Well, "large" is relative with DBs, of course. Some high-traffic sites (Slashdot, Google, Amazon) use Linux for their DBs and seem to do well. I know that there are much larger DBs out there, such as those used for major scientific stuff and whatever the government uses for Echelon/TIA/Carnivore. However, while I'm not a database expert by any means, I would think that Linux would be sufficient for a lot of the database work needed by most companies.
He said, however, that he wasn't interested in Redhat support, which leaves no advantage whatsoever in using Redhat. If testing, reliability, ease of administration, and easy upgrades are what's needed, then that sounds like a perfect fit for Debian (or a BSD, but, as you said, there aren't as many BSD experts).
As for Gentoo, I'm not recommending it as a mission-critical DB or anything. It might be decent for an office file-server, cluster node, or desktop, but it shouldn't go on something mission-critical (although you certainly don't have to use beta software when using Gentoo). I was trying more to illustrate that there is nothing Redhat does that some other distro doesn't do better, unless you want support.
Seriously, if you don't need Redhat support and don't want their Enterprise features, why would you use Redhat on a server? *BSD or Debian would be more reliable, and Gentoo, LFS, or Debian would be much more customizable.
No, I'm serious. Cold start, first run after install, half a second (maybe.75). Maybe they're doing some trick and preloading it, but whatever it is, it's fast.
What've you been smoking? PNG compression is miles ahead of GIF. Sure, of course a 24-bit color PNG will be larger than a 8-bit GIF, but that's apples and oranges. Any 8-bit PNG will be smaller than the equivilent GIF.
ATI provides full specifications for their cards to the open-source community. They provide a decent binary driver (not as good as NVidia's, admittedly), and they have submitted patches to XFree86 for the 2D open-source drivers. They haven't GPL'd their entire driver set, but then, neither has anyone else.
It's more or less common knowledge that OS X has been ported to x86 internally, just in case they need it. All they'd have to do is add some Hammer optimizations.
The worm has already spread. The only thing you could do with the source is assemble it and infect yourself, creating just one more node spewing random junk everywhere.
Imagine that you sent a message titled "budget" to your boss. Now, imagine that he gets this worm, which reads his inbox and fires off a "Re: budget" message to you. How would you tell the difference between that and a real response without opening it?
That wouldn't help here. The messages are titled to make them look like replies to previous ones, so even a virus-saavy user wouldn't have any reason not to open one.
The flaw is in the "simplifying" step, which you don't even show, so of course no one will see the fallacy.
In case anyone was wondering, the flaw is in saying that if sqrt(-1/1) = sqrt(1/-1), then (sqrt -1) / (sqrt 1) = (sqrt 1) / (sqrt -1). That only works when all numbers under the radical are positive.
Images work fine with AbiWord, at least in 2.0, as does PDF export. All of the rest you mentioned I would consider "niche" features, with the exception of versioning, which I'll admit is pretty important for a decent minority of users. I guess I'll give you form controls too, although they debatably don't belong in a word processor. So I may have exaggerated somewhat (although you should expect that on/.), but AbiWord is still quite usable for what 95% of the Word userbase needs, and I think that's worth raving about.
Slashdot Mirror
Since the package is meant for five seats, that's $120 per seat - less than half of what XP Pro costs.
Well, "large" is relative with DBs, of course. Some high-traffic sites (Slashdot, Google, Amazon) use Linux for their DBs and seem to do well. I know that there are much larger DBs out there, such as those used for major scientific stuff and whatever the government uses for Echelon/TIA/Carnivore. However, while I'm not a database expert by any means, I would think that Linux would be sufficient for a lot of the database work needed by most companies.
As for Gentoo, I'm not recommending it as a mission-critical DB or anything. It might be decent for an office file-server, cluster node, or desktop, but it shouldn't go on something mission-critical (although you certainly don't have to use beta software when using Gentoo). I was trying more to illustrate that there is nothing Redhat does that some other distro doesn't do better, unless you want support.
Seriously, if you don't need Redhat support and don't want their Enterprise features, why would you use Redhat on a server? *BSD or Debian would be more reliable, and Gentoo, LFS, or Debian would be much more customizable.
Unless you're on LFS, you're already using a non-standard, patched kernel. Deal with it.
No, I'm serious. Cold start, first run after install, half a second (maybe .75). Maybe they're doing some trick and preloading it, but whatever it is, it's fast.
FWIW, Evolution 1.4 screams. 1.2 took about 5 seconds to startup on my dual-Athlon 2200 box, and 1.4 takes half a second.
What've you been smoking? PNG compression is miles ahead of GIF. Sure, of course a 24-bit color PNG will be larger than a 8-bit GIF, but that's apples and oranges. Any 8-bit PNG will be smaller than the equivilent GIF.
I'd be enormously surprised if you could find a 8-bit PNG file of any image is larger than the equivalent GIF.
Take a big tub of hot water, stick it under a desk, and use your normal desktop PC. What's wrong with that?
ATI provides full specifications for their cards to the open-source community. They provide a decent binary driver (not as good as NVidia's, admittedly), and they have submitted patches to XFree86 for the 2D open-source drivers. They haven't GPL'd their entire driver set, but then, neither has anyone else.
apt-get install gnome-system-tools
It's more or less common knowledge that OS X has been ported to x86 internally, just in case they need it. All they'd have to do is add some Hammer optimizations.
Actually, ATI stock is doing pretty well.
The Radeon 9700 PRO still costs ~$285, almost a year after its release. You might have to wait a while to see the FX 5900 at $150.
If you rename the fairy.exe file from Nvidia's Dawn demo to quake3.exe or 3dMark03.exe, Dawn'll be naked.
ATI manages to release specs, so there has to be some way around it.
The worm has already spread. The only thing you could do with the source is assemble it and infect yourself, creating just one more node spewing random junk everywhere.
Imagine that you sent a message titled "budget" to your boss. Now, imagine that he gets this worm, which reads his inbox and fires off a "Re: budget" message to you. How would you tell the difference between that and a real response without opening it?
That wouldn't help here. The messages are titled to make them look like replies to previous ones, so even a virus-saavy user wouldn't have any reason not to open one.
In case anyone was wondering, the flaw is in saying that if sqrt(-1/1) = sqrt(1/-1), then (sqrt -1) / (sqrt 1) = (sqrt 1) / (sqrt -1). That only works when all numbers under the radical are positive.
Sure you can.
You don't have to double-click it. It open automatically when you preview.
If it bothers you, read it on one page without ads.
Images work fine with AbiWord, at least in 2.0, as does PDF export. All of the rest you mentioned I would consider "niche" features, with the exception of versioning, which I'll admit is pretty important for a decent minority of users. I guess I'll give you form controls too, although they debatably don't belong in a word processor. So I may have exaggerated somewhat (although you should expect that on /.), but AbiWord is still quite usable for what 95% of the Word userbase needs, and I think that's worth raving about.