Microsoft Bob, version 8

[ImaNihilist]

Think about it.

When a company is talking to a customer and need information, they open up the customer file. If they are hitting the local SQL or Oracle server, this is done over a gigabit link, and response is instant.

If this is on the cloud with a T1, were are talking 1.5mbps with several minutes to pull the record up.

You've got customer records that are 50MB+ and you only have access to 1.5Mbps?

I don't think software is your problem…

[ImaNihilist]

Mac is based on BSD, not Linux.

True, I suppose, but practically speaking it's Linux. It's binary compatible. You can use all the Linux tools. It's very easy to do so.

[kujoe2002]

Windows will the the dominant business user-end platform. Linux will be the server platform.

As for gamers, Windows will always be first, then Linux, then MACOSX. I don't like how windows 8 is going the way of the android OS. I am learning more about ubuntu and am liking it more and more

[dyne]

Windows 8 is probably the first MS OS I'm not looking forward to. 7 does everything I need and 8 doesn't seem to know it's identity. It's a Frankenstein of equal parts tablet and desktop OS. Charms is a stupid idea as is running everything, even the desktop as a pseudo "app". I use Windows because I like to get my hands into the OS and have control over all the little details. It seems with 8 by default they make it more of a set it and forget approach. I have never and will never use the default My Pictues, My Docs and on and on. I store my stuff and organize it the way I want to. While I know you can still do this in 8, it seems like that's not the focus.

[proxops-pete]

With all our computational tools being on Linux, and having to always customize data processing, extracting, etc, I can not imagine doing this anywhere but on Linux.

I can put an awk/bash shell script in reasonably fast time where as anywhere else would be a pain... and when it comes to MPI-based applications, that's pure Linux and nothing else. I run jobs/cases that use hundreds of cores and doing that with anything but Linux is... *shudder*

[Geforce255]

You've got customer records that are 50MB+ and you only have access to 1.5Mbps?

I don't think software is your problem…

Have you ever actually worked in an environment that has customers?

A good CRM tracks every order, every shipment, every contact made by any representative to the customer for any reason, when invoices were cut, mailed, and the cash collected, as well as any collection calls. The compilation of various elements is done rapidly on most systems, not so much on cloud based.

It's a matter of bandwidth.

Look, you clearly view computing as only pertaining to consumer entertainment, but there are a whole lot of us who make a living at this and have to provide tangible benefits to the companies we work for.

[Geforce255]

True, I suppose, but practically speaking it's Linux. It's binary compatible. You can use all the Linux tools. It's very easy to do so.

It's Unix, not Linux.

[Nick_B]

I can put an awk/bash shell script in reasonably fast time where as anywhere else would be a pain... and when it comes to MPI-based applications, that's pure Linux and nothing else. I run jobs/cases that use hundreds of cores and doing that with anything but Linux is... *shudder*

OSX would be fairly well adept at all of this. Likely it would cost more and you would have to work around some differences in MPI--which, depending on the complexity, can be pretty touchy moving from one environment to any other environment even if it's similar, but it might not be as *shudder*-worthy as you think.

Still, I think, economically, Linux is the best choice (and even more so since you are using and familiar with it), but thought I'd throw that in...

4 or 5 years ago in college I would frequently run simulations on the under-utilized OSX lab because the machines were faster and no-one ever used them. It was fairly basic C++, but I don't think it ever required source modification, just compiler tweaking.

[ImaNihilist]

A good CRM tracks every order, every shipment, every contact made by any representative to the customer for any reason, when invoices were cut, mailed, and the cash collected, as well as any collection calls. The compilation of various elements is done rapidly on most systems, not so much on cloud based.

It's a matter of bandwidth.

A matter of bandwidth to where?

The "compilation or various elements" is going to be done much faster on a server with a bucket of CPUs than it is on a local system. The only bandwidth needed is the bandwidth to display characters on the screen.

I think I understand where you are coming from now though. Gotta keep that expensive CRM running and make a case for it. Can't let the company switch to a cheaper solution.

[ImaNihilist]

It's Unix, not Linux.

It's binary compatible. You can use all the Linux tools. It's very easy to do so.

[Nick_B]

It's binary compatible. You can use all the Linux tools. It's very easy to do so.

I'm pretty sure it's not actually binary compatible. FreeBSD can be binary compatible (but it wasn't the default option last I checked), but I can't find a source that says OSX is binary compatible with Linux.

I don't have OSX handy, but I'm pretty sure if I copied, say, the "ls" command from a Linux box to OSX that I could just run it.

Still, most FOSS tools either compile cleanly, have already been made to compile cleanly, or are fairly simple ports.

If there is some hidden (or not) binary compatibility, I'd love to see a link and read more about it.

[ImaNihilist]

I was under the impression it was. I could be mistaken. That impression may be because I've never run into an issue where I couldn't run something. It's an assumption based on usage, which may not be correct.

I've never run into a situation where something would break between say, Debian and OS X.

[proxops-pete]

OSX would be fairly well adept at all of this. Likely it would cost more and you would have to work around some differences in MPI--which, depending on the complexity, can be pretty touchy moving from one environment to any other environment even if it's similar, but it might not be as *shudder*-worthy as you think.

Still, I think, economically, Linux is the best choice (and even more so since you are using and familiar with it), but thought I'd throw that in...

4 or 5 years ago in college I would frequently run simulations on the under-utilized OSX lab because the machines were faster and no-one ever used them. It was fairly basic C++, but I don't think it ever required source modification, just compiler tweaking.

The thing is that most of the CFD codes are NASA-funded/built and are built on fairly standard sets of compilers (like Portland Group or gcc) and MPI (like OpenMPI) since others by HP and IBM and Intel are expensive. I run simulations using anywhere from 100 to 1000+ cores and that's not doable with Macs... not on practical levels anyway...

[ImaNihilist]

The thing is that most of the CFD codes are NASA-funded/built and are built on fairly standard sets of compilers (like Portland Group or gcc) and MPI (like OpenMPI) since others by HP and IBM and Intel are expensive. I run simulations using anywhere from 100 to 1000+ cores and that's not doable with Macs... not on practical levels anyway...

What does NASA use? Their own farm?

[proxops-pete]

Yes... and other companies have their own...