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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.