[ale] Unix Automation?

[Michael B. Trausch]

On 04/18/2011 08:23 AM, Damon Chesser wrote:
> I was talking to a Unix guy today at work and he said he is getting used
> to Linux, but one thing he noticed is “Linux is about as mature as Unix
> was 10 years ago”.  He said that many of the things you have to do
> manually in Linux is done automatically for you in Unix.  It was a short
> conversation.
> 
> I am curious, having never used Unix, anybody have a clue what  he might
> have meant?

None.

Some systems have tools that add abstraction, as others have mentioned
already in this thread.  However, for the most part, I've never used
them.  I rarely find a reason to.  If I don't know where all the cogs
are, I don't believe that I am fit to run a system.  Abstractions are
nice, I am of the mindset that they really should only be used if the
user is already comfortable with playing with all the cogs in the system
manually.

Yes, it is possible that certain UNIX systems have better automatic
tools.  I don't see that as a measurement of maturity, though.  I see
stability and accessibility of the entire system, as well as the
implementation of standards on the system, as a measurement of maturity.
 And that's kinda half-and-half between the kernel and the userland.
One can use the exact same userland software on the Hurd as can on
Linux, but that doesn't mean that the Hurd is as mature as Linux is.
The Linux kernel is far better tested and supports far more hardware
than does the Hurd, and is more featureful than the Hurd, too.

Of course then the question really comes down to this:  Were they
talking about the kernel or the userland?  Or the combination of both?

I suppose that in one respect, one _could_ make the argument that
Linux-based systems can be considered to be less mature than other UNIX
and UNIX-like systems in that the kernel and base userland are separate
and distinct projects under the separate and distinct management of
different people.  It has always been like that, though.  I don't see
that as a sign of maturity or the lack thereof, myself.

	--- Mike