On Fri, 2004-05-14 at 15:07, Andy Sy wrote: > Paolo Alexis Falcone wrote: > > > Even programming-wise they're also the same. Or at least API-wise. The > > POSIX standard is the intersection between the old SVR4 and BSD APIs. > > POSIX can only offer a subset of the facilities of advanced operating > systems. When you want to start using the more advanced stuff, you have > to resort to calls beyond those offered by POSIX. For something as > basic as even process creation (i.e. forking), proprietary versions of > the calls seem to abound.
Which is quite the intention that the IEEE wanted, rather than taking all of the extensions altogether. > The hell that is the autotools haunts us precisely because unix is not > a unix is not a unix. The autotools exists to hide the trivial differences (well, sometimes not so trivial) that haunt cross-Unix compatibility. If anyone's to blame, blame the implementing companies who purposely slid in incompatibilities to achieve possible vendor lock-in in the past - an attempt that resulted in utter failure and the emergence of MS in server space during that confusion. > The situation is just as varied on the system administration side. While the > basic command line tools are the same, different distros offer different > higher level tools. The main thing I'm concerned about is inadvertently > hiring a sysadmin who only knows how to work with RH's proprietary add-ons > and who doesn't know how to work with the more fundamental unix tools these higher > level utilities work on top of. People who have no idea that samba.conf exists > or how to work directly with it (which is the most ideal way under Slackware) > for example. How many of this type of sysadmin are out there? > At least for the certified ones, I doubt if you can justify that idea, or find evidence to back that claim. An intuitive administrator would definitely want to find out the files necessary to make the application run and not constrain himself solely to the tools. Perhaps Eric Raymond expresses this the best way - the Unix mindset proactively prescribes the rejection of all notions of the "one true way." > > Tru64, Unixware and an old copy of UNIX SVR4 I "dug" in QC City Hall :D > > - contain more similarities than differences in the feel and API. > > More similarities than differences, yes I agree. That's why we can bunch > them under the collective term *nix. However there has not been a thing > such as 'a Unix' for the longest time. Well, what you qualify just as a *nix is already more Unix enough for me :D -- Paolo Alexis Falcone [EMAIL PROTECTED] "The misguided use of a computer is no more amazing than drunk driving of an automobile." - Ken Thompson
signature.asc
Description: This is a digitally signed message part
-- Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List [EMAIL PROTECTED] (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph) Official Website: http://plug.linux.org.ph Searchable Archives: http://marc.free.net.ph . To leave, go to http://lists.q-linux.com/mailman/listinfo/plug . Are you a Linux newbie? To join the newbie list, go to http://lists.q-linux.com/mailman/listinfo/ph-linux-newbie
