I am a linux fan, but have you ever read dot-truth.com? There are links to magazines that tell about the problems of Sun computers. It took forever for them to get ECC ready, while it's been on Intel's for years.
Sparc is a lousy processor. 400 megahertz? And software support and development problems are also bad.
Cycle speed isn't everything, sport. Sparc processors are designed for high amounts of processing, higher than Intel. If Sun doesn't come out with a better-bigger-greater-faster CPU every two weeks, that doesn't mean they're falling behind; The latest UltraSPARC-2 and UltraSPARC-3 chips are EXTREMELY beefy processors, I'd rather be using one of those than this pentium 3 any day of the week (if cost wasnt an issue). Sun's software and hardware support is phenominal, by the way, if you've purchased a contract. I'll admit, I work for sun as an SSE, so take from this what you will... but usually you can't get a Compaq or Dell technician to your house because your PC won't deliver an email.
Solaris is so stripped down and has an inferior program for each part of it. Commercial X, csh, plain old vi, etc. are standard and it does not have standard Linux tools like Gimp. I would rather have a server which is similar to the workstation. My whole school is Sun, it's Northern Arizona University, and they have the slowest network!
*sigh* Do you honestly think that someone wants GIMP on a production Oracle/Informix database server? vim? and yes, it has csh. What's wrong with csh? If you want another shell, obviously you havent looked. Solaris comes with everything from ksh to bash. You can change it in/etc/passwd with plain old vi too. Since most of these high-end servers aren't sitting next to someone's desk with a nice pretty 21" flat-panel LCD, why would you want something like vim? I don't recall WYSE terminals displaying syntax color-coding very well. Besides, even if you did want something like that, the Solaris package is available for download. I suppose you're going to complain about the lack of RPM, too.
[some content removed] Sun computers are expensive, unreliable, slow, of a bad design, and are falling more behind each day. 500 MHz? A whole bunch of CPU's in one box? Scale out, not up.
Expensive, yes. But look at the market. Sun is not shooting for a demographic of a 13 year old kid who wants a nice computer to run this nifty program that the neighbor put on his computer called Linux. They're aiming to put out number-crunching, I/O passing monsters used for serving up lots and lots of data. The solution to being able to handle this amount of processes is not to make a single CPU be bigger, its to spread the processes out. Unreliable? if these were unreliable, why have people been buying Sun machines since the early 80's? I'll give you a hint: it's not because they suck.
Each person who ties their company into Sun is tying themselves in to ridiculously expensive proprietary technology. Amazon is now on Linux.
Amazon is on linux? Where did you get that idea?
For selling, hosting static pages, sharing information, databases, etc, Linux or Windows 2000 rules!
Thats great for a mom-and-pop ISP who needs an inexpensive solution to get themselves started and to have a good deal of room to grow with. Go to work for a company like AT&T for a few years and see the kind of data they push through their datacenters, and I'd dare you to say that again without laughing.;)
Die, Commercial Unix!!!!!!!!
No comment.
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
I really disagree, here. If you take the time and reada little documentation before you begin, namely the Install.i386 file, it provides a step-by-step walk through of the process, and when you think about it it's pretty logical.
I've installed, on many occasions, OpenBSD, and I've never had a single issue with the installation process. I find it really easy to install VIA FTP or HTTP.
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
I think Theo deserves several pizzas for his devout work on this project and all the time, money, and effort put into it. I wonder if its possible to cause a Slashdot Effect on a local Calgary pizza joint?:)
For those of you who don't subscribe to the OpenBSD mailing lists, Theo always ends up telling people what they need to know, despite a sharp comment from time to time which keeps it interesting:) I feel that from my exposure to OpenBSD and it's community, it's overll a very helpful and proactive group of people.
Everybody give Theo some thanks if you get the chance.
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
Okay, I haven't seen any other post ask this question yet, but since this::IS:: SlashDot, I figure someone has to sooner or later:
What are the chances of linux being ported to the PS2?
I mean, granted, I know nothing about the nitty-gritty details of the hardware, etc., but from what I've read and understood, linux running on one of these things would kick some serious ass. USB, Firewire, and an upcoming ethernet card and harddrive, what else could you ask for? I'd like to be able to ssh into my PS2 from work, personally =)
Just a thought...
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
I didnt read through all the comments here, so this has probably been said already...
But wasn't DjVu developed a GOOD while back by AT&T or Bell Labs or something? I could have sworn I took a look at this 2 or 3 years ago.
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
Voting is more than a privelage
on
Should You Vote?
·
· Score: 1
Voting is something everyone should do. When I hear someone complaining about taxes or some silly supreme court ruling affecting free speech, I simply ask them if they voted.
If they say no, then what right do they have to complain about issues? Obviously they didnt care enough to go out and voice their opinion, therefore their post-election complaints don't really need to be heard.
Voting is something that needs to be done by everyone who can. Sure, you may not like the two candidates that you have to vote for, but thats what primaries are for. Its the way the system works, its the way its worked for a few hundred years, and by all standards it works well considering this nation has... about 300,000,000 people in it or so (rough guesstimate). If you don't vote for an elected official, who are you to complain about issues you dont like later on? You had your chance to affect the outcome during the election...
Just my $0.02.
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
As with any service, opinions from these tpyes of questions vary from person to person, from location to location. I have ADSL at my house, and while the service is VERY good (Kudos to Todd at ATLNet), I have a 2GB transfer limit (which I could max out in a week if I tried).
Where I work (comstar.net, inc., which was recently acquired by Globix), we provide SDSL and IDSL services through NorthPoint. Quite honestly, from the year and a half of service from NorthPoint, I wouldn't trust them with anything. Overall, I'd rate their service as mediocre to poor, and overall lack of responsibility, and horrendous callback times when DSL circuits go down.
Frequently, they randomly decide to change DLCI's with no forewarning, misconfigure DSLAMs, etc. If a DSL customer goes down, usually they wont be back up for 4 or 5 days - some cases have been a few weeks with a completel loss of connectivity. I've had NorthPoint techs say, "well, I don't know why the customer was so mad, they've only been down for 4 days." We've had to call NorthPoint several times to report to them that their DS-1's and DS-3's were down. They had no clue until we told them. We've come very close to nixing DSL service from the services we offer several times.
To be fair, I don't want to rag completely on NorthPoint, and sometimes the installs go very smoothly, and we have had some (albeit, few) customers who have been up and happy since day 1. Likewise, I've heard other horror stories that are just as bad from people I know who deal closely with companies like Covad. DSL is really like communism -- it's a wonderful idea in theory, unfortunately it doesnt always work out like it should. Since DSL technology isn't standardized or moderated by the FCC (FTC?), Telco's dont hold it to a very high standard. In fact, if your DSL line goes down, the Telco will most likely put normal residential phone line repairs to higher priority.
DSL has its place. DSL is a wonderful technology. but the bottom line is, if I were running a business, I would NOT trust a DSL line to be our sole source of connectivity. For a little more I could spring for a DS-1 and have (relatively) timely response from Ma and Pa Bell in case things went awry. If you're considering it for your home, wonderful. It's an awesome solution (but can be a bit troublesome at times if you aren't knowing what to expect).
Just my $0.02
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
I'm in Atlanta (Marietta, actually), and my expanding collection of miscellaneous computer hardware and home theater equipment and miscellaneous electronics (or, collectively, "junk", as my mother so fondly refers to it)is outgrowing my room that I've lived in at home for the past 15 years or so. Moving into a geek house would rule, namely since it would encourage my (expensive) hardware addiction. If any one is interested in something like this, drop me a line.
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
I live in atlanta now and am currently looking to move. The geek situation sounds extremely interesting. if anyone is interested, let me know as well! (Including original poster)
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
"Screw You." And I'd throw my middle finger up in your face if you were standing in front of me, and laugh, too. If you think you're going to firewall jackcrap at my PC, think again.
...And you just lost the business of myself and all my friends and family, as well.
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
Please dont turn this into an off the topic subject, but maybe I'm missing something here. Evolution is still a *theory*. Creation is a *theory*. In my opinion, I think they should both be taught in a non-biased manner. These findings hint no reason what-so-ever that evolution should not be taught. In fact, not teaching evolution is probably a smart move until Evolution can be proved beyond a shadow of a doubt.
-- Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org) http://www.amorphous.org
Sorry, I was the anonymous coward that posted the original here. Sorry, I was too lazy to log in.:>
Anyways, this might be straying a tad off of the subject,but this is the kind of stuff I'm talking about:
a) the New Testament of the Bible was written within a period of 47 years. Even scientists cannot deny that. Every book was written within that 47 year period about 1850 years ago.
b) Now, since 47 years is well within the lifespan of a human being, it would seem that if the content of the New Testament did not hold some truth, thre would have been some sort of effort to disprove it at the time, considering that if it were not true, someone would have at least attempted to discount it. Nobody of that time period has.
c) Christians in that time period were a repressed people. If someone wished to make it known that their religious doctrines contained false information. Take the Romans, for instance. True, they oppressed Christians, but only because they were viewed as religious heretics. They never produced any evidence from any personal expereinces saying that what the Christians were ferring to never happened.
Just something to think about when people start to say "Religion isn't true" without actually backing up why they think that. That's just absentmindedness.
-- Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org) http://www.amorphous.org
a) when do they decide that the next version should be for instance 2.4 instead of 3.0?
b) what constitutes a feature freeze? When everything is considered stable? if everything is stable, why do they keep adding new versions that must be debugged?
Just curious, Ive always wondered things like this;)
-Dave
-- Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org) http://www.amorphous.org
The movie gave me a headache from the home-video-esque footage. It was kind of jerky, and the first hour wasn't that great, IMHO. I think there was alot more hype for the movie than it actually deserved (surprise!).
The guy who created and directed it is a local around here, and he used his parents' life savings to create it. Unfortunately, his parents hated the film.;)
-Dave
-- Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org) http://www.amorphous.org
Yeah! That'll work. I think we ought to move our Solar System into the crab nebula, too, I heard Real Estate is cheap as dirt over there... Someone get NASA on the phone...
-- Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org) http://www.amorphous.org
Slashdot Mirror
I am a linux fan, but have you ever read dot-truth.com? There are links to magazines that tell about the problems of Sun computers. It took forever for them to get ECC ready, while it's been on Intel's for years.
/etc/passwd with plain old vi too. Since most of these high-end servers aren't sitting next to someone's desk with a nice pretty 21" flat-panel LCD, why would you want something like vim? I don't recall WYSE terminals displaying syntax color-coding very well. Besides, even if you did want something like that, the Solaris package is available for download. I suppose you're going to complain about the lack of RPM, too.
;)
Uh-oh. Looks like we have a State 7 Linux User on our case.
Sparc is a lousy processor. 400 megahertz? And software support and development problems are also bad.
Cycle speed isn't everything, sport. Sparc processors are designed for high amounts of processing, higher than Intel. If Sun doesn't come out with a better-bigger-greater-faster CPU every two weeks, that doesn't mean they're falling behind; The latest UltraSPARC-2 and UltraSPARC-3 chips are EXTREMELY beefy processors, I'd rather be using one of those than this pentium 3 any day of the week (if cost wasnt an issue). Sun's software and hardware support is phenominal, by the way, if you've purchased a contract. I'll admit, I work for sun as an SSE, so take from this what you will... but usually you can't get a Compaq or Dell technician to your house because your PC won't deliver an email.
Solaris is so stripped down and has an inferior program for each part of it. Commercial X, csh, plain old vi, etc. are standard and it does not have standard Linux tools like Gimp. I would rather have a server which is similar to the workstation. My whole school is Sun, it's Northern Arizona University, and they have the slowest network!
*sigh* Do you honestly think that someone wants GIMP on a production Oracle/Informix database server? vim? and yes, it has csh. What's wrong with csh? If you want another shell, obviously you havent looked. Solaris comes with everything from ksh to bash. You can change it in
[some content removed] Sun computers are expensive, unreliable, slow, of a bad design, and are falling more behind each day. 500 MHz? A whole bunch of CPU's in one box? Scale out, not up.
Expensive, yes. But look at the market. Sun is not shooting for a demographic of a 13 year old kid who wants a nice computer to run this nifty program that the neighbor put on his computer called Linux. They're aiming to put out number-crunching, I/O passing monsters used for serving up lots and lots of data. The solution to being able to handle this amount of processes is not to make a single CPU be bigger, its to spread the processes out. Unreliable? if these were unreliable, why have people been buying Sun machines since the early 80's? I'll give you a hint: it's not because they suck.
Each person who ties their company into Sun is tying themselves in to ridiculously expensive proprietary technology. Amazon is now on Linux.
Amazon is on linux? Where did you get that idea?
For selling, hosting static pages, sharing information, databases, etc, Linux or Windows 2000 rules!
Thats great for a mom-and-pop ISP who needs an inexpensive solution to get themselves started and to have a good deal of room to grow with. Go to work for a company like AT&T for a few years and see the kind of data they push through their datacenters, and I'd dare you to say that again without laughing.
Die, Commercial Unix!!!!!!!!
No comment.
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
ONLY $100,000? I believe the base on the E10k is $2,000,000. I'll have to check the price tomorrow at work. =)
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
Sounds oddly too much like a BOFH story to me.
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
I really disagree, here. If you take the time and reada little documentation before you begin, namely the Install.i386 file, it provides a step-by-step walk through of the process, and when you think about it it's pretty logical.
I've installed, on many occasions, OpenBSD, and I've never had a single issue with the installation process. I find it really easy to install VIA FTP or HTTP.
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
I think Theo deserves several pizzas for his devout work on this project and all the time, money, and effort put into it. I wonder if its possible to cause a Slashdot Effect on a local Calgary pizza joint? :)
:) I feel that from my exposure to OpenBSD and it's community, it's overll a very helpful and proactive group of people.
For those of you who don't subscribe to the OpenBSD mailing lists, Theo always ends up telling people what they need to know, despite a sharp comment from time to time which keeps it interesting
Everybody give Theo some thanks if you get the chance.
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
Okay, I haven't seen any other post ask this question yet, but since this ::IS:: SlashDot, I figure someone has to sooner or later:
What are the chances of linux being ported to the PS2?
I mean, granted, I know nothing about the nitty-gritty details of the hardware, etc., but from what I've read and understood, linux running on one of these things would kick some serious ass. USB, Firewire, and an upcoming ethernet card and harddrive, what else could you ask for? I'd like to be able to ssh into my PS2 from work, personally =)
Just a thought...
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
I didnt read through all the comments here, so this has probably been said already...
But wasn't DjVu developed a GOOD while back by AT&T or Bell Labs or something? I could have sworn I took a look at this 2 or 3 years ago.
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
Voting is something everyone should do. When I hear someone complaining about taxes or some silly supreme court ruling affecting free speech, I simply ask them if they voted.
If they say no, then what right do they have to complain about issues? Obviously they didnt care enough to go out and voice their opinion, therefore their post-election complaints don't really need to be heard.
Voting is something that needs to be done by everyone who can. Sure, you may not like the two candidates that you have to vote for, but thats what primaries are for. Its the way the system works, its the way its worked for a few hundred years, and by all standards it works well considering this nation has... about 300,000,000 people in it or so (rough guesstimate). If you don't vote for an elected official, who are you to complain about issues you dont like later on? You had your chance to affect the outcome during the election...
Just my $0.02.
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
As with any service, opinions from these tpyes of questions vary from person to person, from location to location. I have ADSL at my house, and while the service is VERY good (Kudos to Todd at ATLNet), I have a 2GB transfer limit (which I could max out in a week if I tried).
Where I work (comstar.net, inc., which was recently acquired by Globix), we provide SDSL and IDSL services through NorthPoint. Quite honestly, from the year and a half of service from NorthPoint, I wouldn't trust them with anything. Overall, I'd rate their service as mediocre to poor, and overall lack of responsibility, and horrendous callback times when DSL circuits go down.
Frequently, they randomly decide to change DLCI's with no forewarning, misconfigure DSLAMs, etc. If a DSL customer goes down, usually they wont be back up for 4 or 5 days - some cases have been a few weeks with a completel loss of connectivity. I've had NorthPoint techs say, "well, I don't know why the customer was so mad, they've only been down for 4 days." We've had to call NorthPoint several times to report to them that their DS-1's and DS-3's were down. They had no clue until we told them. We've come very close to nixing DSL service from the services we offer several times.
To be fair, I don't want to rag completely on NorthPoint, and sometimes the installs go very smoothly, and we have had some (albeit, few) customers who have been up and happy since day 1. Likewise, I've heard other horror stories that are just as bad from people I know who deal closely with companies like Covad. DSL is really like communism -- it's a wonderful idea in theory, unfortunately it doesnt always work out like it should. Since DSL technology isn't standardized or moderated by the FCC (FTC?), Telco's dont hold it to a very high standard. In fact, if your DSL line goes down, the Telco will most likely put normal residential phone line repairs to higher priority.
DSL has its place. DSL is a wonderful technology. but the bottom line is, if I were running a business, I would NOT trust a DSL line to be our sole source of connectivity. For a little more I could spring for a DS-1 and have (relatively) timely response from Ma and Pa Bell in case things went awry. If you're considering it for your home, wonderful. It's an awesome solution (but can be a bit troublesome at times if you aren't knowing what to expect).
Just my $0.02
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
I'm in Atlanta (Marietta, actually), and my expanding collection of miscellaneous computer hardware and home theater equipment and miscellaneous electronics (or, collectively, "junk", as my mother so fondly refers to it)is outgrowing my room that I've lived in at home for the past 15 years or so. Moving into a geek house would rule, namely since it would encourage my (expensive) hardware addiction. If any one is interested in something like this, drop me a line.
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
I live in atlanta now and am currently looking to move. The geek situation sounds extremely interesting. if anyone is interested, let me know as well! (Including original poster)
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
I would want to be able to register an.us if I could. :D
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
To the Sony VP who made these comments:
...And you just lost the business of myself and all my friends and family, as well.
"Screw You." And I'd throw my middle finger up in your face if you were standing in front of me, and laugh, too. If you think you're going to firewall jackcrap at my PC, think again.
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
Err, I'm sorry for my spelling. "USB". *sigh*, I need to go home. =)
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
Why hasnt USDB taken off farther as a networking medium? If we're hitting speeds of 480Mbps, it would seem like a great solution.
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
Please dont turn this into an off the topic subject, but maybe I'm missing something here. Evolution is still a *theory*. Creation is a *theory*. In my opinion, I think they should both be taught in a non-biased manner. These findings hint no reason what-so-ever that evolution should not be taught. In fact, not teaching evolution is probably a smart move until Evolution can be proved beyond a shadow of a doubt.
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
Okay, I was born back in 1981. So I discovered computers like in 1990 or so. I do not know what SysRq does. Can someone help me out here? ;)
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
Sorry, I was the anonymous coward that posted the original here. Sorry, I was too lazy to log in. :>
Anyways, this might be straying a tad off of the subject,but this is the kind of stuff I'm talking about:
a) the New Testament of the Bible was written within a period of 47 years. Even scientists cannot deny that. Every book was written within that 47 year period about 1850 years ago.
b) Now, since 47 years is well within the lifespan of a human being, it would seem that if the content of the New Testament did not hold some truth, thre would have been some sort of effort to disprove it at the time, considering that if it were not true, someone would have at least attempted to discount it. Nobody of that time period has.
c) Christians in that time period were a repressed people. If someone wished to make it known that their religious doctrines contained false information. Take the Romans, for instance. True, they oppressed Christians, but only because they were viewed as religious heretics. They never produced any evidence from any personal expereinces saying that what the Christians were ferring to never happened.
Just something to think about when people start to say "Religion isn't true" without actually backing up why they think that. That's just absentmindedness.
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
This was definately posted about 2 weeks ago. Whee.
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
Good. Will I finally stop seeing these annoying "Free Kevin!" banners everywhere now?
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
A few questions about kernel development:
;)
a) when do they decide that the next version should be for instance 2.4 instead of 3.0?
b) what constitutes a feature freeze? When everything is considered stable? if everything is stable, why do they keep adding new versions that must be debugged?
Just curious, Ive always wondered things like this
-Dave
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
What exactly is "hicking"?
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
The movie gave me a headache from the home-video-esque footage. It was kind of jerky, and the first hour wasn't that great, IMHO. I think there was alot more hype for the movie than it actually deserved (surprise!).
;)
The guy who created and directed it is a local around here, and he used his parents' life savings to create it. Unfortunately, his parents hated the film.
-Dave
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
Yeah! That'll work. I think we ought to move our Solar System into the crab nebula, too, I heard Real Estate is cheap as dirt over there... Someone get NASA on the phone...
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org
I've got a Sun Enterprise 250 that will just about match that.
--
Dave Brooks (db@amorphous.org)
http://www.amorphous.org