Return to BSD News archive
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!simtel!daffy!uwvax!uwm.edu!news.moneng.mei.com!news.ecn.bgu.edu!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!swrinde!news.uh.edu!uuneo.neosoft.com!nmtigw!peter From: peter@nmti.com (Peter da Silva) Subject: Re: The Future of FreeBSD... Message-ID: <id.GFWL1.CG3@nmti.com> Sender: peter@nmti.com (peter da silva) Organization: Network/development platform support, NMTI References: <3uktse$d9c@hal.nt.tuwien.ac.at> <3umkok$de2@nntpd.lkg.dec.com> <marcus.197.009F3034@ccelab.iastate.edu> <3us0rg$7ph@nntpd.lkg.dec.com> Date: Mon, 24 Jul 1995 17:46:50 GMT Lines: 102 In article <3us0rg$7ph@nntpd.lkg.dec.com>, Jon Jenkins <jenkinsj@ozy.dec.com> wrote: > Actually Windows/386 was the first and the compatilbility problems > killed the other efforts. I'm sure that this compatibilty problem > was not all by "accident". I *used* the first version of Windows, the one that "beat" the rest. And I quit using it shortly thereafter. The rest were MUCH more compatible with what counted... DOS... > Whoa there, surely you jest! I wont go into a > diatribe here. Just compare setting up two simple > applications (forgetting all the nasty kernel configuration) > compare setting up Eudora Mail on Windows with /etc/sendmail.cf > on UNIX!!!! Compare setting up Eudora Mail on windows with setting up "elm". Eudora isn't a server. (not to mention that sendmail is by an order of magnitude the worst case you can come up with, and there are other servers available) > and then compare setting up a dot matix > printer in Windows versus printcap etc on UNIX: Nuff said. Yeh. How *do* you set up a printer in Windows so it prints a banner page? I'm still trying to figure this out. If I install the ".SEP" files they provided the printer spits out an error message and dumps the job. > Windsock was trivial, perhaps a few minutes. Yeh, clients are inherently easier to configure. I'm still working on getting network backup of my NT server up. > /etc/hosts > /etc/hosts.conf, bind, NIS, SLIP, PPP, routing, device > slattach, etc etc .... There really is no comparison Right. UNIX exposes the configuration details. Windows hides them, so if you're doing anything but setting up a vanilla client you're scrod. > Just as an interesting aside did you know > that the US goverment has accepted NT as an Open > System. What this means is that the POSIX subsystem conforms to FIPS 151. This doesn't mean it's an "open system" in any real sense. The POSIX subsystem is deliberately crippled, so as to be no more than a checkbox on the purchase requisition form. > If you dont get the significance of this > then it effectively allows NT to replace any > UNIX operating system in the Goverment services. So long as it can actually do the job. > Two large military organisations (I'm not sure > I can tell you who so they will remain nameless) > have already announced they will swap from UNIX > to NT. You have got to ask yourself why ? Because they're followers? Can you say $100 hammers? > The answer was spelt out in one bid response: > NT is easy to use, maintain and configure > UNIX is not. I'm supporting UNIX and NT here. NT is easy to set up in a vanilla configuration. It is *impossible* to debug problems. You just have to try things... I'm not talking about "I don't know how this works" I mean "there is no indication what the problem is". For example, I tried to access a Novell server. It gave me an error that basically said "this subsystem is not initialized". OK, I'll go set it up. Click, click, "this subsystem is not initialized". Um, why not? Sorry, that option's ghosted because the subsystem isn't initialized and when I try and initialize it what does it say? "Initialization failed". Why? Doesn't say. OK, go look in the event log. Surely it'll say something there. Nope. Lots of print jobs, no errors. Nothing in the registry. Rebooting "fixed" it, but there were *NO* diagnostics. Anywhere. I don't care how good your GUI is, you need to log failures somewhere. Meanwhile in FreeBSD 99.5% of the problems can be diagnosed by looking in /var/log. Yes, a better interface for the dumb stuff will help, but NT is no bed of roses. Well, if you count the thorns... -- Peter da Silva (NIC: PJD2) `-_-' Network Management Technology Incorporated 'U` 1601 Industrial Blvd. Sugar Land, TX 77478 USA +1 713 274 5180 "Har du kramat din varg idag?"