[rescue] Linux Luserisms (was: secondary market storage?)

Jonathan C. Patschke jp at celestrion.net
Mon Apr 1 19:00:37 CST 2002


> > "Linux is only free if your time is worthless" is what I've heard.
> 
> I'd have to disagree with this.  Linux supports a lot of hardware
> that *BSD and Solaris/x86 (RIP) don't.  Linux also has a lot more
> hardware vendor support.

No doubt there.  The same could be argued for Windows. :)  *ducks*

Linux, as an OS, isn't really all that bad.  The code is hideous, but the
result is actually quite nice.  I have very few issues at all with Linux
the kernel.  Although, the 2.4 series intermittently broke a -lot- of
things with regards to iptables and a couple NIC drivers and memory
management, even after it was supposedly marked "stable".

But, that's forgivable.  Especially when you consider how much stuff Linux
autoconfigures that would require a kernel rebuild under *BSD.

What I have issues with are all the umpty-bazillion different
distributions, their stupid nonstandard packaging systems (What was wrong
with SysV packages?), and one distribution's unrelenting approach to
tossing beta- and alpha- quality code into the distro and then -selling-
it on stores' shelves, giving the entire platform a bad name.

RPM is the biggest cancer on that particular platform.  Everything about
it sucks except for the periodic scriptble MD5 checking, but that can
easily be done without RPM.

I'm thoroughly spoiled by decent Unixen that I can really only tolerate
Slackware Linux, and that's only after I've taken it behind the woodshed
and beaten it bloody with a clue-by-four.

> Who uses the control-panel?  I use the command line for managing
> my systems.

The people with the "Linux Curtificashon" they drew in crayon after
reading "Learn Linux in 24 Hours and be Ub3r 1337!"  Really, if I wasn't
always so busy fixing other people's screw-ups at $previousOrkPlace, I'd
have loved to do interviews all day long.  Where else can you get paid to
watch people make fools of themselves by their trying to convince you that
you'd want them to have root on -your- servers and they're more competent
than a mentally-challenged brick?

Oh, wait.  Staff meetings.  But interviews were all that in a -good- way.

You just gotta keep it in perspective. :)

--Jonathan



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