On Wed, 2003-08-20 at 19:21, Bret Hughes wrote: > On Wed, 2003-08-20 at 16:17, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > Never once has it been suggested that I "recompile the Windows OS" to get > > maximum performance from my computer; many's the time I've read > > "re-compile the kernel" in response to a question about Linux performance. > > I read stories where someone has seen a performance increase after > > replacing Windows with Linux, I personally have yet to see it. Anecdotally > > (ie, with no benchmarks) my Dell Latitude is about half as speedy running > > in Linux as it in Windows. To get the same performance from Linux, would > > I need to get a faster computer? Something else to factor into the TCO. > > You're kidding right? I think this a a feature not a bug. You don't > think that a bunch of the registry tweaking windows geeks out there > would kill for the chance to customize the kernel? Fact is since you > can't get the source code you can't recompile.
Honestly, the ability to recompile for performance gains is grossly overrated. You're talking single-digit percentage points, at best. The big advantage to having the kernel source is being able to patch in stuff for bleeding-edge technologies (and drivers, of course). Not to mention the ability to submit patches. I can't overstate this... the typical Linux user/hacker *can* make a difference. I'm a code idiot, which is to say I don't know much about C/C++ programming. But that hasn't stopped me from analyzing compilation errors and submitting two successful patches to various projects (pptp-client, mysql/ssl). Having the source extends control back to the end-user, where it belongs. > Several of your other arguments are quite valid in my opinion. Of > course you need to include the cost of administration in determining the > TCO of any solution, but to imply that Windows software installation and > setup is always easier than in linux, is absurd. There are always > outside variables and it sounds like you know as much about Linux as I > know about windows, a fair amount but not as much as you need to to > claim significant administration skills. I have spent untold hours > learning and customizing linux and I get so pissed until I do another > windows installation and remember what a pain it can be to install the > software get the correct drivers for any specialized hardware, install > the software, tweak settings blah blah blah. The cycle has to happen on > any platform. An old adage- "[Linux] makes easy things hard, and hard things possible". I do some fairly funky stuff for some of my clients... particularly with wireless stuff. Start layering security into multiple OSI layers? With Windows... fuhgettaboutit. Try running PPTP inside IPsec inside WEP. It ain't happening. Microsoft has managed to obfuscate their API's so badly that stuff just doesn't abstract like it should. There's a great interview with Scott Mann (http://searchenterpriselinux.techtarget.com/qna/0,289202,sid39_gci912973,00.html) detailing some of the differences between Linux and Windows security. Here's a great quote from Scott, detailing why he felt Windows administrators have such a hard time making the transition to the Linux/UNIX way of troubleshooting: "People who've had a lot of Windows experience and no Unix experience have to overcome the Windows way of doing things. That can be tough. With Windows, you don't have [the] luxury of getting into code and seeing what's wrong. That's nearly impossible in most cases. So, most Windows administrators are used to contacting Microsoft support immediately when there's a problem. Typically, they don't go to news groups, and so on, and try to track down problems that way. That's completely counter to the Linux culture. The Linux culture is about doing all the research first and then, when you can't figure something out, you go and dig around. Another big hurdle for Windows administrators is coming to grips with the fact that the windowing system in a Linux environment is an afterthought. It wasn't part of the original design. It's a completely separate package. The real way to learn how to manage and maintain your Linux environment from a security or administrative perspective is learning about the operating system itself. Most Windows people don't want to do that. They want to leap to 'How do I do this?' and 'How do I do that?' That impatience usually leads to lots and lots of mistakes." Good stuff. -- Jason Dixon, RHCE DixonGroup Consulting http://www.dixongroup.net -- redhat-list mailing list unsubscribe mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/redhat-list
