Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The Incredible Shrinking Operating System

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the good-since-you-can-only-run-3-apps-now dept.

snydeq writes "The center of gravity is shifting away from the traditional, massive operating systems of the past, as even the major OSes are slimming their footprint to make code bases easier to manage and secure, and to increase the variety of devices on which they can run, InfoWorld reports. Microsoft, for one, is cutting down the number of services that run at boot to ensure Windows 7 will run across a spectrum of hardware. Linux distros such as Ubuntu are stripping out functionality, including MySQL, CUPS, and LDAP, to cut footprints in half. And Apple appears headed for a slimmed-down OS X that will enable future iPhones or tablet devices to run the same OS as the Mac. Though these developments don't necessarily mean that the browser will supplant the OS, they do show that OS vendors realize they must adapt as virtualization, cloud computing, netbooks, and power concerns drive business users toward smaller, less costly, more efficient operating environments."

7 of 345 comments (clear)

  1. MySQL & LDAP? by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 5, Informative

    If Ubuntu is looking to unseat Windows, why do they need a SQL server and a directory service? Granted I use Apache and MySQL on my Mac so I can develop on the road, but not everyone does.

    I use Black Viper's Windows services tutorial to decide what I can do without on XP. It makes a pretty decent difference in both RAM and CPU usage.

    1. Re:MySQL & LDAP? by alen · · Score: 4, Informative

      a lot of linux distros ship with everything and you choose what to install. Ubuntu is trying to cater to the non-techie so they strip out anything a desktop PC for the average user won't need without confusing them during the install process.

    2. Re:MySQL & LDAP? by speculatrix · · Score: 4, Informative

      print? very rarely - only if I need to file a record (e.g. tax). if the information isn't accessible through free text search, it might as well not exist!

    3. Re:MySQL & LDAP? by Tawnos · · Score: 4, Informative

      I have you friended, so you must have said something I thought was clever before...

      The trolltastic headline this morning about "only 3 apps" is highly misleading, and it's caused by speculation and rumors. The starter version of Windows is not something that is either available to the general public (in developed countries) or will be widely deployed on netbooks. It specifically exists to target the very low end computers in third world countries, not to be what's shipped on a netbook.

      Yes, features are stripped from the version of windows being sold to OEMs for third-world deployment. If they were the same, there would be a huge rise in black market sales of the "starter" OS - it would give people a "legal" CD-key for the full OS at 1/20th the price. This does not mean we are paring away basic functionality and forcing you to buy it back. In fact, care was taken to make sure Win7 didn't fall into the Vista trap with overlapping feature sets. Each version has a superset of features from the lower one.

      First world markets only need worry about Home Premium or Professional, and Ultimate(/Enterprise) if Bitlocker and Direct Access are desired.

      For more information, and not something that's based on /. "logic" see here. It's an official source, and not speculation.

    4. Re:MySQL & LDAP? by cayenne8 · · Score: 3, Informative
      "print? very rarely - only if I need to file a record (e.g. tax). if the information isn't accessible through free text search, it might as well not exist!"

      REally?

      I guess maybe I'm old fashioned. I mean, I read and study a LOT online, but, for things I want to really remember, to use as reference, I really like to have dead tree copies.

      I often mark them up, highlight passages, doodle in the margins...etc.

      I find that by doing this...I can remember and even find information faster than I could doing a web or local directory search. When I was in school, I'd often do the doodles and markings in my books and notes, and during tests...I could 'see' those pages in my head...even turn the pages in my head to find where the information was. I find I can't do that as readily on a computer screen....

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  2. CUPS by sciurus0 · · Score: 3, Informative

    $ lsb_release -d
    Description: Ubuntu 8.10
    $ ps -ef | grep cupsd
    root 6860 1 0 Feb08 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/cupsd

  3. No, not presumptuous at all.... by gbutler69 · · Score: 5, Informative

    All of the following are valid implementations of a "Data Base":

    • One big ASCII Flat-File
    • A series of ASCII Flat-Files in a Single Folder
    • A series of ASCII Flat-Files in a hierarchy of folders
    • An XML File
    • A Series of XML Files in a Single Folder
    • A Series of XML Files in a hierarchy of folders
    • A binary file...
    • etc...
    • PostgreSQL
    • MySQl
    • MS-SQL Server
    • Oracle
    • etc...

    Only some of those mentioned above are "RELATIONAL DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS" that support SQL-style DDL (Data Definition Language) and DML (Data Modification Language) and DQL (Data Query Language). That doesn't make any of the other myriad of possibilities (Object Databases, Registries, Gnome Config, Berkley DB, custom whaznath binary flim-flam database) any less of "Data Bases".

    You simply possess a very limited understanding of what a Database is.

    --
    Over-the-top Response Guy! Giving "Over-the-Top Responses" since 1970.