Solaris vs. Linux
Kyler Laird
Almost everything I've done for over 8 years has
been on SunOS/Solaris (except for some twiddling
in OS/2). Most of the UNIX hosts (the only kind
with which I work) that our department administers
run Solaris (2.6).
Recently, I started trying to install Solaris x86
on a faculty PC and some of my home PCs. It went
beautifully on the faculty PC, but I had lots of
problems on my PCs. (I eventually traced most of
them down to a video adapter jumper on the
motherboard.)
But...then my resistance to Linux started to
lower. I've always loved the idea of Linux and
wished the developers/users the best of luck with
it, but I'd been afraid to depend on it heavily.
I certainly didn't want to suggest it as a campus
solution. (Our department has begun limited
support of Solaris x86.)
What really did it was that the prof. with the
Solaris x86 box said "I'm leaving for the week.
Install whatever you need so that I can start
videoconferencing when I get back." On a SPARC
box, this would not have been a problem. I've
written a bit of software for both the VideoPix
and SunVideo cards, so I *assumed* I'd be able
to find something for his Intel box.
Nope. I could find no video capture card that
has support under Solaris x86. I did find a
statement from Sun saying that they do not
support any video capture devices and do not
plan to do so.
That did it. I had to find a better solution.
Linux has been good so far. I decided to go
with Red Hat 5.1 because they already support
a SPARC version. I've been generally happy
with the ease of installation and stability. I
did, however, spend a good chunk of yesterday
learning to configure a STB ViRGE/VX to do
1600x1200.
Anyway...I have two PC's running Linux now (one
is my wife's and she's been happy with it) and
I'm planning to convert two more of mine. I
suspect that I'll continue to run Solaris on my
home SS10, but I hope to convert a couple of
IPCs at work.
I'm looking at Linux as a fantastic *desktop*
solution. Since we have plenty of Intel NT and
SPARC Solaris servers around, we shouldn't have
a problem with running apps (remotely), so I'm
most interested in getting a powerful robust OS
on the desktop.
One of the best things about Linux is, of
course, its price. With the recent free
release of Solaris, this gets a little tougher,
but Linux still wins because it comes with free
source code and we can give it to students
without saying "...and make sure that you
delete it when you graduate."
Support has been the major roadblock I've
encountered with Linux. At work, Linux is
perceived as not having the high level of
support that Solaris does. That's what I
thought for awhile, too. I've been burned by
Microsoft "support" and by the lack of Sun/
industry support for video capture under
Solaris, though, so I'm *much* more comfortable
having an OS with easily available source code
that's supported by many users world-wide. The
hardware support seems to be much better and I
am fairly sure that everyone will not suddenly
say "Oh, yeah, we said we would always support
that, but we changed our minds." (at least not
for anything really important to me)
Linux is a truly a great OS/culture. I'm
looking forward to seeing how it fits into my
life/work.
--kyler
Frederic Woodbridge
yours is the best post I've ever read (Casper Dik's usual postings are
well thought-out as well, I must say) with sensible, cogent reasoning,
etc. In short, the mark of an educated man :)
I may not totally agree with your "conclusions" but I appreciate the
post. Keep up the good work..
Frederic Woodbridge