pbwalker wrote:Jeremae wrote:Longtooth
As a tool it is marginally acceptable for use, the main drawback being that maintenance and support are either non existant or not mature (in business sense).
Oh I beg to differ on that. Coming from an environment where 60% of our 30,000+ customer servers are Linux, I'd say it is highly acceptable for use. I can see your point for many distros, but in an Enterprise setting Red Hat and Ubuntu (Debian) are both highly supported and once you configure the server to your liking, maintenance is almost non-existent. Both Windows and Linux have its place, but to say Linux is not ready for the prime-time is far from the truth nowadays.
Yup. My last job was as a sysadmin for a datacenter here in Austin (not rackspace), with over 2000 servers. About 70% were Linux boxes. Windows is not and never was designed to be a server platform. For companies whose focus is performance and efficiency, Linux (or BSD UNIX) is the platform of choice. Even Microsoft had to more than double the number of servers in place after they bought Hotmail to be able to switch from the BSD UNIX systems that were there, just to match the performance of the old servers. Companies who want to accomplish large-scale computing tasks efficiently and properly do it on a *nix platform (such as the above mentioned Google, Yahoo, etc.). For heavy computing tasks, Windows is inefficient in terms of hardware usage, power usage, reliability, and financial overhead.
Practically speaking, windows support is non-existant as well, unless you want to pay for it. Even then, the solution half the time is to format and reinstall the system. On a Linux system, apart from hardware issues, the problems are seldom catastrophic, and for those that wish to learn - can be self-serviced. Unlike the Windows OS, the workings of Linux and its related applications are available to look at and change.
The (very simple) parallel here would be similar to purchasing a new gun.
On a windows gun, you would be able to remove the magazine, load it, and shoot it. If it isn't working right, you could maybe pull the slide and clean the immediate parts visible. Field stripping would be impossible, no changing of the extractor or firing pin or springs, and the resolution would be to send it back to the manufacturer or service technician when it got too dirty for a disassemble and cleaning. This gun does come in lots of pretty and shiny colors, though! Going beyond the prescribed pretty colors to a custom finish or unsupported accessories will void your warranty until returned to original, though.
The Linux gun would allow you to completely disassemble the gun, with instructions and advice available to you online if you weren't sure what the problem is. You still have the option to bring it to a service technician, but wouldn't have to do so if somehow a piece of grit or grime was impeding proper trigger movement or the firing pin breaks or spring fails, etc. You can fluff and buff the gun, tighten its tolerances for accuracy and performance, or have a professional do this for you. You wouldn't have to work for the manufacturer or one of his business partners to become an expert gunsmith. The gun comes in basic or beautified colors/finishes, but you can refinish and add accessories as you see fit.
No, it's not a perfect parallel, but I think it makes a good point. And sorry, that was a lot longer than I thought it would be.
One of my big gripes (and at the source of some of the OS problems) is that people expect a computer to be a one time purchase, no maintenance or self-care needed.
I can't even count the number of people who came into computer shops I have worked complaining that their computer was "not working" and that they needed a new one. The computer itself was usually just fine, but their neglect to properly maintain it and mistreatment of the software caused it to fail.
People don't (generally) buy a new car, never change the oil, fill it with gas from a questionable source, never wash it, take it off-roading, give it to friends to use for unknown purposes, routinely run over curbs, never change the tires, toss garbage in the back seat and never cleaning it out, and then come back a couple of years later demanding that their car was defective, and that it should "just work", demanding a new one. When the dealership refuses, throwing the car away, and go buy yet another car from the same dealer, treat it the same way, and then act surprised that the same thing happens.
Yet people do this with their computers, downloading questionable programs from unknown sources, not running an antivirus program, visiting seedy websites, handing off the computers for friends to use for unknown purposes, never cleaning out the cases (with desktop computers), sitting it on the floor where it gets kicked, backed up by dust bunnies or in a cabinet with no ventilation. Then, two years on the computer isn't working right, and somehow it's the computer manufacturer that is at fault. Untold millions of people have went and bought new mouses, because theirs doesn't work right, without bothering to open up the little part where the ball is, to clean the built-up junk on the rollers.
Yes, there are computers that "just work" for the most part if treated properly physically. They're called Macs (with an OS built on BSD UNIX, by the way), and you pay a hefty price for that support. They still require proper physical maintenance. Returning back to the original point, Mac OS X is a UNIX variant, and LOTS of people use it daily with no problem.
Sorry for the rant. If you've gotten this far, thanks for listening.
