Most of these posts deal with either
a) Why Linux sux and {*BSD,Solaris,Win2K} rox
b) Why Linux rox and {*BSD,Solaris,Win2K} sux
c) Which distro is best for SPARC
and they all miss the point.
Red Hat was the first to notice it, and perhaps other distro's will eventually, but the fact is that Sun doesn't *like* Linux. They don't appreciate Linux treading on their SPARC/Solaris turf, and they really don't like Linux being chosen over their own software for high-end installations. So, rather than play fair they play dirty. They give away their "tuned, high-performance" software to users with fewer than 8 processors in order to maintain/increase market share. Then, when your computing needs require more than 8 processors, you get to pay up (*cough*M$*cough*). This is happening to *BSD as well. Notice that NetBSD/sparc64 isn't as complete as it could be, and OpenBSD/sparc doesn't even support the UltraSPARC yet.
Consider:
Compaq makes and sells Tru64 Unix, but they actively support Linux for Alpha.
IBM makes and sells AIX, but they actively support Linux for S/390 (and, I believe, their RS/6000 series now).
SGI makes and sells IRIX, but they actively support Linux for MIPS.
HP makes and sells HP/UX, but they actively support Linux for PA-RISC and Itanium (well, at least they are starting to).
Dell sells Windows, but they actively support Linux for x86.
Sun makes and sells Solaris, but they do not actively support Linux. Period.
Go to http://www.sun.com/linux/ and you will see what I'm talking about. On the first page is an article on how to transition from Linux to Solaris. Dig deeper, and you'll find their page on UltraLinux, and at the bottom it says:
Note: Sun Microsystems does not provide support for the Linux operating system, either directly through Sun's Enteprise Services division, or by any indirect means. Linux users who wish to receive commercial support for their Linux systems should contact the vendor of the operating system distribution, or investigate third-party organizations that may help them.
People are complaining about a lack of feature support or completeness in Linux for SPARC, and the truth is that there aren't enough UltraLinux zealots out there to overcome the corporate inertia or the free Solaris bait.
I'm sure Dave Miller can tell you all about the progress made with the Linux/MIPS port while he was working for SGI, and then how far it went after SGI lost interest (and I'm talking about the SGI of 1996-97, not the SGI of today).
And if you are looking for a guide on how to go about making Linux work inspite of a companies best efforts, take a look at the Macintosh versions of the Linux/PPC or Linux/68k ports. Apple never has released detailed hardware developer information for the old 68k hardware, but Linux and *BSD run on them anyway, because of the dedicated volunteers who chose to make it work.
UltraLinux isn't dead, but without Sun (or Fujitsu or some other large SPARC-based entity) showing some interest, then it's all up to a handful of volunteers, and they'll get to it when they get to it (unless you get there first).
In Fall 1997, I took a class on the History of Computers offered by a then-visiting professor from Stanford. Since then, Professor Paul Edwards has come to the University of Michigan and brought this fascinating class with him. His web site offers class information from both the older Stanford class as well as the newer University of Michigan class. A brief description can be found in the UofM course guide.
The class was quite a bit of work, but was very rewarding. The final research project was very cool, as Prof. Edwards was very flexible about methods of submission (paper, video, web site, etc.) and topics ranged from women in computing to digital music to a brief history of Soviet computing (and yes, you can write a 3500-4500 word paper about the history of Soviet computing).
We learned about more than just the history of computers, however. This class forced me to think about how technology affects society, long before such musings became as popular as they are today. We learned about the role that census machines played in the Holocaust, about how a military boondoggle supplied some of the key components to today's computing technology, how women who played such a key role in the early years of computing were pushed aside, and finally the role of technology in other countries.
Of course, this class holds a special place in my heart since I met my finacé while researching my paper, so I might be a little biased:)
Slashdot Mirror
First a massive fire, now a thorough slashdotting. What's next, Mecha-Striesand?
I don't know where Mr. GeekLife.com has been hiding, but Ford cancelling the "Model E" program is such old news that /. covered it over two months ago!
/. to TVLand...
I'm starting to think that maybe VA <buzzword> sold
a) Why Linux sux and {*BSD,Solaris,Win2K} rox
b) Why Linux rox and {*BSD,Solaris,Win2K} sux
c) Which distro is best for SPARC
and they all miss the point.
Red Hat was the first to notice it, and perhaps other distro's will eventually, but the fact is that Sun doesn't *like* Linux. They don't appreciate Linux treading on their SPARC/Solaris turf, and they really don't like Linux being chosen over their own software for high-end installations. So, rather than play fair they play dirty. They give away their "tuned, high-performance" software to users with fewer than 8 processors in order to maintain/increase market share. Then, when your computing needs require more than 8 processors, you get to pay up (*cough*M$*cough*). This is happening to *BSD as well. Notice that NetBSD/sparc64 isn't as complete as it could be, and OpenBSD/sparc doesn't even support the UltraSPARC yet.
Consider:
Compaq makes and sells Tru64 Unix, but they actively support Linux for Alpha.
IBM makes and sells AIX, but they actively support Linux for S/390 (and, I believe, their RS/6000 series now).
SGI makes and sells IRIX, but they actively support Linux for MIPS.
HP makes and sells HP/UX, but they actively support Linux for PA-RISC and Itanium (well, at least they are starting to).
Dell sells Windows, but they actively support Linux for x86.
Sun makes and sells Solaris, but they do not actively support Linux. Period.
Go to http://www.sun.com/linux/ and you will see what I'm talking about. On the first page is an article on how to transition from Linux to Solaris. Dig deeper, and you'll find their page on UltraLinux, and at the bottom it says:
People are complaining about a lack of feature support or completeness in Linux for SPARC, and the truth is that there aren't enough UltraLinux zealots out there to overcome the corporate inertia or the free Solaris bait.
I'm sure Dave Miller can tell you all about the progress made with the Linux/MIPS port while he was working for SGI, and then how far it went after SGI lost interest (and I'm talking about the SGI of 1996-97, not the SGI of today).
And if you are looking for a guide on how to go about making Linux work inspite of a companies best efforts, take a look at the Macintosh versions of the Linux/PPC or Linux/68k ports. Apple never has released detailed hardware developer information for the old 68k hardware, but Linux and *BSD run on them anyway, because of the dedicated volunteers who chose to make it work.
UltraLinux isn't dead, but without Sun (or Fujitsu or some other large SPARC-based entity) showing some interest, then it's all up to a handful of volunteers, and they'll get to it when they get to it (unless you get there first).
It should be "grep -ir fuck /usr/src/linux", otherwise you miss a Fuck. Specifically:
The class was quite a bit of work, but was very rewarding. The final research project was very cool, as Prof. Edwards was very flexible about methods of submission (paper, video, web site, etc.) and topics ranged from women in computing to digital music to a brief history of Soviet computing (and yes, you can write a 3500-4500 word paper about the history of Soviet computing).
We learned about more than just the history of computers, however. This class forced me to think about how technology affects society, long before such musings became as popular as they are today. We learned about the role that census machines played in the Holocaust, about how a military boondoggle supplied some of the key components to today's computing technology, how women who played such a key role in the early years of computing were pushed aside, and finally the role of technology in other countries.
Of course, this class holds a special place in my heart since I met my finacé while researching my paper, so I might be a little biased :)