Linux to Replace Solaris at Duke

wwhsgrad2002 writes "At the end of the 2004-2005 academic year, the Sun Solaris computers available in public computing labs at Duke University will be replaced. The replacement computers in these spaces will be Dells, running a version of Centos 3.3 as supported by Linux@DUKE. Pragmatic and technical considerations have driven this change, as Linux continues to gain a greater userbase and more third-party commercial software is made available on the platform. Are other universities eliminating Solaris in favor of a Linux distribution?"

Comments

freshmaker

[fred fleenblat]

Is it just me or does centos remind you of breath mints or something?

Duke sucks.

[0racle]

Sorry, wrong website.

Re:Duke sucks.

[TheGratefulNet]

fark.com

(drew 'hates duke' so its an ongoing joke to say 'duke sucks' whenever possible)

my school district restricts linux

[b17bmbr]

Where I teach, the tech people are linux-phobic. They are adamant about "keeping linux off the network" yet aren't so pissy about OS X (which probably means they've been reading Gartner). Of course, the highlight was a few years ago when I was running linux my older laptop, surfing the net, and doing my grades (through wine no less), and the school's distrtict tech guy asks how I can do this since "novell doesn't support linux." I guess our network admin never heard of, what's that thingy called? oh yeah, TCP/IP.

Re:my school district restricts linux

[maxpublic]

I ran into a similar situation when I took a couple years off to teach middle school. The tech department was adamantly pro-Windows, to the point where it seemed that the highest aspiration of these folks was to someday work for MS, or perhaps give Billy G. a blowjob, or both. Whenever the word 'Linux' was mentioned they began to froth at the mouth - much like a religious fanatic who can't stand the idea that their religion isn't the only one in the world.

I had my kids convert the Windows lab to a Linux one. The equipment was so old that Linux ran far more efficiently than Win95 did (forget about even installing Win2000 or XP, the computers didn't come close to meeting minimum requirements). I used KDE for the environment since it seems KDE is bound and determined to emulate Windows and that's what the kids were familiar with. Not, it turns out, that it mattered; kids are far more resilient and adaptable than adults are and they had no problem mastering the differences in a matter of days.

When the techs visited the lab they didn't even recognize the software that supposedly was a crass insult to their Lord and Savior, the Great Bill. They asked me - get this - what version of Windows I was running, and what 'skin' I was using. Since I didn't want my lab disassembled with a sledgehammer wielded by Windows zealots I told them it was Win98 with a skin that I had, erm, designed especially for the kids (snicker). They thought it was cool and asked me if I could give 'em a copy, which I promised I would (although I never delivered, of course).

Can't imagine what they thought when I moved on to other things and they were left with a lab full of computers which didn't recognize the Windows automatic updating service as a valid tool. But then they never got a service call once I converted the lab, so who knows? Those machines might still be running Linux without anyone the wiser.

Max

SCO karma

[Salo2112]

I suppose I should refrain from commenting since I have no dog in the fight, but I am glad to see some migration away from Sun to linux since Sun helped fund SCO by buying licenses.

A Nelson HA HA to you, Sun.

Re:Now hear this

[Anonymous Coward]

intel 64-bit Xeons suck

They have a vacuum attachment, now, too?!?

I thought they were just too hot and too slow compared to Opteron. In 64-bit, Intel is having their ass handed to them on a platter (Itanium: nada, x86-64: beat soundly by their former partner, AMD).

Re:Sun=good hardware Dell =cheap hardware

[Zork the Almighty]

Cheap Dell keyboards must also have defective angled brackets, or is it that hard to insert

or
?