[CentOS] Headline - Linux misses Windows of opportunity

[Les Mikesell]

On Thu, 2005-09-29 at 15:02, Mike McCarty wrote:
> > 
> > Problems happen all the time. Why is this one newsworthy?  If someone
> > made such a big deal out of every Windows BSOD there wouldn't be room
> > to publish anything else?  The problem could almost certainly have been
> > fixed as well by replacing the problematic hardware (even if the problem
> > is in the Linux driver it will be fixed by using something different).
> > Would it still be a big news item: "PC crashes,owner buys replacement!"?
> 
> The point is fourfold:
> 
> 	(1) RHEL is PAID TO CARE

Some PC's crash.  I'm sure everyone at RHEL feels bad about that.
Others run for years running the same software.  

> 	(2) MS software ran, and RHEL did not, so

MS has some cozy arrangements with hardware vendors and may very
well include code to work around specific bugs in specific hardware
that is not disclosed to the public.  In fact I'd pretty much bet
on it.  Is it the hardware vendor's fault or RHEL's that the
same workarounds haven't been disclosed in open source drivers?  Or
is it the customer's fault for not picking more dependable hardware?

> 	(3) the customer left for greener pastures, and
> 	(4) RHEL can expect more of the same...

Except from people whose hardware doesn't crash, which is most
of them.  The problem may very well be something in the linux
device drivers but the point is that it isn't reproducible which
is why it shouldn't be news.  I've been through that myself with
a box that would crash under load about every other week but
nothing I tried would cause it to happen predictably.  I moved
the same software to a different box and went on with life.
And they probably could have done the same.

-- 
   Les Mikesell
     lesmikesell at gmail.com