[KLUG Members] Re: Some questions

[Bryan J. Smith]

Bruce Atherton wrote:
> #2 Having read on the Redhat site of how running RH
> linux saves $$$ over standard unix, I am wondering if
> anybody knows of a site that I can get to that would
> show the savings of running RH over winblows98?

First off, the study was of servers, not workstations.

Secondly, even in the case of workstations, Windows 98 is not a good
TCO target, because it is a poor business OS.  Most compare NT/2K
versus Linux.

Third, the problem of Microsoft v. Linux comparisons is the
Microsoft EULA.  Every study of the two gets a call from Microsoft's
legal department, and their EULA section on "prior approval before
publication" gets pulled.  So all you ever see are short-lived
pro-Linux studies, and the over-hyped pro-Windows studies.

Fourth, in the case of UNIX v. Linux, Microsoft doesn't care, so
some PC OEMs that are Intel-only will sponsor them.  But when it
comes to Microsoft v. Linux, no OEM is going to challenge Microsoft.

Fifth, TCO is more of a political game than a real one.  In the case
of RISC/UNIX v. Lintel, the variables like hardware/software costs
are more tangeable.  But in Wintel v. Lintel, the hardware costs are
similar, so its down to just software and personnel, where you can
play all sorts of games!

> #3 Am planning on putting a firewire card and drive in to
> this winblows98 machine, wanting to put linux on the firewire
> drive. Is or would there be any problems doing this?

I'm not sure Firewire devices can boot.  Does your Firewire card
have a BIOS?  I'm guessing not.

And most Firewire drives use ATA33-to-IEEE1394 converters so
low-cost ATA drives can be used.  They're a crapload faster than USB
(usually an order of magnitude), but not quite as fast as local ATA.

I'd just put the drive on the second IDE channel, and move your CD
to an off-chipset card (like an older Promise Ultra33, which are
cheap at various liquidators nowdays).

-- Bryan

-- 
Bryan J. Smith, Engineer        mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org   
AbsoluteValue Systems, Inc.     http://www.linux-wlan.org
SmithConcepts, Inc.          http://www.SmithConcepts.com
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