In article <[log in to unmask]>,
Gavin Scott  <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> The Linux world is so much more interesting than other Unix flavors right
> now, and just in the last few months even it has started to look *really*
> viable, and not just as a server OS.  We installed RedHat 7.1 on a laptop
> recently and it's *very* impressive.

Insecure as hell, though. The only Linux distribution I'd really recommend
would be debian. They're the only mob in the Linux world that's really
interested in producing a solid product.

But the important thing about UNIX is, you can run the same software on
any UNIX. There's the more solid and reliable Open Source BSD UNIX, there's
commercial platforms (HPUX is pretty clunky, but Tru64 has been very good
to us. A sane HP/Compaq merge would just go for HPUX emulation on a Tru64
base... if you can expect sanity from that mob). There's even a new UNIX
subsystem coming out from Microsoft for NT, as they're merging Interix into
Windows Services for UNIX.

All with the same building blocks.

Just be careful that you keep track of which building blocks exist on all
platforms. Linux in particular is pretty bad about adding features that
lock you in to one specific variant. We tried going with debian for our
Linux work, but we've run into vendors that *only* support Red Hat, and
in some cases *only* specific versions of Red Hat (so you're not even
safe picking just one).

I've had more luck running some software under Linux emulation on BSD. :->

Also, we don't seem to be able to get entirely away from the middleware
vendors. There's still no Open Source database that's up to speed with
Oracle, for example.

--
 `-_-'   In hoc signo hack, Peter da Silva.
  'U`    "A well-rounded geek should be able to geek about anything."
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