Slashdot Mirror
Compaq Readies Solaris-Linux Migration tools
stereoroid writes "LinuxGram
is reporting that Compaq has nearly completed the Solaris Threading Library (STL), a set of tools that
help Solaris developers port their applications to Linux (White Paper here). I
suppose that when it's ready, it'll appear on opensource.compaq.com
alongside the Linux PPTP drivers and the "Single System
Image" Linux Clustering system they've been working on.
It's a shame, as Digital UNIX (True64, whatever marketing calls it) is the best UNIX I've used for production systems. DEC was doing real clustering and journaling filesystems long before any other UNIX I used (SunOS, Solaris, HPUX, AIX, IRIX, BSD, Linux). I used to run (not by myself, of course) the Ziff Davis shareware FTP side, which was a very high volume site that was unbelievably stable on a Digital UNIX cluster with a StorageWorks RAID rack. My personal theory is that they applied the robust VAX/VMS engineering to UNIX. VMS, while it's own little proprietary world was a nice place to live. Digital UNIX brought that product quality mentality to an open (as in UNIX) system.
The possible upside would be if Compaq decided to contribute that crunchy goodness to Linux the result would be wonderful. Linux is a great platform, but it's not as mature and robust as the high-end UNIX platforms, and Compaq could go a long way to addressing that. It's pretty deep work, though, that might require fighting some serious kernel battles in order to properly support clustering at the thread level. It's amazing to hot-plug a new machine into a cluster and see load migrate transparently onto the new box.
Maybe people will get confused and think about some other popular library?
I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar.
I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar.
Actually they have a full binary translater & emulator that will run your SunOS apps on Tru64.
It's called Freeport express. I don't think it's been updated in a while though. They probably do have solaris migration kits you just have to look.
Peter
--
www.alphalinux.org
www.alphalinux.org
Yes, Compaq is indeed following IBM's lead.
IBM has already developed porting libraries to allow Linux software to be recompiled on AIX. Looks like we're at the beginning of a trend by the major UNIX players to offer "easy migration paths" to their commercial products.
I have to admit, this is not the method of the IT industry's acceptance of Linux I had in mind.
--
Steve Jackson
Intelligent Life on Earth
Ack. Sun threads are very different from posix threads. The expected behavior is fundementally different. I'm sure any port would toss dozens of bugs.
Someone you trust is one of us.
DEC isn't a company, it's a virus that nearly killed Compaq when it infected itself. I've always gotten the impression that DEC managed to succeed (I use the term loosely) solely on its product merits; its management has always come off as being somewhat clueless and idiotic. (I live in the Boston area, so reports of Digital layoffs have always been commonplace events to me.)
I've never thought especially highly of DEC; I sort of always put them in the same broad category as Apple for a company that made excellent products but can't quite be trusted. The main difference: with Apple it's always been virulent egotism (especially under Steve -- being a Mac fan at the dawn of the 21st is a rollercoaster), but with Digital it was always abject and inexcusable cluelessness (viz. Ken Olson's comments about Unix vs. VMS and DEC's failed first entries into the PC market).
I actually have somewhat more respect for Compaq now that they've started to get some of the DEC toxins out of the system while still maintaining DEC's R&D rep. But I still wouldn't buy one of their systems new -- their home systems are ugly, their business systems are just sort of cheezy-looking (except for those workstation cases -- silver and black with Jenna Jameson-level sex appeal) -- even worse than IBM's VogonBoxen. (I do have an old Compaq Prolinea, a system so dumbed down that I've had a love-hate relationship since the day I bought it for $90 heavily used, but it's been retired.)
I do think they could do a little better in the TLA department, but it's nice to see something like this. It's the kind of thing open source should be -- at least if there's bloat it's cool bloat.
/Brian
Solaris is an enterprise-level system. Linux started on the desktop and hasn't grown to that level yet. I'm not saying it won't, but it's not there yet.
But there is a logic to this -- essentially Compaq, being somewhat back of the pack, is hedging their bets on the possibility that Linux will attain enterprise respectability. At the same time they know it won't be much of a profit center for them, so they're open sourcing it.
/Brian
After my visit to Linux World in New York, I was a little afraid of IBM's sudden interest in Linux and the amount of money they were about to invest into Linux solutions. But hey: if this means Compaq is going to raise their Linux profile, that's fine with me.
It will also participate in Oracle's Linux Lab to optimize kernel development and performance.
Ok, now given that a Solaris Threading Library probably wasn't on many Linux user's wish list, Compaq's plan to help in optimizing the Linux Kernel for SMP systems sounds like christmas to me.
They couldnt have chosen a more confusing acronym. The question on my mind is: is the STL compatable with the STL considering that most implementations of the STL are not thread-safe???
Sneakemail is to spam filters what an ounce of prevention is to a pound of cure.
Maybe Sun will start posting how to port your AIX app to GNULinux, and IBM will post a 'Guide to Migrating your Tru64 app to GNULinux', etc.
It's easy to write songs, you just sit down and write them?
POSIX threads are *slower* and the API is a bit more kludgy, so if high performance and a slightly faster development cycle is more of an issue than portability then you code for Solaris threads.
Space may be the final frontier, but it's made in a Hollywood basement. --Red Hot Chili Peppers, Californication