Re: [Lust/Greed/Envy] Sun and iPlanet Unleash Ultimate SoftwareDevelopment Platform

From: Stephen D. Williams (sdw@lig.net)
Date: Sun Mar 04 2001 - 18:44:29 PST


Steve Dossick wrote:
>
> I don't know when I became the defender-of-Sun on FoRK, but I suppose
> someone has to do it.
>
> Yes, Linux makes a better single processor os and Web development
> environment than Suns do; Sun salespeople will likely agree with me if you
> put a couple shots of scotch (or their favorite liquor) into them. But,
> there are other kinds of software people build on their workstations (i.e.
> non-web software), and many dev groups would prefer their engineers
> developing on the identical platform the software will eventually run on.
>

Both are great platforms; Linux is catching up to Solaris quickly in the
areas that it is behind. On most measures, as you mention, Linux (or
Linux/Intel vs. Solaris/Sparc) is far more efficient. This includes
things like raw memory bandwidth, context switch time, etc. Some of the
remaining ones are still crucial. SMP support is far better in 2.4 so
I'd be careful about repeating past comparisons on that one. Linux even
supports 64GB of ram on Intel32 hardware which is a pretty good feat.
(Yes, there is hardware with 20-64GB ram support out there for
Pentium/Athlon.)

I will note that I can only get Linux/Intel in a mega-laptop for a
reasonable price. This tends to give a slant to my dev platform even
beyond the missing or broken tools.

...
> -- "The ultimate dev platform" really depends on who you are, what you're
> developing and what your budget is. For you Kragen, I imagine the ultimate
> dev platform is something which runs perl, python, and other languages you
> regularly use well. In addition, the platform includes Emacs and other
> tools you like to use. For me, the ultimate dev platform includes all these
> tools plus has great, optimized native-code compilers (C++) and has
> aftermarket tools available like Purify and Quantify. (Yes, we are
> beginning to see tools patterned after Purify available for Linux, but I
> like Purify -- it's part of MY ultimate dev platform).

It looks like their new tool, Insure++, is available for Linux and does
more, as long as you don't mind running your source through it:

http://www.parasoft.com/products/insure/compare/features.htm

The availability of Insure++ and not Purify is the same for Linux, IBM
RS/6000's, SCO, and Dec Alpha Dec Unix.

>
> The truly ironic thing here is that I'm the person who ordered the Dell
> machine on Kragen's desk :) :)
>
> -s

sdw

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Dec2000



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