*BSD News Article 29009


Return to BSD News archive

Xref: sserve comp.os.386bsd.misc:2166 comp.os.linux.misc:12143
Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!yeshua.marcam.com!usc!howland.reston.ans.net!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!news.ysu.edu!malgudi.oar.net!chemabs!sun1.is.battelle.org!dst!ihz.compuserve.com!csi.compuserve.com!not-for-mail
From: dneedham@csi.compuserve.com (Douglas Wade Needham)
Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.misc,comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: Impressions: FreeBSD vs Linux
Message-ID: <2n9t4o$eps@dneedham.inhouse.compuserve.com>
Date: 29 Mar 94 18:47:52 GMT
References: <Cn6txK.IDp@boulder.parcplace.com> <2n1l3n$821@clarknet.clark.net> <2n26uu$ae6@fw.novatel.ca>
Organization: CompuServe Incorporated
Lines: 57
NNTP-Posting-Host: dneedham.inhouse.compuserve.com

>*BSD is an operating system. kermit is an application. XFree86 is also
>an application as is TeX and many other things.  Should every conceivable
>application be shipped with the operating system?  

Anyone care to even guess at the size of the distribution (order of magnitude 
is fine) when every conceivable application is shipped...Let's see...how many
GB is on prep.ai.mit.edu... ftp.uu.net..... Now how much of that is duplicated?
We may start talking TB here 8)...now how many tapes is that???

>: says, "Perhaps someone should tell us what all these options actually
>: mean."  I thought that's what the *!@# FAQ was for!

Actually, with all the different implementations out there, the best FAQ would
start with "Read your () manuals", commonly known as RTFM.  From there, a 
hint or two at the commands should do.

>: Linux.  Linux installed on my system, and I added the users I needed,
>: and they had POP accounts immediately, and I could run "DIP" to set
>
>What if I don't *want* my users to have POP accounts?

The reason why UCB and others never created a system admin interface is probably
attributable to the "you can please some of the people some of the time" 
philosophy.  Can you imagine an interface that would be perfect (or even close)
for every site using the OS?  I cannot, having been a SA in several different
groups.  While some sites use POP, NFS, BIND, or other application/protocol 
packages, others have no need or use for them.  Add the fact that most sites
who originally ran BSD were universities who could throw students at a problem
(remember that a student is someone who pays to work and learn at the same 
time 8) ) to do the tasks or possibly develop an interface to do it, and it was
by definition tailored to their site, a common SA interface never really 
developed.  And then you have SVRx with sysadm, HP/UX with sam, AIX with
smit, and all the other variants.  Those were developed by the vendor to try
to solve the problem for the sites where "Tag!!! You are the SA!" was the
name of the game.  The problem with those programs was that longer you used
them, the more likely you would want to do something that was impossible
unless you played something resembling "Twister" at best.  Two prime examples
are trying to use sam on an IBM 3151 terminal, or trying to use smit to 
put two partitions on a disk, one on the inner edge and the other at the
outer edge.  Both of these were a "no can do".  (I could do the smit problem
by hand though...)

If you want an SA tool, I would suggest writing a few shell scripts or C 
programs, possibly place them inside a menuing system (TCL/TK may fit the
bill), and keep expanding it as you find tasks which you repeat from time
to time.  Not ideal, but can you think of a way you get something approching
your level of satisfaction?

- doug
*******************************************************************************
My options are my own.  Since I do not want them, why should my employer? 8)
Douglas Wade Needham                            BSD kernel programmer 
Email:	dneedham@csi.compuserve.com  -or-       dneedham@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu
USnail:	Compuserve				216 S. Burgess Ave.
	5000 Arlington Centre Blvd.		Columbus OH 43204
	Columbus, OH 43220
Voice:  (614)457-8600				(614)274-0769