Hi, Larry, thank you for the wonderful overview of things on
the industrial side.

On the experimental physics side, things are very similar, except
that our typical experiment life time is only 3-5-10 years and people
turn-over drives software turn-over. New people want new c++,
new python, etc.

> We do not plan to re-evaluate RH 8 or Cent 8.  Our conclusion is they
> are not acceptable for plant wide use.  A sad end to a good product.

Others seem to have come to same conclusions. The ARM world (Raspbian, etc),
Xilinx (FPGA ARM, rolled their own), etc. Cannot name a single embedded
operation that stayed with Redhat/Centos.

> Continuing to evaluate linux versions as possible OS's to jump to.  The
> only one we have see so far is the chineese linux - it works wonderful
> and the desk top is direct and to the point.

I am not surprised, as chineese linux (and russian linux) are driven by
industrial users (civil more than military I would say). Everything
must be open-source - open for review in fear of backdoors and boobytraps.

Plus I would say in those no-nonsense do-more-with-less industrial cultures,
things like "we start things randomly" systemd and "you must have top-of-the-line
3D accelerator" gnome do not last long.


K.O.


On Tue, Dec 01, 2020 at 10:00:20AM -0500, Larry Linder wrote:
> In the commercial world we have to support our customers for 20 + years.
> If you want to stay in business.  Machines are typically run to wear
> out.
> 
> We install VMWare and load the OS's we need under it.  Dos to windows 10
> and several Linux systems.  The only thing we use of the host OS is the
> file system and its security.  
> 
> We avoid the DUMB convoluted desk tops and use what is necessary to
> support our customers.
> 
> With processor power ever increasing and disk space headed to penneys /
> giga byte.  It a way to insulate your self from some terrible mistakes
> by well meaning people who make decisions on eye candy alone and have
> obviously never used or managed systems.
> 
> An example is to count mouse click and key strokes to get thing done.
> 
> Anyone heard of motion related injuries?
> 
> We do not plan to re-evaluate RH 8 or Cent 8.  Our conclusion is they
> are not acceptable for plant wide use.  A sad end to a good product.
> 
> Continuing to evaluate linux versions as possible OS's to jump to.  The
> only one we have see so far is the chineese linux - it works wonderful
> and the desk top is direct and to the point.  However we cannot use an
> imported OS due to some of our business being military related.
> 
> The solution for people who need Fortran or other out of date
> compilers / debuggers - Load a current OS, install VMWare, load the OS
> you need under VMware, and use it.  Our subscription to VMWare
> workstation is 168 $ .  You don't need it for everyone but its a good
> solution for others.   Another + is you avoid the obsolete lib errors.
> You avoid the goofy Gnome desk top as you can set up your box to boot
> and run VMware and all you do is point and click on the OS you need to
> run.  All your data and disk files reside on the hosts file system so
> system back up is still used.  That is what we do to ovoid * - 8 OS's.  
> As long as they don't louse up the file system this is a good way to
> work.
> 
> My two cents worth. 
> Larry Linder

-- 
Konstantin Olchanski
Data Acquisition Systems: The Bytes Must Flow!
Email: olchansk-at-triumf-dot-ca
Snail mail: 4004 Wesbrook Mall, TRIUMF, Vancouver, B.C., V6T 2A3, Canada