*BSD News Article 38891


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From: pageone@netcom.com
Subject: Re: Unix for PC
Message-ID: <pageoneD09Mqx.A3u@netcom.com>
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References: <199411210319.TAA18133@nic.cerf.net> <CHRISB.94Nov30100302@stork.cssc-syd.tansu.com.au> <3bihms$5pf@decaxp.harvard.edu> <palowodaD04HqA.LAJ@netcom.com> <D05760.C33@news.cern.ch>
Distribution: inet
Date: Sun, 4 Dec 1994 02:54:32 GMT
Lines: 57

Dan Pop (danpop@cernapo.cern.ch) wrote:
: In <palowodaD04HqA.LAJ@netcom.com> palowoda@netcom.com (Bob Palowoda) writes:

: >I'm sorry Ken but "get it" is just not good enough to convence the commercial
: >sector that they will recieve a good backing support for Linux.  Look at the
: >100 of rev's of linux, which one has patches for the network problems? Which
: >one has patches for the Xwindows problems, for what version of Xwindows? 
: >What does Slackware cut a CD a week to keep up with these problems?  Just
: >look at all the problems and unanswered questions that occur in 
: >comp.unix.x.i386unix of people buying Slackware or the "The big Y's" forgot
: >how to spell it.  Why do you think companies deploy source control and 
: >patch revision control in the first place.  With the many thousands of 
: >contributors to Lunix their chaos to control has given proof to the old saying
: >"Too many cooks spoiled the pot". At admit FreeBSD has a little more
: >consistentcy to their releases.  

: Have you tried to compare the number of Linux _development_ releases
: (i.e. versions 1.1.xx) or Slackware distribution versions with the
: number of patches and bug fixes released by big vendors like IBM or HP?
: At least, the Linux fixes come free.

	If you really need a stable, well-tested Linux (without tens of
patches), one can always use 1.0.9, the current non-developmental release.
It's been stable since mid-April, with no patches of any kind since then.

	And IMHO the 1.1.x system works pretty well.  Even if there is a buggy
patch in one of the releases, it often gets fixed within a week (when other
new things have been plugged in with their own possible bugs :).

	For instance, last week I wrote an experimental patch to eliminate
a limit on the number of file locks (it was 64).  It used a linked list, which
got clobbered by another piece of code a few lines down (not known to me at 
the time).  The patch was posted to comp.os.linux.development (labeled
experimental in the subject header), and put into 1.1.67 by Linus Torvalds - 
the ONLY person who can post a new version.

	(Neither Linus or myself could test the code first - trial by fire
seemed to be the only way..., since I couldn't think of anything to test it on.)

	The bug was reported to the newsgroup, and a few days later 1.1.69
came out with a simple bug fix.

	IMHO, this shows how the rapid-release system for 1.1.x can work
pretty well.  Enhancements get made and bugs get fixed very quickly, and
the more cautious users can wait for 1.2.x to come out before trying it (which
should be very stable upon first release.)

	Just my .02 megabytes worth...

	- Chad Page

: Dan
: --
: Dan Pop                       | The only reason God was able to make the
: CERN, CN Division             | world in 7 days was he didn't have to remain
: Email: danpop@cernapo.cern.ch | compatible with the previous version.
: Mail:  CERN - PPE, Bat. 31 R-004, CH-1211 Geneve 23, Switzerland