NYCPHP Meetup

[leam]

Tim Gales wrote:
> Hans Zaunere writes:

>>I hope that I'm wrong, since there's some good stuff deep 
>>within Solaris' code base, but it's going to mean a major 
>>shift for Sun.  That said, if they are legit and do release 
>>the entire tree, watch out Linux.
>>

> If you add that all up  -- almost air-tight security, superior 
> threading model (in the kernel), and super speedy nfs i/o -- 
> I would say watch out Linux *and* BSD

Nyah, both Linux and *BSD are superior products. First, Linux has a much 
better developer base and the entry point for contributions is much 
lower. You only need low-end x86 hardware and you're off. Plus, Linux 
makes a better desktop experience; more user apps are written for it.

NetBSD (my favorite of the lot) is a much cleaner code base and more 
platforms, thus more places to use it.

Solaris really doesn't seem to offer any value in the low-medium end 
server market or the desktop. It may be nice for a few high end uses but 
I think it more likely that people will read the code and spend time 
porting the concepts to Linux and *BSD than converting to Solaris.

With the push for web-based apps and db backends you seldom need bigger 
boxes like the 8+ CPU models. And if you need 1, you need at least 2 to 
provide uptime and redundancy. And if you need 2 you need 4; 2 for 
production, 1 for developing code and 1 for heavy QA testing Better to 
have 4-8 smaller boxes with a shared load. Although I admit admin'ing 2 
boxes is easier than 8.  :)

You also need to look at the job market; most jobs are in small 
businesses that can better justify a uniform platform provider like Dell 
or Compaq/HP than some Sun and some x86. Your Linux skills are going to 
find more opportunities. Of course, as this is a PHP list your AMP 
skills will be more in demand everywhere and you just need to know how 
to get the sysadmin up to speed on their particualr platform's support 
of AMP.  :)

ciao!

leam