Unix Archive

Linux can learn valuable lessons from its elder cousins in the enterprise, the proprietary Unixes from the likes of IBM, Sun, and HP. Those operating systems, in turn, can learn some lessons from Linux. Comparing the features of the more enterprise-ready Linux distros with AIX, one of the leading proprietary Unixes, helps identify some.

The HP-UX kernel is a multitasking, multiuser, multiprocessor, multithreaded, load-leveling, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious modular operating system with real-time scheduling extensions. To get a handle on it, read this introduction to the basic organization of the kernel and its data structures.

With the publication of 'Advanced UNIX Programming', Second Edition, Marc Rochkind takes a look at what has changed in the 20 years since he wrote the first edition.

Most modern Unix-based operating systems (e.g. Linux, MacOS X, and BSD) come with a little console-mode utility called GNU Screen. It's a powerful tool in the hands of the console warrior, a veritable Swiss Army knife of text-mode human-computer interaction.

The OpenPKG project released version 2.0 of their unique RPM-based cross-platform Unix software packaging facility.

HP has given its hardware line a good scrubbing on Monday, refreshing a broad list of server and storage systems. HP has now included SuSE Enterprise Server 8 on its corporate price list for one- to four-processor Integrity servers. In addition, HP has sent out a beta of Version 8.1 of the OpenVMS operating system for Itanium boxes. In the meantime, Sun Microsystems plans to unveil a major overhaul to its server line on Tuesday, when it will introduce systems that use its own new UltraSparc IV chip and Advanced Micro Devices' Opteron processor.

HP is porting OpenView Operations (OVO) to Linux, and renewing OpenView for Unix in the process. Due next year, the first Linux-based OpenView modules will target applications where Linux is most popular, such as security management and the finance industry.

As many of you may remember I did a review of Windows Services for UNIX 3.0 (SFU) a few months ago. I remember being frustrated with that release because it seemed to me that all Microsoft did was throw something together just to be able to say "Hey look, we have this". I thought, since Microsoft released version 3.5, I would revisit and see what changes were done with it. I downloaded the beta version a while back and from the beta I was very impressed with the improvements that Microsoft made. Being a beta version it was buggy and some things just didnt quite work. I finally got the final version of the OpenBSD-based SFU 3.5 and this release makes dynamic leaps and bounds over previous releases of this software package. I am glad to see a lot more work was put into this release.

Latest version of Microsoft's Windows UNIX interoperability product offers customers enhanced performance and new functionality that extends investments in UNIX-based systems; SFU 3.5 is finalist in LinuxWorld Product Excellence Awards. Download for free from here.

For all the talk of Linux sidelining Windows in the server market, the upstart Linux operating system instead has stolen more glory from the older Unix as buyers flock to cheaper systems. But Unix vendors, even those that have embraced Linux, aren't giving up on the old workhorse. They're touting Unix as a complement, and in some cases a grown-up alternative, to Linux on low-cost machines.

A 20-year IT consulting veteran and author of "The Unix Guide to Defenestration" offers the second in a series of four articles that examine the state of computing as he imagines it will be five years from now. Last week's article was on Microsoft's vision for its future software. This week, he looks at where the Unix and open source alternative is likely to go and, next week, at the hardware both groups can expect to have available to run their software. The last of the series will look at the impact these changes are likely to have on the IT industry itself.

For a limited time, you can order the full version of Microsoft Services for UNIX 3.0—at no charge (see conditions). A $99 retail value, Windows Services for UNIX 3.0 provides an integrated environment in which to run applications for both Windows and UNIX on a single system. This offer is available only in the United States while supplies last, so act now (offer expires Dec. 31, 2003).

Hewlett-Packard delays one Unix server improvement and backs away from another, and Sun Microsystems responds with a promotion to try to lure customers affected by the situation. Read the story at News.com.

Hewlett-Packard is offering users of rival Sun Microsystems' Solaris operating system $25,000 in free services and equipment as an incentive to switch to Linux-based HP systems. Our Take: It seems HP has decided to jump on the new hype marketing bandwagon, forsaking its own HP-UX, OpenVMS, and Tru64 UNIX in favor of Linux. This is in line with our editorial a few months ago.