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Re: NT vs Linux



Quoting Isaac Aaron <iaaron@usa.net>:
>     "Lack of a Journaling file system -
>     file system may not recover after
>     unplanned downtime"
> - Since I don't know of any journaling capabilities
>   of the ext2, I suppose they're right.
ext2 has no journaling capabilities, and it is 32 bitted on 32 bit platforms.
ext3 OTOH, will offer both 64 bits and journaling (and some other nice
features). XFS (by SGI) is going open too.

>     " NTFS provides a 64-bit file
>      system which is capable of file
>      sizes up to 264 (much larger
>      than 2GB) "
> - Try to reach this NTFS partition when your Windows NT
>   crashes and you need to restore some files to it.
>   Generally you'll need another Windows NT machine.
>   With Linux, you'll be needing the rescue disk.
Well, we have to admit that NTFS has some really nice ideas in it (most of
them stolen from the Unix FSes, though). If I had to choose the one thing that
MS did well on NT I would choose NTFS.

> 
>     " Integrated file cache for faster
>      access to commonly used files
>      Asynchronous I/O - Threads
>      can process other tasks while
>      waiting on I/O thus improving
>      performance and scalability"
> - Performance issues are always arguable. The I/O and Threads
>   are just marketing words used to just to make WinNT look more
>   "New Technology".
They are talking about a multithreaded filesystem, which is a thing you have
to worry about in a micro kernel OS. Linux is a monolithic kernel, and thus
does not need multithreaded FS! Just because it is monolithic it gets all the
features without having to worry about it. 
Linux can have several threads working together and while one thread blocks
for IO the rest can continue working. 

>     Not optimized for high-end servers"
Linux is indeed not optimized very well for high-end servers. Linus said it is
going to change. Now that SGI, Compaq and HP support Linux I'm sure that
things will become much better. We have to remember that Linux is not the
ideal OS for everything. The fact that we like it does not necessarily make it
the best OS around. It is getting better all the time, though.

>     "Integrated platform built around
>     ease of use
>     GUI-based tools
>     Wizards to simplify complicated
>     tasks
>     Scriptable administration for
>     automated local and remote
>     management"
I don't know about the scriptable thingie. Any NT admin willing to talk about
scripting in NT?
I think that this GUI thing is one of the things that does not let NT have
high benchmarks scores. While a Linux server does not have to run X and the
graphical environment, NT has to waste CPU cycles updating the screen all the
time.

> 
>     "Need highly trained system
>     administrators - usually require
>     developer-level skills
>     Administrators are required to
>     re-link and reload kernel to add
>     features to OS.
>     Most configuration settings require
>     editing of text-based files
>     When available, no commonality
>     between GUI-based tools
>     Integration of system
>     services and applications
>     to reduce complexity and
>     management costs"
> - They have a point here.
Of course they have a point here. Sysadmins should know what they are doing. I
don't think that any OS will be able to be administered WELL without the
sysadmin knowing about the ins and outs of the system.
Linux had its text based config files, but NT also has config files, the
problem is that you cannot do anything with it when your computer crashes. All
I have to do with a Linux machine is boot with a rescue disk, fix the problems
and reboot.

Linux can add (and remove) drivers on runtime (and there were some talking
about hot pluggable kernel -- replacing the whole kernel without having to
reboot! ), while on NT you have to boot  even after installing a web browser. 

But all this does not make any difference. The problem with Linux is that
there aren't enough user applications and games. If Linux had the application
base MS-Win. platforms have, people would start using it no matter if it
supports journaling. And if we are talking about the server market, I don't
think that there are people that believe that NT is better then Linux.

Liran.
-- 
__________________________________________________________________________
Liran Zvibel.                            | " You know, how is The Force 
System Programmer, System Administrator. |   like duct tape? Answer:       
email : liranz@actcom.co.il              |   it has a light side, a dark
phone : 972 - 3 - 6493939                |   side, and it holds the
home  : http://www.math.tau.ac.il/~liranz|   universe together. "
UIN: 708004 ; WHOIS : LZ615              |             -- Larry Wall 
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