[rescue] Linux wet paint, was Re: Spark10 CPU question (must fix - SPARC damnit :-) )

[Dave McGuire]

On 12/17/2016 09:13 AM, Liam Proven wrote:
> On 17 December 2016 at 06:29, Kevin Bowling <kevin.bowling at kev009.com> wrote:
>> But the
>> year of the Linux desktop is always a year away, and the Linux graphics
>> stack and desktop experience remain mediocre at best.
> 
> 
> Meanwhile in the real world...
> 
> http://ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2016/7/25/platform-wars-final-score
> 
> 2.5 billion Android -- i.e. Linux users -- as of a year ago.
> 
> Now, approximately half the human race owns or uses Linux.
> 
> Meanwhile, in laptops etc.
> 
> http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/19/11711714/chromebooks-outsold-macs-us-idc-fi
> gures
> 
> ChromeOS is the #2 most widely-used PC OS in the world, after Windows.
> 
> Only about 8 million units, if Q1 was 2M, but still.
> 
> Linux may not be particularly good in any single way, but its licence
> and its cost outweigh technical elegance. I'm afraid that's the
> reality.

  Liam, you might be shocked at this, but I have to agree.  From my own
perspective, it really has grown up a lot.  I've always been a
commercial UNIX (and VMS) guy, both personally and professionally, and
I've looked down my nose at Linux.  I've played with it, and thought
"Hmm, nice toy".  But now I depend on it to get real, critical-for-food
work done.  It has grown up a lot.

  And Android is just fantastic and generally just WORKS, 'nuff said.

  That said, for server duty, I still don't think it holds a candle to
Solaris.  Due in no small part to suggestions here, including yours, I
started researching Illumos and OpenIndiana last night.  I'm going to
fire up OI on a spare 1U PeeCee that I have lying around here to see how
it handles.  And there's a SPARC build called Tribblix, which apparently
grew out of Bochnig's OpenSXCE.  I've pulled that down too, and will
take a look on it.

  Although PeeCees have also grown up a lot too, credit where credit is
due, my very strong preference is for late-model SPARC hardware for
server roles.  I will run those as long as I can.  The home and work
production networks are built on T2 hardware, so there are two more
generations as an upgrade path even if Oracle actually stops SPARC
development, and also assuming Fujitsu stops making and selling SPARC
machines.

              -Dave

-- 
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA