[clug] Enterprise Linux use

[Edward C. Lang]

Hi,

On Mon, Oct 11, 2010 at 10:28:11PM +1100, David Cottrill wrote:
> Hi list,
> I work on AIX p595 hardware for the government. I can't convince anyone to
> look at Linux, or open source seriously because of a few points, which I
> would like some suggestions on.

> 1. OSS vendor support will point the finger at hardware and hardware
> vendor support will point the finger at OSS when we have a problem.

Hardware people are more interested in the firmware, surely? And for
Power gear, the HMC... which is a hacked up GNU/Linux box.

> 2. It doesn't boot from SAN. ( well it does on a p595 - thank IBM for
> that)

I would have thought this is more due to the firmware / boot loader than
the operating system. Another example would be the OBP on SPARC:
provided it can see the SAN LUNs, and the OS can assemble the required
drivers (statically linked kernel?), you're good to go.

> 3. It is less efficient than a hardware specific OS

This isn't an OSS issue? 

> 6. Can't get certified, experienced staff. Not so much OS as programming
> environments such as a 'PHP solutions architect' or similar title that the
> Websphere world seems thick with