bought
that first new car -- But that's a different story;-)
****SOAPBOX UP*****
Step
Step
Step
Step
Step
Step
I don't want to take the fun out of your Linux/WNT/Unix wars but all of
this is unimportant. When Linux has User applications for it that I can
buy from magazines, get from the Internet, buy from "Software House",
or get from Target/Penny's/Sears then it will be mainstream enough to
be considered an real alternative desktop platform. Today WNT runs
WIN32, WIN16, MSDOS, OS2/v1.0, and Posix applications -- out of the box.
When LINUX runs on an Alpha chip, or the SuperSparc, or the Mips,
then maybe it'll give real workstations a run for their money. Until
then we have OpenVMS, OSF/1, AIX, SUNOS and HPUX....
When LINUX Support Symmetric Multi-processing, High Performance Device
Drivers, RAID Support, Transaction processing system, Batch job queues,
SQL access sockets, built in Database and file services for SQL, Novell,
Lan Manager, and NFS/Prestoserve then it can start to compete with the
Mainframe servers running OpenVMS, OSF/1, or MVS.
Step
Step
Step
Step
Step
Step
****SOAPBOX DOWN****
Despite positioning, few will use it in a commercial space because
the Application is what's important to the User/Solution and not the
specification, design, or features of the OS, Linux is only another OS.
You use the lowest cost OS with features that will run and support
"THE APPLICATION" that solves your problem(s), in most cases on the
desktop today that is MSDOS and Windows (because of the availablity
of cheap shrink wrapped software solutions), tommorow many folks are
betting it's WNT BECAUSE it extends the MSDOS/Windows environment and
softwares with true preemptive multi-tasking (instead of cooperative
like the WIN16 world).
Virtual environments for MSDOS and Windows Apps will fix the most
VEXing problems that Windows user have (and I don't just mean an
application that hung;-) Threads, and a real scheduler (just like OpenVMS)
lets WNT run Network jobs, database jobs and user windows without
interfering with each other's CPU, Memory, or I/O resources requirements.
So if a window gets locked up... You still have a management window
(or several) to shoot the locked one from but even if you don't shoot it,
all the processes keep getting CPU, Memory and I/O... Lock up a PC with a
compute bound process and you can only three finger salute it back
to sanity...
Linux is a very nice tight implementation of a Unix varient, a Great
learning tool and that it runs well on a PC is a big plus too.. Most
users however don't care and will not flock to something just because
it's free or it's U***. It's nice to have a dealer to go back to and
buy YES BUY software from... Even if you don't have to;-) --That's a
real OPEN System (Runs Freeware, Shareware, and PAYware;-)
> /* Kai Uwe Rommel Muenchen, Germany *
> * rommel@ars.muc.de Phone +49 89 723 4101 *
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You're in a Maze of Twisty Little Unix varients -- All different.