238. Abhijat Vichare
January 7, 1999
amv@unipune.ernet.in
Had I been an ISP, I'd rather go in for a Linux cluster as it is the only sensible, consistent OS across hardware and almost fully Internet ready. "Almost" from the point of view of a regular Internet user. ICQ, for example, is not yet a part of standard distribution, although it is available on the net. Barring such truly minor aspects, Linux by far is the nearest to the needs of an ISP. THE FACT THAT THE COST OF LINUX IS ALMOST ZERO IS NOT THE REASON FOR IT'S CHOICE. Any Unix system follows Linux, primarily for the stability and superb REMOTE administration it provides. The Windows GUI based "ZERO ADMINISTRATION" concept is not good choice ESPECIALLY for ISPs. The Internet is truly delicate configuration, the painful part being that most people using it NEVER realise the hard work of network administrators. The delicate balance of the net is easily lost due to many reasons and network admins, esp. those with an ISP have a real need to access the underlying hardware and software drivers. Most GUI systems DO NOT permit such access and even if they do, it is rather limited. Even Linux gives quite a few GUI based administration tools, but I doubt their utility in critical cases. As far as security is concerned, I am yet to know of an OS which IS SECURE, whether certified or not. However, I DO know of an OS whose bug fixing is the fastest, reliable (as you can SEE the source code of the bug and the bug fix) and friendly. No guessing needed there. Many more reasons can be given. Perhaps a look at the articles in http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/ is in order by folks planning to be ISPs! You do not need my best wishes if you choose Linux. You need it if you use the "PLUG and PRAY" kind of OSes.  

237. Vg Rejith
January 7, 1999
rejith@hotmail.com
I certainly back on Unix being a Unix adminisitrator myself. But I feel Linux have lot of features which is helpful for ISPs. And Windows NT 5.0 (future version) can be really a challenge to Unix. Right now both Linux and the current version of Windows NT have to prove a lot on stability

236. SSR
January 7, 1999
Hi
I have been reading views posted by other readers and my view may sound opposite to what most of them have posted. I think there is nothing like one will rule and other will no longer have any market. All three of them will have their fair share of the market. Lets first look at NT. Everybody is ready to rule it out as what a crap OS. I have different opinion than that. NT is fairly new OS compared to Unix. It is maturing and I expect much better and stable NT
5. When it comes to ongoing support and information etc. Microsoft is one of the best. One more advantage of NT is it is user friendly. But still all ISPs may not opt for NT servers as it is not as reliable as Unix. Still NT servers will be around as the end users who want to do their private or small time web hosting will find it much easier on NT. NT also has the advantage of plug and play device support and most of the new web services like webcam etc. can be easier with NT server as NT OS supports plug and play feature.
Unix may be choice where reliability and scalability is the issue. Unix has matured after years of use and most robust of all three OSs. My opinion about Unix is that it is or rather the Unix version I have worked on are more to programmer or computer literates that computer users friendly. Hence ISPs who can afford slightly expensive hardware and software etc. may go for Unix. But for individual users who want to browse the Internet and do development etc. learning curve is much steeper than NT.
Linux has its own share of plus and minus. It is not only free but its support is free too. So ISPs or end users may adopt to this OS for its cost effectiveness and likable features with Unix. The Linux support team is one of the excellent in trouble shooting.
Having said that free support means that there is no legal binding to resolve your issues. Also, talk about nightmare for end user to get new devices or laptops working on Linux. Again, Linux is for computer literates who don't mind to get their hands dirty with system level stuff.
So my bet is all three OSs will survive. Each one taking it's rightful place as per where and how it is needed.

 235. Aravindh
January 7, 1999
asubash@hotmail.com
Windows NT

234. Prashanth
January 7, 1999
ap_igi@rocketmail.com
Windows NT
It is by far the most user friendly OS among the three. When it comes to the question of which one the ISPs would adopt, Windows NT would win more audience.

 233. Ard van Breemen
January 7, 1999
ard@murphy.nl
I wonder why www.microsoft.nl took a LOOONG time to switch to NT. What I've heard that the Microsoft personnel had a hard time downgrading the servers to NT because NT could not cope with the load. I wonder why NT is not running @ hotmail. Although rumours tell they tried.
I wonder why it takes sometimes over a minute to look at the ACL of a file on an unloaded MS NT 4.0 server (in a global company advocating Microsoft).
I wonder how often cmd.exe crashed when hitting tab. I wonder how many hours I lost working with Word97. I wonder why it was a company policy at a certain company that I have to be administrator on an NT workstation in order to work on it.
I wonder how often explorer.exe crashed on me. I wonder why Visual Studio starts eating CPU when I press alt.
I wonder why explorer starts eating CPU when I click on the background.
I wonder why a BUG report takes a month to get a confirmation that it is a bug, and that it is being worked on. (Solution pending....)
I wonder why my Linux box with a 486@133MHz EISA BUS(!) outperforms the NT workstation I worked with on a P200MHz (PCI BUS).
I don't wonder about the technology behind NT. NT uses the most advanced technology that ever existed on this globe for marketing a product.
So the choice is not clear. It really is a battle between marketing technology and computer technology. This usually results in a battle between the computer experts and the management within a company. Being a computer expert, and having worked with NT, Linux, and some Unix variants, I know what I would not choose, and I now what I prefer.
On the commercial side: anybody that can add figures knows that a single Unix license is cheaper than an NT server with the same services/possibilities.
Linux

232. Anil_Grover
January 7, 1999
Anil_Grover@gs.com
Unix for Business Use
Linux for Personal Use (The future belongs to it)
NT for no use (except probably Kids games)
That sums it up.

231. Dwarakanath Kannan
January 7, 1999
kdnath@hotmail.com
Unix, Of Course!!!!

230. Asif K. Faizy
January 7, 1999
afaizy@giasbmc.vsnl.net.in
Linux is better. No second opinion about it.
Linux is THE OS to use.
Linux is the best. Period

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