20 years of Linux

[killadoob]

Dude i was playing around with that last post cause of the noob comment so don't take any of it to seriously.

Can you imagine though you get a computer with linux on it and none of your windows apps work, most folk will be shocked haha. Windows is where it is because there is generally one version supported by developers not a dozen. Some people don't want to replace corel and photoshop and some want to game. Some may like linux but find dual booting annoying me like me so they won't use linux.

It's easy to say if people just used it then it would be bigger but the reality is linux will never be big on the desktop until they make one OS that is widely used and supported.

Windows works and people know it so i don't see why that will change or why it needs to change in all honesty. Another thing is advertising, why don't people know about linux? Why don't we see multi million rand adverts advertising it?

Anyways each to their own, perhaps linux must charge for the OS so they can advertise it and generate some interest in it. How many linux users are willing to contribute money to a fund for advertising linux i wonder? could be a good way to make money and get linux moving forward much faster.

 

[Prof.Merlin]

Not quite. I see your RH8 and raise you.

Got 4 productions systems running downstairs, all older than 10 years - Comms server on Redhat 3 (I think), Web Server and Movie server - both on Windows 2000 and a specific dedicated app running on a 14 year old Windows 98 box!

None of these machines have been down in the last decade, mainly because no-one fiddles with them.

I recently virtualised them all but not because they gave any problems.

No wonder vodacom has so many issues! RH3 and Windows 98!

 

[The_Unbeliever]

No wonder vodacom has so many issues! RH3 and Windows 98!

hehehehe

 

[jannievanzyl]

SCO Openserver 5.1.x? We got a few boxes running that at the office...

The first proper Unix on Intel, it pointed to the future. Pity Novell never got it.

But yes, it's nice to have some rock-solid stuff

As I said, there's an inverse relationship between stability and administrators fiddling.

You mentioned a win98 box :erm: How reliable is that & how often do you need to reboot it?

That's the point. Not a single reboot in more than 10 years. And it (was) quite a critical system, controlled all the lights and power points in my house. So I would've known very quickly if it went down.

Feh, can remember the days of Win95, Win98 and OS/2....

I grow up on a diet of DOS 3.x/5.x/6.x and Novell Netware 2.x and 3.12.... but you don't see those around anymore.

Yet at some point they ran every single corporate. The big boys even had disks as large as 1GB to carry all the corporate data! (I've still got one of those - Seagate ST1100N, late 90's, about R20K!)

Novell's demise is a good case study in not acting out a strategy resulting in company failure. In the middle 90's they realised the only OS that could take on Microsoft was Unix and they bought the System V labs. A stunning move that would've given them control over Unix. But then they launched that terrible Unixware and never got it off the ground. The rest is history.

 

[BigAl-sa]

The first proper Unix on Intel, it pointed to the future. Pity Novell never got it.

??
Convergent & Sequent had boxes running Unix on i386 in 1987, before SCO Unix.

 

[Ockie]

That's the point. Not a single reboot in more than 10 years. And it (was) quite a critical system, controlled all the lights and power points in my house. So I would've known very quickly if it went down.
.

What kind of futuristic home powered by Win 98 do you live in Jannie! I want to come visit you! Sounds like a setup of note...apart from the Win 98 of course At night, are you put to sleep by the hum of the servers in your basement? Do you have a heat vent running out your chimney to keep your basement cool?

 

[jannievanzyl]

??
Convergent & Sequent had boxes running Unix on i386 in 1987, before SCO Unix.

Too long ago to remember, although I want to remember Convergent on the 486 in the early 90's.

In any case, the point was that SCO brought Unix into the consumer space on the back of inexpensive PC architecture. For sure a 30 x '386 Sequent box would not count.

 

[BigAl-sa]

Too long ago to remember, although I want to remember Convergent on the 486 in the early 90's.

I worked on shmem and shmop on Convergent i386 in Salt Lake City in 1989. We also had 4 database programmers plus two SVID systems developers working on a single processor i386 Convergent box here in Pta at that time.

For sure a 30 x '386 Sequent box would not count.

That was a mean machine - Technikon RSA bought one...

 

[jannievanzyl]

What kind of futuristic home powered by Win 98 do you live in Jannie! I want to come visit you! Sounds like a setup of note...apart from the Win 98 of course At night, are you put to sleep by the hum of the servers in your basement? Do you have a heat vent running out your chimney to keep your basement cool?

Must say, it can be a bit noisy. There are two 19" racks in addition to all the computers and the aircon, so a fair number of fans running in there.

This pic and this one of the room are a few years old, mostly still the same, a few less PC's and no more CRT screens.

I'll mail you some stuff.