Paul Lussier wrote:
>
> In a message dated: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 11:05:01 EST
> Rich Payne said:
>
> >On Fri, 16 Mar 2001, Paul Lussier wrote:
> >
> >Only if you think that DE500 (aka Tulip based) and Intel EEpro100 network
> >cards using a PCI bus are propriatary :)
>
> I mean the system as a whole. The proprietary-ness comes from the
> entire package as a whole being qual'ed to work with very specific
> software.
>
> You can ship alpha systems with Linux, and still have it be a
> proprietary package, since as the vendor, you're determining the
> hardware you'll support.
>
> Technically, VA systems stuff would be considered proprietary, since
> they only support a certain narrow list of hardware. However, the
> hardware they use is quite similar to what the average person uses
> anyway.
What is supported is different from what is possible. ;)
> Now, if they were to add features to their system which did not exist
> from any other vendor, then that would be *really* proprietary.
I disagree with that. If we were to do something and not tell anyone
else how to do it, then it would be proprietary. If we added a feature
and it didn't exist from anyone else for lack of them wanting to do it,
I wouldn't call that proprietary.
> What makes the Alpha systems proprietary, I guess "commercial level"
> would be a more apropos description, is that is has things like
> EEPROMs.
>
> Hmmm, maybe it just comes down to the fact that no matter how fast
> Intel/AMD get their CPUs, at the heart of the matter is that PCs are
> just toy computers. The basic architecture hasn't changed in over 20
> years, they were never designed to be enterprise-level machines, and
> the design just basically lacks a lot of nice features that other
> systems like Sun, Dec, HP, and IBM design in to the overal
> architecture from the beginning.
Sure, and it wasn't until Linux that people started taking x86 hardware
seriously (even now, some people don't). I know people that hate x86 because
it has the ability to run DOS, and others hate it because it can also
run Windows.
I *like* x86 because of the broad range of hardware that falls under
"x86". A (large) handful of CPUs, at least a dozen physical formats
from AT to PC104 to SBC, hundreds of motherboards, thousands of cards.
And it's all relatively inexpensive as compared to more enterprise-based
platforms. I remember Sun coming out with the Ultra 5 for under $5k thinking
it was going to take over the desktop. It's a nice machine, but x86
was already below that price.
There's still some brain-dead stuff in x86, and hopefully moving
to something like Itanium or Sledgehammer will start to solve those
problems while keeping the "openness" of what's in the x86 market today.
-Mark
--
Mark Komarinski - Senior Systems Engineer - VA Linux Systems
(cell) 978-697-2228
(email) [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"Have one day pleasant" - Babelfish
**********************************************************
To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to
[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the following text in the
*body* (*not* the subject line) of the letter:
unsubscribe gnhlug
**********************************************************
