Rick,

>On the one hand I'm glad to see NT is getting some competition, but at the same time I'm just constantly amazed by the idiocy that surrounds Linux.

Well, I wouldn't call it all "idiocy"...merely the standard zealotry and hype that the typical "Mac vs. Windows" and "AMIGA RULZ" debates have...it can be amazing, I would agree with you there.



I agree...the sooner folks realize there is no magic and no cure-all, the better off we will all be. I think you are right about new things just making people starry-eyed...hell, I am a victim of that myself.

>I haven't looked at Linux myself, but from what I see how it's used I can see why Linux would appear to be more stable - it's not doing the same stuff that NT boxes are asked to do these days. NT is an application server platform, a Web server, a scripting engine backend and COM host that makes for easy development of applications (easy compared to the same tasks in a Unix environment). Linux is used mainly as a file/printer server, basic Web server running a few CGI scripts, news/email servers etc. None of these tasks are terribly heavy duty. If you do these things on NT you'll also find that the instability issues fade away as well.

This is a good point...I would say that Linux can do more than basic tasks and still perform well (as for whether it is better than NT, I know not). One thing I _very_ much like about Linux is XWindows. You know how you need something like Terminal Server/Citrix to have a server run multiple terminals in NT? This is child's-play in Linux...XWindows has been doing remote graphics and distributed (in terms of processing vs. interface) computing since its inception. I have heard tales of many schools and such using Linux as a cheap (free) means of terminal serving. The ability to separate the interface from the server operations is one thing that NT is _far_ behind in, though Termian Server and Metaframe are doing their best to catch up...



I agree about the open source thing. Shoot, even when I get Fox tools that have the source, I would much rather send problems to the author than try to wade through and fix/customize something myself...

Linux has several CORBA projects underway, one which provides a free object framework and that has been used already by several commercial apps. No, CORBA is not as easy to use as COM, and I am sure that a Linux box running lots of CORBA stuff has more problems than a simple file server, but it can be (and is being) done. Another object model to consider is the Enterprise JavaBean, which I hear is finally starting to catch on...these will run on more platforms, including Linux, so it may be a distributed computing option in the not-so-far future.

>Software development is in a crisis because there's a shortage of people to do the work and even more of a shortage of people who *understand* the technology. NT app development is not trivial, but compared to the C++ minions on Unix systems it's a cakewalk. Life's too short to code in C++ (or even Java for that matter).

HEAR HEAR! I could not agree more. Linux is starting to get some better visual/semi-visual tools, like Tcl/Tk, Python, Perl, and of course, Java. I still crave and easy-to-use tool that is powerful, native, and has built-in (or nearly built-in) data access (read: VFP, Delphi, or VB) in the Linux world...and I am still waiting...*twiddle*

>End of rant.

And a good one it was, too! *smile*

>I'm sure Linux will grow in the future to a contender - it's come a long way in a very short time. But right now - no contest.

As I said in another message, I think for some situations folks say "no-contest" with Linux as the top dog...fact is, it _is_ getting used. Sure, not in line with what the zealots and MS-bashers would have us believe, but it does have its advantages...it's the only thing I run at home...

Later,
Joe Kaufman
jkaufman@encompas.com