Re: one projection about the open source market

From: Eugene Leitl (Eugene.Leitl@lrz.uni-muenchen.de)
Date: Tue Feb 27 2001 - 01:13:33 PST


On Mon, 26 Feb 2001, Robert Harley wrote:

>
> >[...] It's like coming home to find that all my
> >furniture and even the carpet has been stolen. The GNU utilities are so
> >transcendently far beyond the old proprietary versions that just typing
> >simple commands is an exercise in frustration for me.

I would like to voice similiar sentiments when it comes to SunOS 5.7
(aka Solaris 2.7). It is simply very naked as it comes out of the box.

I've been spending the better part of last week installing diverse GNU
and OpenSource stuff on the company's Ultra-250, and I'm still not done.

It would have taken half an hour with a Linux distro on a modern
2 k$ PC to generate a much faster machine with superior functionality.

Sun, you've got a problem. A big one.
 
> Now, now, it depends which ones. Compaq's C compiler compiles fast
> code fast. It beats gcc on most things and by quite a margin on some.

You're a numerics wonk, so you value performance. I know where you come
from, but it's irrelevant for Oracle-toting KoRPoRAtE Perl mongers.

> Compaq's math libraries are so much better than the GNU ones that it's
> just not funny. S'pse I should fix that some day.

Hah! You now made a big mistake. I'll keep reminding you of this
henceforth.

> Get the CD of open source/free software and install what you want. Be happy.

Not everything you need comes neatly packaged on a CD, and in relatively
recent versions. It's a pain if you're pipe is just ISDN (~7 kByte/s),
though, so insist on xDSL.
 
> Rob, extensive user of Linux and Tru64.

The local Alpha/Tru64 is next target for extensive GNUification. We'll
make the local machine park usable yet.

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