[geeks] Sun LX50

[Jonathan C. Patschke]

On Fri, 16 Aug 2002, Gary Nichols wrote:

> Ok - is the vote in?
>
> Sun LX50
>
> This would be ideal for a few projects I'm working on.

It's an Intel OEM motherboard with an Intel OEM CPU in an Intel OEM case
with a Sun bezel on the front, and Sun support.  Ho-hum.

However, that particular Intel motherboard is pretty kick-ass for a PC
board, and I'd considered using it in a few projects, except that it's
unobtainum without a resale agreement with an Intel distributor.

Question:  Is "Sun Linux" any different from / better than "Cobalt Linux"?
Cobalt Linux is on my top 10 list of "worst OS distributions of all time".
In fact, it's probably #1[1].  The earliest versions had numerous bugs
that would cause vital files in /etc to be truncated (shadow, passwd, and
inittab come to mind).  Later versions had far more interesting bugs,
including race conditions in the administrative UI which could lead to
users unexpectedly migrating between different virtual hosts--this became
even more interesting if one of the users happened to be removing subsites
at the moment.  Rumor has it that they finally got a clue about the time
Sun bought them, but I've not used any of the newest boxes.


[1] I keep picturing a design meeting at Cobalt Networks that goes
    something like this:
    Bastard Suit from Hell: Let's start with Red Hat Linux and then fuck
                            it up so that it has horrible reliability
                            problems, numerous out-of-box remote root
                            exploits, and won't properly install any
                            applications that don't use our weird-ass
                            packaging system!
    Tech: Isn't that redundant?
    BSFH: You're obviously an underachiever.  I want the damned thing to
          catch fire and spew donkey poo all over the rack when two users
          log into the admin website at the same time, if possible.

-- 
Jonathan Patschke
   > Can you SysAdmins tell me what might go on in a typical day?
   Hours of endless frustration punctuated by moments of sheer terror.
                                 --Saul Tannenbaum (in the Monastery)