On Feb 15, 3:57 am, Roy Schestowitz <newsgro...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
> Is the OS really going away?
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | The whole open source and Linux movements remain hugely opposed to
> | Microsoft -- while, incidentally, they attempt to match the OS
> | giant's products with software distributions that are even bigger:
> | Red Hat's Fedora Core OS comes on five CDs while Windows XP manages
> | with one, for example. Admittedly, there are many, many more
> | applications on those five CDs...
This reporter just seems to be ignorant.
The Linux kernel and core libraries are actually pretty small, just a
few megabytes. Most of those CDs are application software and
utilities.
The closest equivelant for Microsoft is if they took all of the
shareware written for Windows put it all on a DVD, or BluRay disk, and
included with the installation image of Windows itself. There would
be several different competitors in each class. Users could evaluate
for 30 days, and what they didn't like, they would have to remove
(first problem, programs don't remove themselves from Windows very
well). The ones the user liked, he would have to pay for - at $40/
pop.
With Linux, and OSS, the user gets the kernel and libraries, then gets
about 5,000 application and utility packages, and can use any of the
as much as he wants. If he has some favorites, he can buy commercial
upgrades, plug-ins, or services related to that product. If he likes
Open Office, he can get StarOffice for $60 and get wizards, templates,
and themes that are even better than Microsoft's. If he likes
Eclipse, he can pick up plug-ins, or he can upgrade to commercial
products such as WebSphere Studio, Rational Application Designer, or
Rational Software Architect - et al. He could even get multiple
eclipse based commercial plug-ins based on specific needs.
The point is that in each catagory there would be several different
competing products, and the user would be encouraged to try everything
and use what he likes best.
Somehow, I don't see Microsoft giving every OEM a CD containing
OpenOffice, Microsoft Office, Corel Office, Lotus Workplace, Visual
Studio, Eclipse, MS-Project, CA Superproject, MS-Money, Quicken,
TaxCut, TurboTax, IE, FireFox, Opera, Netscape, and Konqueror - in a
form that would be installed on 100 million PCs per year.
Yet With Linux, that's EXACTLY what you get.
Most importantly, these are all "easy-in/easy-out" applications that
can be installed and removed safely, without trashing the hard drive.
> | But even Linux folk are not immune to the siren call of the thinner
> | OS -- a call that's been heard many times before over the last 15
> | years.
The irony is that Linux IS the THINNER OS! When you talk about "Thin
Clients", you are primarily talking about Linux or Unix kernel, X11
graphical interface, lightweight window manager, and a few general
purpose clients like browser, chat, word, spreadsheet, and drawings.
The "localized" versions of these applications that get 90% of the
mouse and keyboard activity reduce the load on the network. The
"client/server" stuff allows users to access a "server" that could be
on a machine across the country, like Google, or could be a small
process running in their laptop - like MySQL.
> | One key argument runs that the growth of virtualisation
> | means that the OS has less to do.
This is why Linux comes in modules. The kernel is only about 1.3
megabytes and even this can be trimmed to a boot package that can fit
on a single floppy. The system can boot into "console mode" and would
only need a few megabytes of RAM and a small flash device for
"disk".
Embedded versions of Linux can be even smaller.
> | With hypervisors metering out
> | hardware resources to virtual machines -- CPU, memory, disk, I/O
> | and so on -- the role of the OS is seriously diminished.
> `----
Keep in mind that each VM may still need to run multiitasking,
multthreading systems of their own. The point of the VM is not to try
to create a bunch of "one trick ponies", it's to allow a system to be
configured into functional units that can be switched in and out - as
a self-contained unit. A "database appliance" might have a web
server, a database, and access to multiple SAN disks it uses for table
spaces. If you are flying from New York to London, you can test on
this virtual appliance database. Once you land and get to the office,
you can test against a virtually identical appliance (but much bigger)
running on a Z-900.
Linux is a bit like the components of an audio-video system. If you
have a TV/Monitor, a Cable box, a VCR, and a DVD, and they all
interconnect using standard interfaces, you don't have to buy a new
television just because you moved to a location serviced by another
cable provider. You don't have to replace the cable tuner just
because the VCR had a tape and shredded the heads. You don't have to
replace the VCR because you want to switch from DVD to BluRay. If you
decide to upgrade from NTSC to HDTV, you replace the monitor, not all
of the other components (which either already supported HD, or never
will).
The Microsoft model gives us the ultimate example of what happens when
you bundle the whole mess into a single "box".
You started with Windows 95, Office 95, and then out came Windows NT
4.0, but then you had to upgrade to Office 97. Then Windows 2000 came
out and you had to upgrade to Office 2000. A year later, out popped
Windows XP, which needed Office XP. Then came Windows 2003 which was
really a server, but you could use it with Office 2003. Then 3 years
later, Microsoft pops out Vista and Office 2007. Ever tried running
Office 95 ond Windows XP? It's not pretty, neither are the documents
you get for all those other people who won't send you Office 95
format. And the folks who get your Office 95 documents, can figure
out why they look so wierd.
In some cases, the libraries won't even support the older versions.
Try running Word 6.0 on Vista, that should be really entertaining.
Which means you have a little problem when you need to show up in
court with documents that were written 15 years ago. You end up with
the "Dan Rather" scenario, where printouts of the archived copy come
out on a new word processor with new fonts and layouts, and the
opposition claims that these are not originals and that you have
doctored them. It seems absurd, but it was enough to get Dan Rather
fired, it was enough to get George W Bush reelected.
> http://www.techworld.com/features/index.cfm?RSS&FeatureID=3168
Microsoft's "standards du jur, huge monolithic DLLs, and monolithic
applications that combine with the operating system to gobble 2
gigabytes of RAM - those are going to go away (and unfortunately Vista
is in this catagory big-time).
Modular kernel, modular shared libraries, modular applications,
components that can be strung together like tinker-toys or Lego-
Blocks, and and frameworks designed to run small modular plug-ins that
can be mapped in and out of memory - those are the future.
Single-vendor single source solutions that require huge capital
investments every 2-3 years and are force-fed to push users into
buying when resources are scarcest and prices are their highest, those
are going to go away.
Modular multi-vendor systems based on public standards supported by
multiple competing vendors, offering incremental upgrades which allow
a more cost-effective pay-as-you-go incrimental upgrade plan allowing
customers to get more consistent pricing and vendors to get more
consistent profits - those are the future.
Rex Ballard
Open Group Master Certified IT Architect
IBM Certified IT Architect.
Linux advocate since 1993
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