Re: Solaris: The Most Advanced OS?
On Tuesday 08 November 2005 11:20 pm, Nate Duehr wrote:
> Mike McCarty wrote:
> > Well, I may not be the best one to ask, since I've been out of
> > telecom for about three years. But so far, I do not see Linux
> > making much if any entry into telecom. Blue Hat has made some
> > progress, but not much. The availability requirements in telecom
> > are so far beyond what most system engineers consider, that
> > proprietary solutions are still mostly the choice.
>
> <snip>
>
> Well-written, Mike.
>
> As one of those still in telecom -- the uptime requirements are amazing
> at times. And the joys of databases with a requirement of 150ms maximum
> response time for a query on a nationwide network, much of which is
> still running on 64K DDS circuits at the end-points. Wheeee!
>
[snip]
> Insurance companies rule the roost in the telco game, like many
> industries. If the hardware doesn't pass massively tough fire/power
> testing (well beyond UL-listing), it often can't be brought through the
> door. Telco is the only industry where I've ever seen hardware that
> both had to be "self-extinguishing" for fire and also be able to
> withstand a shotgun blast from a 12-gauge at a pre-specified distance.
>
> Of course, the above statement gives away that I've never built military
> hardware. :-)
Nate and Mike drive home the point that GNU/Linux isn't fit-for-purpose when
it comes to telco. I trust that isn't much of a suprise to those who are
aware of the requirements and isn't much to be bothered about either. I only
mention this because of rabid GNU/Linux partisans who can be rather manic
about FLOSS being everywhere and doing everything. Their enthusiasm is
endearing even if misdirected IMO.
FLOSS is about politics and economics as much as it is about good software.
There are areas such as telco where the natural forces just don't come
together to enable it -- yet. Who knows what the future may bring.
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