Mail Archives: opendos/2000/10/30/23:33:46
----- Original Message -----
From: <fernande AT internet1 DOT net>
To: <opendos AT delorie DOT com>
Sent: Sunday, October 29, 2000 10:43 PM
Subject: Re: A little history
> Robert,
>
> Robert W Moss wrote:
> >
> > What's to like? You did not buy "Linux" or DR DOS from Caldera.
>
> Yes I did. I bought DRDOS from Caldera before they split the company.
> I also bought OpenLinux 2.3, but haven't been able to install it. It
> hangs on all my machines.
Both could be downloaded for free. You must not have bothered to check it
out thoroughly. I downloaded 7.01, 7.02 and 7.02 to 7.03 updates from
Caldera before Lineo took over. I did not bother to get Open Linux. Of
course I just go to the FTP site and download what I want. I don't bother
trying get stuff from WEB pages if I can get access to the FTP sites.
As far as installing OpenLinux, you are probably doing something wrong. Have
you describe the problem and where it hangs. Most of the time it's simply
LILO that hangs and you did not install something correctly or LILO need
more information to boot. For example, my Sound Blaster card's SCSI
controller does not have a ROM, so when LILO pops up I had to tell it how to
find the controller. I could also tell LILO what the parameters were and to
remember them so I did not have to tell it the information each time I
booted to Linux. RTFM.
> The part that I don't like is SCO selling what they are know for...
> Unix. Also they seem to be wanting to combine Linux and Unix. From
> what I have read in Usenet Unix is still the heavy hitter, Linux is
> making progress, but still has its flaws compared to Unix.
you must be a little behind time. Quite some time ago SCO revamped their
kernel to work with Linux apps. They were losing business because people
wanted the Linux packages. So they were more or less forced to make this
move or go out of business. they have had what is called the LKP kernel for
some time now. LKP stands for Linux Kernel Properties!
As far as flaws go, I think you had better check that out. It is just the
opposite. Most experts will tell you that Linux is much more stable. Of
course if you are one of those people that has to try out the latest things
to come out before they have been thoroughly tested then you can get into
trouble. I always keep track of the new kernels to see what problems are.
Remember they change the kernel to add more and more capabilities to it.
They are trying to develop a 64 bit OS and will probably be the first to do
it with a stable version. If you read the Linux DOCs you will find that even
numbered kernels are experimental and that the odd numbered ones are the
good ones. If you look at what versions of the kernels are being used by
RedHat, Slackware, Debian, Turbo Linux, Open Linux, and a host of other
distributions, you can be pretty certain these are very stable. The same
goes for new versions of apps. Some are in alpha test and some are in beta
test and some are final releases. The same goes for new libraries and
Xservers. the reason these are available is so that people can test them out
and e-mail authors of the package to what problems you have encountered.
These packages are clearly labled as Alpha, or Beta. They will have an a or
b at the end of the version number.
I have used Linux for over five years and have found very little to complain
about. I don't have BIG BAD BLUE screens with it. I don't have to reload it
every three months or less. It never crashed on me. Best of all, it works
and does something useful without hogging tons of resources and it is
very,very fast. Experts say it is the most stable OS currently available. As
for SCO, you must not have heard of the many horror stories about it and
people were forced to upgrade to get rid of those bugs and pay big, big
bucks to upgrade. Much like MS crap and Novell Netware. Linux just keeps on
trucking and leaves all others in it's dust! Why? BECAUSE it is FREE and the
authors (over 500) of the packages and kernels get paid nothing for their
work, they take pride in their work. They don't have a F*&^#(^ CEO looking
at the "BOTTOM LINE" that's why! There are thousands of people around the
world contibuting to Linux and alpha testing and beta testing software for
it. Most of these people are true hackers (not what most people today
consider a hacker, but what it used to mean.) Last and very far from least
is the fact that Linux belongs to the public. That means every person living
in this world owns it (and any aliens that may happen to stop by!)
Pat
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