Category Archives: Linux

Linux notes

Linux kernel archive 的歷史

對於 這個 Linux kernel archive 超級大站的歷史 (從 1997 草創 至今) 有一篇很有趣的介紹:Feature: The Linux Kernel Archives

目前 所使用的兩台機器是 所贊助的,每一台都是 4 CPU Opterons + 24GB RAM + 10TB Storage,而頻寬的部分由 贊助兩條「獨立的」Gigabits,一條在 Palo Alto 的 ,一條在 San Francisco 的 。而 H. Peter Anvin、Nathan Laredo、Kees Cook 則贊助他們的時間來維護 :)

Torvalds 換用 Git 管理 Linux kernel

在拋棄 後改用 Git 這套 的版本控制系統:Torvalds unveils new Linux control system

這套版本控制系統與 並不相容,但是他分散儲存的觀念是一樣的,所以 選 Git。

不過看起來似乎還有一些問題?像是:

Among the differences: Git can’t rename a file; users must instead delete one and recreate it elsewhere with the new name, McVoy said. And it doesn’t handle space efficiently; a tiny one-character change to a 1MB file in Git will result in a 2MB file, whereas BitKeeper’s file will grow only by one byte.

這聽起來似乎不是很好… 不過不管如何,至少是 Open Source License。

中型的企業比較不考慮 Linux?

上的報導:Midsize Businesses Not Considering Linux?,原報導在 上:Midsize Businesses Have No Use for Linux

經過超過 1400 家公司的調查後, 發現中型企業使用 Linux 的情況比小型企業、大型企業要低。

上面則大略摘要解釋:

It seems that, while smaller companies may see the licensing savings as being significant, and larger companies have the expertise to manage it, bringing Linux into a midsize Windows shop creates a multiplatform organization which is prohibitively complicated and expensive to manage.

我的看法與上面的類似,小型企業節省 license 成本,同時因為小型企業所產生的用量比較小,不太需要 tune 也可以跑得很好,而大型企業可以請專門的人來維護 Linux Server,而中型企業的情況則是卡在尷尬的地位,於是他們會外包,而外包的時候就要看廠商用什麼了。

而這方面 倒是做得很好 :)

最後面給了一句很重要的觀念 :p

Quote: “Linux is free, but the support for it is not.”

巴西政府對 Microsoft 的態度

巴西政府對於 授權的問題:,在第一篇 comment 有全文,不需要去 看。

其中一部份提到了巴西要求所有用政府經費發展軟體必須以 open source license 釋出:

On Mr. da Silva’s watch, Brazil has also become the first country to require any company or research institute that receives government financing to develop software to license it as open-source, meaning the underlying software code must be free to all.

另外他們打算讓巴西的低收入戶也能夠擁有電腦:

By the end of April, the government plans to roll out a much ballyhooed program called PC Conectado, or Connected PC, aimed at helping millions of low-income Brazilians buy their first computers.

在這個計畫中,他們不打算浪費任何一毛納稅人的錢幫助 壟斷,因為要避免壟斷的方法之一就是去培養競爭對手,使得 無法獨大:

“We’re not going to spend taxpayers’ money on a program so that Microsoft can further consolidate its monopoly. It’s the government’s responsibility to ensure that there is competition, and that means giving alternative software platforms a chance to prosper.”

另外,提供低價 (其實這種價錢與目前台灣的免費撥接比起來並不低) 的撥接網路連上 Internet:

Buyers will be able to pay in 24 installments of 50 to 60 reais, or about $18 to $21.80 a month, an amount affordable for many working poor. The country’s top three fixed-line telephone companies – Telefónica of Spain; Tele Norte Leste Participações, or Telemar; and Brasil Telecom – have agreed to provide a dial-up Internet connection to participants for 7.50 reais, or less than $3, a month, allowing 15 hours of Web surfing.