Penguin

Differences between current version and revision by previous author of WhyUnix.

Other diffs: Previous Major Revision, Previous Revision, or view the Annotated Edit History

Newer page: version 3 Last edited on Saturday, February 7, 2004 9:41:24 pm by AristotlePagaltzis
Older page: version 2 Last edited on Sunday, November 24, 2002 6:21:23 pm by JohnMcPherson Revert
@@ -1,9 +1,14 @@
-# __Familiarity__: Everyone knows [Unix], College graduates for example are often brought up on [Unix]. This also means you can find users who have the same problems as you and can help you fix them.  
-# __Reputation for Stability__: Unix doesn't die. People regularly compare how long my server has been up vs how long your server has been up, even going so far as to buy [UPS]'s for this.  
-# __Cost__: Most of the unicies are Free (speech) , and you usually get a large chunk of the source with them (for the Free (speech) ones, usually all of the source). Even [Unix]'s that are commercial usually have fairly simple costs such as Per [CPU] as compared to other operating systems .  
-# __Transparent __:  
-## __Processes __: You know what every process is and what it does. You know what the implications of removing this process is , or replacing it with a different tool that does the same thing . For example, it's common to run a [Unix] machine without a [GUI] if it doesn't need one saving plenty of resources that a [GUI] requires .  
-## __Files __: You know what every file is for. Files are usually text files and can be easily viewed/ edited.  
-## __Source __: If in doubt, you can always read the source . Unix has a tradition of always having the source being available. If the source isn't available , strace(1), and ltrace(1) will both help you debug problems.  
-# __Text file configuration__: Configuration files are plain text, they can be easily searched and manipulated. Unix has lots of tools to work with text files, for example, you can use version control on all your configuration files.  
-# __Powerful Scripting tools __: Everything can be scripted, if it doesn't natively support scripting, then you can probably script it anyway. perl(1) is perhaps the best (and worst?) example of the power of [Unix] scripting
+; __Familiarity__ : Everyone knows [Unix]. Most college graduates are brought up on [Unix]. The effect is a large grassroots support network of users who have had the same problems as you before and can help you fix them.  
+  
+; __Reputation for Stability__ : [ Unix] doesn't die. People regularly compare how long their server has been up vs how long someone else's server has been up, even going so far as to buy [UPS] units for this.  
+  
+; __Cost__ : Most of the Unices are [ Free] , but even commercial flavours have quite fair costs per [CPU] as compared to other [OperatingSystem]s .  
+  
+; __Transparency __ :  
+;; __of processes __ : You can learn what every process is there for, what implications removing it has , or which alternatives for it there are . For example, it's common to run a [Unix] machine with just a WindowManager instead of a full DesktopEnvironment, or even entirely without a [GUI], if it doesn't need one, thus saving plenty of resources.  
+;; %%% __of files __ : It is easy to find out what any file is needed for. Easily viewed and edited plaintext files are common .  
+;; %%% __of source __ : Traditionally you get at least a large chunk, if not all of the SourceCode of your [Unix] system. You can always read it if in doubt . (And even lacking source, strace(1), and ltrace(1) will both help you debug problems.)  
+  
+; __Plaintext configuration files __ : Due to this format, configuration files are easy to search and manipulate with a host of standard tools shipped with [Unix] by default. For example, you can put your configuration files under version control .  
+  
+; __Powerful scripting __ : Just about everything can be scripted. In fact a [Unix] OperatingSystem consists mostly of a loosely held together web of scripts. If a program doesn't support scripting natively , you can usually fudge it anyway.