--- Forwarded Message from TennesseeBob Peckham <[log in to unmask]> ---
>Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2001 09:45:30 -0600
>To: [log in to unmask]
>From: TennesseeBob Peckham <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Mac server
>Cc: [log in to unmask]
------------------
Michael and others. I had no information from our computer store about the
prices. Now what I want to know is how will MAC OSX compere with
AppleShareIP. My ex-student in Silicon Valley says he has been having a
lot of crashes with MAC OSX, but David Gatwood fiddles with a lot of
things, makes things quite complicated. I do not say he hacked the OS, but
he has been an writer of MkLinux kernels. He is always taking things to
the limit.
In addition, he built our current server, and I am sure we have some very
original features he would not like to see disappear. His suggestion
involves making some important upgrades to a cube, transfering what we have
(our MkLinux and files) installing an appropriate Apache...
My objections are three-fold
a) I am working with a university budget. Since I am not technically
capaple of doing what David has suggested, and since I would probably
depend on David in some way for this, I am sure it will be both difficult
to explain why I am making the kinds of orders I make. Anyone who has to
explain a line-item budget publicly knows what I mean
b) The purchasing, gathering and especially installation time consuming at
a time (whenever David can help me) when I may have little time to spare
(student registration days, first days of class, days when we are
interviewing job candidates)
c) Finally, there is maintenance. While Linux set up right is very stable,
when there are problems with a kernel or even les complex ones, the
administrator is faced with coding in fixes through dossy caracter strings.
For a real techy, who is chiefly concerned with how things operate, this is
simply challenging. For an ex-coach, teacher and information specialist
(with no time to learn Linix), whose chief concern is students and web
clients, it is nerve racking. IMHO the stability of our current server may
not be tranferable from its PowerMac 7600 to a G4 architecture without a
lot of adjustments, which will also be time consuming.
I am concerned with the stability of OSX. I know it is a relatively new
product, but I also know that it is being used successfully on at least one
server at Brigham Young University, according to Devin Asay. I wonder what
kind of support there is for bugs. Is there an active user group?
Then there is the matter of features. Can I make serside includes
available (text counters, etc.). How does this handle Pearl for forem
exercises? Can I use popular exercise-creating software like Hot Potatoes?
How does it handle new languages?
TBob
=========================================================
Look it up in the Andy Holt Virtual Library:
http://www.utm.edu/vlibrary/vlhome.shtml
=========================================================
Robert D. Peckham, Ph.D.
Director, the Globe-Gate Project
Director, the Muriel Tomlinson Language Resource Center
University of Tennessee-Martin
http://globegate.utm.edu/french/globe.html
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