Linux

[Timothy Renick]

On Thu, 15 Aug 1996, Martin Cohen wrote:

<<snip>>

> We started with Linux 0.96 and at that time I would not have done it
> without the help of an interested computer science professor / Unix guru.

We have also been using Linux for well over a year on a 90 Pentium with 
32 meg of RAM.  It is running our web, email, gopher, and WAIS servers.  
We started with a 1.x version of the kernel and it was buggy for us.  It 
would run fine for about 3 months and lockup every couple of hours for 
about 3 days.  The lockups would then taper off and it would run fine 
again.  Not to long ago, I upgraded the kernel to 1.2.13 and it has not 
choked once.

For me, IMHO, the important part of Martin's statement above, is that he 
had the help of a local "Guru".  Our Linux box is a legacy system for 
me.  In my situation, there is no local help to go to when I have a 
question.

In this thread, people have been discussing how easy it is to install.  
I believe that that is an important but small issue.  I had temporary use 
of an old computer for a while.  I reinstalled Linux on it five or six 
times to get it down.  The real problems begin after it is installed.  
Now you have to have the knowledge to maintain and run the unit.  
Regardless of how easy it is to install, or how flexible it is, it is 
still a UNIX like system and there is a steep curve to overcome.  

Another issue to think about is Martin's first statement below.  As I 
hinted to above, there is no replacement for local help.  I have been in 
the unfortunate situation of frantically posting to listservs and usenet 
groups for answers when I have had problems.  It is not pretty.  The 
moral of my rantings is that Linux is a good, powerful, and complex 
system.  If you are considering it, learn it BEFORE you put it into 
production.  

> Now I think that Linux expertise is at least as available as any other
> Unix-on-Intel expertise. Maybe more so in the library community, as it's 
> possible to set up a Linux box and experiment oneself at very low cost.

<<snip>>

Timothy Renick
Eden-Webster Library
St. Louis, MO  63119
timothyr at library2.websteruniv.edu