> We have around 5000 Sun servers and 500+ Linux server in > production, if this source code install model is presented to > me, I would reject it in a heart beat -> no compilers allowed on > production servers.
Considerably different from Yahoo, which has many more servers than that, running FreeBSD. FreeBSD also has a far better track record than Linux when it comes to security and uptime. One of the primary reasons for this is the ports system. Ports-based packages do not necessarily require a compiler (yet another red herring). With source-based ports you can run current versions regardless of the OS version. You can run applications in a jail easily, and you can link to current versions of all libraries. In contrast with pkgs like Blastwave and dpkg or RPMs you're stuck with the OS vendor's version of all software and all libraries. All too often this means that your software is a major and several minor versions out of date. Take Spamassassin and ClamAV as a case in point. In order to get the most performance and security out of these applications you have to maintain current versions. This is impossible to do on any Solaris or Linux system without compiling from source or compiling and building your own pkgs/RPMs on another system, which is all considerably more difficult that simply typing 'portupgrade spamassassin clamav' when your cvsup report tells you that a new version is available. -- Roger Marquis Roble Systems Consulting http://www.roble.com/ _______________________________________________ indiana-discuss mailing list [email protected] http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/indiana-discuss
