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Linux documentation is _very_ confusing. I'm not a 'normal' win. user, I used to write programs with turbo pascal 6 for DOS, and now I write a lot of CGI stuff, and some C++; maybe the reason I'm not using linux is because here (Buenos Aires) we didn't have good internet until 2 years ago, so I got used to windows. But I _can't_ read those "man pages". They are very confusing, log, with no examples. HOWTOs are fine, but if I want to do something different, I don't know where to consult.

When I was learning Perl, a friend of mine gave me one of those O'Relly (or something) books, and I was like the logenst book I've ever see. I like a good book, but I don't want to go through 100000000 pages just to get some data from a <form>, and open a text file.. I culdn't find a decent Perl tutorial on the net, and the perl man page is _very_ long and confusing, with no examples (I found an HTML formatted perl man page, but it's still no good).

Maybe I understand man pages now better that 1 year ago (when I installed the first FreeBSD), but it's still not good..

Imagine a normal Windows user..

Another nice alternative is Cobalt Networks' SSL server, that as of this morning was still $99. You can order it online over at Cobalt Networks.

The e-mail support is getting better this days, but there is no documentation about the implementation of the server.

Anyway, those servers are great..

The interesting question for /.ers is should Cobalt be viewed as a company that supports the OpenSource philosophy? Despite porting Linux to use MIPS, as far as I'm aware, they have not contributed their port back into mainstream (correct me if I'm mistaken).

Well basically Cobalt sells standalone server appliances and rackmount systems, a niche area eminently suited for Linux due to hands-off maintenance and need for long-term stability. Rather intrigingly, they use MIPS-based chips (is similar to SGI) which, despite corporate x86 fixation, is a very cost-effective and efficient processor. If one ignores benchmark pissing contests, MIPS chips actually produce very good real-world application performance per dollar. Some generic reviews can be found by searching zdnet for their products. While I have no clue as to their success in the wider market, I note that several ISPs offer bulk CPU/storage/network based on amortised capital cost + (storage+bandwidth) operational charges. This may be a good choice for companies looking for a place to park their corporate data without worrying about the fine details.

The interesting question for /.ers is should Cobalt be viewed as a company that supports the OpenSource philosophy? Despite porting Linux to use MIPS, as far as I'm aware, they have not contributed their port back into mainstream (correct me if I'm mistaken). Despite distribution hiccips and angst, RedHat have recognised the value of the Linux community by releasing a portion of its IPO shares to the hacker community but then their success is directly tied to the availability of high quality source. Cobalt is not exactly the same situation being more a vertical integrator rather than Linux distributor/support.

I suspose the point of all this musing is to think and explore the relationship between traditional businesses and the OpenSource "gift economy" as detailed by ESR. Would insisting on a gift (of shares) be considered boorish? A "gift" which is automatically expected suddenly shifts from a voluntary exchange of appreciation to a compulsary tithe on the future goodwill (ie thou must give away x servers or else!) which could shatter the easy-going nature of the OpenSource community. While individuals can be expected to keep social balances in their heads (e.g. cousin x gave y last Xmas so I'll give z in return where y~=z), corporations are run on tough balance sheets principles under recognised accounting rules with the sole objective aim of increasing "value" to "shareholders". This creates an unresolved issue in dicussing how corporations can both support and benefit from OpenSource without being seen as overly exploitive (which could potentially lead to loss of goodwill). What do people think?

LL

They run "Linux 2.0" but I couldn't find the exact distribution.

Basically they sell Linux boxes with Apache and Perl on them. Nothing that a typical /. user couldn't make, but the convenience factor is nice, and presumably they're simple enough to administer that even an MCSE could do it. .

You can start at Cobaltnet for their home page, or, being provincial, go to their North American mirror.

They were also mentioned in WiReD 7.05.

From there, you can read scads of reviews from Linuxworld and ZDNet, product specs, etc.

They seem to have a good product for someone (ISPs?) needing to add cheap, reliable, high performing web servers without needing too much inhouse expertise. And the cube is a funky cobalt blue box.

Why is this good for Linux? I suppose when you can go to a professional looking web site with your PHB and get some nifty servers preloaded with Linux shipped to you for far less than NT, you might start seeing more Linux boxes show up. It makes them more of a web page toaster than a complex, arcane, unsupported hack.

George

They run "Linux 2.0" but I couldn't find the exact distribution.

Basically they sell Linux boxes with Apache and Perl on them. Nothing that a typical /. user couldn't make, but the convenience factor is nice, and presumably they're simple enough to administer that even an MCSE could do it. .

You can start at Cobaltnet for their home page, or, being provincial, go to their North American mirror.

They were also mentioned in WiReD 7.05.

From there, you can read scads of reviews from Linuxworld and ZDNet, product specs, etc.

They seem to have a good product for someone (ISPs?) needing to add cheap, reliable, high performing web servers without needing too much inhouse expertise. And the cube is a funky cobalt blue box.

Why is this good for Linux? I suppose when you can go to a professional looking web site with your PHB and get some nifty servers preloaded with Linux shipped to you for far less than NT, you might start seeing more Linux boxes show up. It makes them more of a web page toaster than a complex, arcane, unsupported hack.

George

Is this /.? Or bad-attitude?

There's definately a move to put more diverse products into the market at SGI. And they've put good stuff out the door, but haven't been able to sell it in the volume necessary to pull a decent margin.

So how about 10) A bunch of people who played marketing experts on an Indy Cam find themselves unemployed on Tuesday and end up at Microsoft. A few years later, Linus achieves global domination. Even better, the engineers bought off by NetApp are revealed to have been working for satanic.org, a super-secret operations group of the ILUG. Netapp falls to (Linux MIPS based) Cobalt, and the penguin government purchases large numbers of big Onyx3's to model plans for paving Canada in realtime 3D. Said marketing experts are branded with a g and are exiled to Seattle without umbrellas.


Now is that b-a or g-a?

Highly cool.

Mike
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