[dba-Tech] The latest Debian

Hi Shamil:

In 1991, Linux wrote a terminal app for the 386 Intel, and it was not until
a few years later (1994) that a full-blown version hit the market place.
Linux wrote the entire kernel without copying any binaries from the original
Unix. Consider that original Unix was a copy from the IBM CMS and VAX VMS
OSs that had their origins are from the sixties (earlier?). 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Linux

The current version of Linux is only on its third major/full release. The
concept on which the original and all subsequent versions were based was
that all objects are either files or file systems, communication is over a
network and private namespaces allow their owners to access local and remote
processes, transparently. This basically says all control files are text,
every module is designed to be multi-user and all users are separated from
the core's processing. Add in redundancy and you have a very rugged system.

Don't you wish Microsoft had spent that much focused time polishing its core
operating system? The GUI could just be an add on or distro (like Macs) and
it can be shed or replaced at a whim. Microsoft decided to embed the GUI
right into the kernel...what a disastrous mistake that has been. It appears
the MS's main problems stem from very basic design concept error. 

That said, Apple, realized that they were going in the wrong direction and
basically abandoned their old designs and embraced the Linux/Unix concepts
of having a clear delimitation between the kernel and the graphic interface.

Apple has also realized that they are not network ready and have allowed
their server based systems to languished while allowing easy access to Linux
servers.

I am very sure that Microsoft has been improving its OS considerably.
Unfortunately, for MS, it competitor(s) are improving faster. I think this
is unacceptable and if I was King of Redmond things would change.

The point I was trying to make with Oracle was not so much as what type of
product that Oracle is mastering but also that Microsoft, is trying to be
everything for everyone and that is just not going to work. Microsoft has to
focus on getting their kernel absolutely rock-solid, lean it down and speed
it up. Who cares about the GUI? Don't try to make one OS run on every type
of hardware, that is insanity... specialize. Don't they think Apple, Google,
FF, Ubuntu etc. didn't try and then abandoned that thought as a waste of
effort? 

Microsoft has to stop listening to their sales and accounting staff and
start listening to their tech staff and their external developers...this is
where all creativity starts. Giving you great tools is a beginning but now
you need that OS that you can really rely on to extend your capabilities.

Jim  

-----Original Message-----
From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Salakhetdinov
Shamil
Sent: Sunday, May 12, 2013 1:39 PM
To: Discussion of Hardware and Software issues
Subject: Re: [dba-Tech] The latest Debian

Hi Jim --

Thank you for your posting and the questions you proposed to discuss.

I have just a WinPhone here so I'll post a very short note for today:

- please correct me if I'm wrong  but Linux core was based on Unix sources,
and the first version of Unix appeared in 1974(?). A lot of academic and
industrial research was done before Linux inherited it "for granted" in
1991(?) when Linus Torwalds assembled and released the first Linux version
"just for fun". All the subsequent 20+ years were spent on polishing  and
extending  of what was rather stable system from the very beginning. Of
course this "just polishing" is a great work.

MS Windows NT (the foundation of Win7/8) was written from scratch just 20+
years ago. As usual for MS they did experiment a lot with their OS during
all that years - and they got a good result in just 20 years comparing to 40
years of Linux/Unix history. 

As for frustration from MS software - it's inevitable "natural" part of
their business model :) But I personally was much more frustrated with MS
software in the past than nowadays. MS always(?) stated that VB6/VBA are of
limited use/history, and only C/C++ are for "true developers". I can't call
myself a "true developer" as I currently mainly use C# but I have had a
chance to participate in a rather large payroll system development
originally written on C on MS DOS, then migrated to C++ and MS Windows 95 -
and it's still working on Win7 and Win8, part of it as Web  service.
Technical work of keeping this application inline with new MS Windows
versions was minimal...

Comparing Oracle with MS Windows is not quite correct as DBMS development is
thousands times easier IMO than development of OSes as MS Windows is.

Linux is more stable than MS Windows because its core and the principles of
communication of its components are simpler than the ones of MS Windows.

Thank you.
-- Shamil