What is Digg?121 Comments
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+58The city has already saved more than $250,000 and is reducing server hardware maintenance and operating costs as a result of Oracle's certification and support infrastructure on Red Hat.
After seeing this, I don't see why any city would be reluctant to switch... - nstanosheck, on 10/12/2007, -3/+51Yeah, can you imagine, a DMV (the Department of Motor Vehicles that issues license plates, car registration, inspection stickers, drivers licenses, etc.) computer system that just works?
- metalhead3767, on 10/12/2007, -7/+51This is great!
- shrewduser, on 10/12/2007, -1/+34why is you picture the ubuntu logo,
all your comments seem to make you out to hate linux...
are you just trying to be strange? like some sort of emo kid trying to eke out an identity? - JFitzpatrick, on 10/12/2007, -6/+37@bigred: I disagree completely.
The average user has absolutely no knowledge of how the operating system they are using even functions (or even what the directry structure for the principal parts of the operating system look like.) In my experiences with end users outside of Computer Dorkdom, the end users don't care -at all- about what the system is run on, how it was compiled, if it is open source or closed source, etc. As long as they know what "thingy" to click on they are happy. For instance: I still see tons of Point of Sale systems that run DOS with a very very simple GUI. Do you think any employees at the stores understand they are using a very old version of DOS or even care? They just need to know where to type why, what to click, etc.
I applaud the City of Chicago for their move... not because I'm a linux fanboy (I ran it for a few months back in the 90s, but missed Photoshop and the familiarity of Windows to be honest and ended up switching back.) but because they are saving the taxpayers money. How can we not applaud a government decision that actually saves money for once? - redhatcat, on 10/12/2007, -13/+37Yet another stronghold of GNU/Linux is founded! Let the enlightenment and freedom continue!
- CasualNinja, on 10/12/2007, -3/+23I am from Chicago and it is stories like these that make me proud to be a Chicagoian! Now if we could get rid of all the corruption that would help. GO CHICAGO!
- w0rd, on 10/12/2007, -4/+23Okay here is the deal:
1. GNU geeks are hardcore about representing. They always say GNU/Linux. Some of them say that Linux could not exist without the GNU compiler. This has to do with pride, parading or a passion for freedom. It often comes off as annoying.
2. Linux nerds that called it Linux for years and are afraid to look stupid because they are terrified that they might be wrong. They spread ***** around such as trying to imply that when someone says GNU/Linux, they are asserting that Linux is a product of GNU. It often comes off as annoying.
3. There are people like me that are tired of the arguments about this. Saying Linux is fine. Saying GNU/Linux is fine.
Now that I've pissed everyone off, time to get buried. - cmiz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20During my stint as a system administrator, I found Linux to be a lot cheaper overall for servers (the company i worked for used both). The fact of the matter is that any decently sized company would easily drop over a hundred grand on licenses for windows server 2003 (i'm talking 25+ VLK licenses), and that is a lot to make up for the standard argument that *nix administrators cost more per year. I've also found that even though "windows administrators" are paid less, they usually are shoddy at best. anyone that knows enough about windows system security to be good at it is only a few weeks of familiarizing away from being a *nix admin and is probably paid about as much as one. (I also found installing server after server with the same disk not having to worry about any sort of serial numbers was a liberating experience.)
As for linux desktup boxes for you average joe user, in my experience, setting up the machines is the lions share of the work, and once a decent linux distro is up and running, most average computer users (e.g. somebody who uses a computer for most of their work) is able to sort of figure things out. a day of training should be way more than enough to have them up and running.
don't get me wrong, windows isn't a terrible operating system, but if you're looking to cut costs and the people you have working on your systems are savvy enough to swap to linux in short order, the whole TCO argument from microsoft is nothing more than a steaming heap of 100% grade A FUD. - nwily, on 10/12/2007, -8/+25What non-GNU compiler have you been using to compile your linux kernel?
Its not a matter of Linux systems containing some GNU tools, it would be almost impossible to build a system without them. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+20He's just pissed off they didn't use Ubuntu.
But don't worry - a village in northern Vietnam is switching both computers to Ubuntu next week, so he'll be happy again soon. - shrewduser, on 10/12/2007, -3/+20i440,
once again you offer up a strange undiggable comment,
cost vs benifit is what almost everything in an economy is about, your kind of right, this is also about quality. Linux isn't implemented just because the price is right, its because linux offers a lot of value to the consumer, cost is just one of the advantages to linux, but to really save money/generate value (as chicago is) you need more than no up front cost to.... - w0rd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16In my experience if it has "Word","The Internet/Blue E" and "Solitaire" then the user doesn't care. Of course that is only the ones that hardly know how to use a mouse. In sales it is all too common.
- speel, on 10/12/2007, -5/+19Oops sorry got it in your eye.
- steveoa3d, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15I work in State Government and we get killed on the Windows boxes. I asked a IT person why we don't use Linux and she bit my head off with a snotty "Whos gonna support that !" I was like what support to you need, install it and it works ? We use a web-browser to get our stuff from the intranet and MS Office to create stuff, why the hell do we need windows, Firefox and Open Office will do the job just fine !
I asked her also whats the most common call for them to fix and she refused to tell me, I'm sure it's re-imaging after virus's or spyware. I know how to fix that problem ! - shrewduser, on 10/12/2007, -19/+32can we stop calling it GNU/linux?
linux was NEVER a GNU project (never has been) yes there's usually some GNU stuff packaged in there when you install a distro, (GNOME, is GNU afaik, but KDE is not for example) but seriously calling it GNU/Linux not only sounds bad, and is technically wrong... but its confusing to the consumer...
so stop it.. ;) - muyuu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10In fact, the number of packages that are neither GNU nor the Linux kernel is already so high, it should be called by the distro name first and foremost.
Merit where it's due. Red Hat scores this contract, so it's a point going for Red Hat Enterprise Linux and the FOSS it includes. - anastrophe, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13this is idiotic:
"Impressive results were immediately noted by the City Clerk's office responsible for the City Stickers program. Sun Solaris benchmarked at 50 268 transactions per minute while the HP DL580 G2 with Red Hat Enterprise Linux benchmarked at over 149 500 transactions per minute. "
exsqueeze me, the performance difference is due to the newer, way way way faster hardware, not to the OS in use, ya nimrods. the Sun E6500 could hold up to 30 processors and 60gigs of ram - but the max UltraSparc processors speed was 464Mhz (and i'd bet they were running slower version for that matter). the HP DL580 G2 holds up to four xeon 3Ghz cpus, and 32G of ram. The E6500 is a beast, the size of a typical colo cabinet. The HP is 4U high. there's no comparison. - NicP, on 10/12/2007, -4/+14yeah because free software and consumer choice is an awful thing to have...
:/ - OroCHU, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9No, the office workers will still sit and type the same thing everyday, Red Hat's default install is still graphical so they just need to click a slightly different thingie (unless tech support made their own installer to make everything look the same anyhow). Red Hat is pretty much made for mundane office work. Surfing the web is mundane, so use Linux for that too. If you want to get under the hood, there's distros for that too (LFS, Gentoo, Slackware, Arch...)
- Terc, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12r2d7,
Lets not pretend they were running Solaris without support mmmkay? - ricree, on 10/12/2007, -5/+14No one ever said that Linux was a GNU project. However, some important parts that are needed to take the linux kernel and use it as a working system are GNU software, and many others are licensed with GNU's GPL.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10i440 stop talking out your ass. there can be no linux without GNU.
its a sign of respect to all the hard work the GNU folks put in. without them there would be no linux kernel, and no apps to go with it.
why don't you piss off and do something constructive instead of trolling every single linux thread on digg. - NicP, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8once setup correctly linux is lower maintenance than windows, there are far fewer crashes, no virus or spyware checking software is needed etc.
If someone wants to uninstall and install programs and stuff, and fiddle with multiple monitors or start installing more peripherals then linux is often more difficult, but given that office workers wont be doing that, linux is the perfect option. - FallibleDragon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9@r2d7: Linux (yes, even commercial variants like redhat) is MUCH cheaper than Windows. It compares with windows Advanced Server/Enterprise Server, and it comes WITH many of the programs that have inadequate, extortionately expensive windows counterparts. That is... with Linux, you get a great, industry leading webserver software (not the IIS security threat that windows offers) but ALSO a wealth of add-ons like application servers, blogs, credit card payment service interfaces, advanced Object-Oriented Databases (add on the price of SQL Server, then realise SQL Server sucks), high availability, compatibility layers to interface with all sorts of systems (including windows networks, apple networks, other databases, etc.), mail/groupware servers (add on the price of Exchange Server), remote management tools, imaging systems, backup systems...
Windows is a toy, designed for single-user *personal* computers, and so-called "pros" who buy it for servers and workstations end up paying corporations like they're just out of kindergarten. - Anth, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6As mentioned in the PR, it seems likely because Oracle certified RH to run as the OS under an oracle DB server.
- Anth, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Indeed, a lot of people start talking about MS as if they switched computers away from Windows to linux, when it seems from the PR that it was just solaris boxes taking the hit.
- chitown, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7I live in and sell IT services in Chicago, this is a historic news for Linux - yes. But in reading you will see that they went from Solaris to Linux vs. Microsoft to Linux. Not sure why there are all of these anti MS comments.
The City still uses MS as the desktop OS, Office Suite, Exchange etc. The system that runs Linux is the LOB side application. Transactional apps have have always run better on UNIX, Linux and mini's this really isn't a an upset for Microsoft. - NeilM, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6This here is a success story!
- maleko42, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5A couple of points here:
1) They went from Solaris to Linux
2) They when from End of Life Solaris boxes to current generation HP multicore boxes.
3) They say that support was a major issue as the reason for the transition. So much for who's going to support Linux.
4) It's unclear as to whether the benchmarks were against the EOL Solaris boxes vs the RHEL HP boxes or current generation Sun multicore boxes.
5) No I don't work for Sun or Red Hat. Have worked with both OS's. Like both OS's. And I'm sure that Chicago made the right decision. I realize that Red Hat made the press release so it's going to be slanted in their favor. And you can't give all the details in a press release. - someguyouknow, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7haha
yea... corruption goes great with the Chicago style pizza.
I love being a Chicagoian!!! - michaelsimms, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Personally on the whole GNU/Linux vs Linux debate, I have to say I disagree with GNU/Linux for one reason alone. RMS is all about freedom, as long as it is HIS freedom. He creates the GPL that grants me the right to do what I want with Linux as long as I dont encumber it in any way that stops it being free. And then he tries to tell me what I must call it.
That annoys the hell ou of me, it really does. So, RMS can call it what he wants. Me, I fork GNU/Linux once an hour (or pick some random time), as his license states I can, and I call my version Linux.
Many years ago when I started using Linux, glibc wasnt a part of Linux, nor was gcc. We used libc from - erm, not sure where but it wasnt gnu's libc. We used cc from - erm, somewhere else, but again, it wasnt gnu's. Linux probably cant be built without gnu tools any more, but it isnt inherantly part of gnu. It just happened to be intertwined.
Fact is, that most of the GNU tools are, most of the time, used on Linux. Yet if you tried to insist that GNU was called Linux/GNU, RMS would have a fit. - Lou3000, on 10/12/2007, -8/+11I hope this means I'm getting a raise (Law Clerk at the City)
- byronm, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7Wow.. so the fact that hardware is a commodity these days and the market has driven down prices across the board has nothing to do with it but replacing a free os with another free os saved 75%.
hey, its cool but it is what it is.
but good to see a city saving its tax dollars and spending them wisely! - johnstar, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5why redhat?
- WhiskerTheMad, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9Neither was it mentioned in the posting. In fact, it looks like you're about the only person to bring up MS or Windows.
So what's your point, again? - hchaudh1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4No its not. Ever seen people manning cash registers. They probably don't know much about the OS running on those machines, but they do their jobs just fine. An OS is just a lorified hardware manager. Its the programs that matter.
- KevinWPeters, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@s14sh3r: "Linux is for people who know computers. Office workers don't know computers, they know how to sit and type in the same thing every day. Now, they'll be lost and have to call tech all the time."
I call ***** on this. I have a 10 year old and a 6 year old who have been switching between Windows and Linux their entire lives and they still prefer the Linux system. The "ONLY" time they boot Windows is when one of the shockwave games they want to play won't load. Then they just usually say "***** it" and go to a different site.
"It's kind of like cars. I know cars. I know how they work in infinite detail. I can work on cars. I've owned several high-maintenance cars that the ordinary person couldn't keep running. Linux is like that. If you like "getting under the hood" then Linux is for you. If you just want to get on a computer and play games and surf the web, stick with Windows."
Kinda like you've got to know how to work on a car to drive one? Another ***** remark. When a car is running right, you don't have to know ***** about it to drive it. When Linux is set up right, you don't have to know ***** about it to run it. When both break down, if you don't know anything about it, you take it to someone that does and you get it fixed. - HMTKSteve, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4With a little bit of work on a "theme" you can make Linux look and feel just like Windows... Well, except for the random crashes and Spy Ware...
- benplaut, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I said this a few weeks ago, i'll say it again. Shut the ***** up, i440, and stop being a ***** troll.
As for now, thanks for the entertainment! - anastrophe, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8nick22, read the freaking article. they weren't using windows, ya nimrod.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I simply use GNU/Linux to specify that I'm talking about an entire operating system, not just the kernel. Linux is really only the name of the kernel, although this definition is pretty loose. I usually write "GNU/Linux", but I won't get all uppity if you call it plain "Linux", nor will I secretly applaud you if you tag on "GNU". I really couldn't care, and just see the GNU/ part as a clarification that we are talking about a complete OS.
So...saying GNU/Linux might be technically wrong (due to the large number of non-GNU code now packaged with most distributions), but then again so is plain Linux, as that technically only refers to the kernel. Even more fun, we could say *nix, which is even more incorrect (in some cases), but everyone still knows what you mean. So I guess what I'm saying is get over it. We're all wrong :) - compu73rg33k, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Chicago just wouldn't be the same without all the corruption. It's what makes us Chicago! CORRUPTION FTW! :)
- nickiank, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4That sort of complacency in regards to the corruption is *exactly* why I'm leaving Chicago. I've only been here six years and that's too many to see it like this.
Oh well, I guess this article points to some semblance of a high note I can remember from my time here. - thedreaming1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Bill Gates must be pissed! I'm glad he lost another city! Let them fall like dominoes! Let the world be Microsoft free!
- lukematthews, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Now all they need to do is replace the BEA weblogic server with JBoss and they'll be set.
- KentuckyRedNeck, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Good, now with all the extra money, the city can install
more surveillance cameras, hire more lawyers to
dis-arm the non-criminals and generally oppress the
populace that resides in the city limits.
Good to be the king, aint it Mr.Daley?? - Chicagoland, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5""Corruption in our fine city is as much as a staple of Chicago as the Chicago Style Hot Dog and Deep Dish Pizza...""
Sad but true.
Viva la Chicago - surfing, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3WhiskerTheMad, jeevesbond comment "Although MS..." about an hour before my post. I couldn't help but comment after reading the article.
- MrSpontaneous, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4This is great news! Hopefully we'll see further positive proof of open source/*nix advantages in the civic community.
-
Show 51 - 100 of 118 discussions
Check out the new & improved 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is