Re: Ideal hardware configuration for pgsql

GH wrote:
> On Wed, May 02, 2001 at 08:07:04PM +0100, some SMTP stream spewed forth:
> > At 06:52 PM 5/2/01 -0500, GH wrote:
> > >I think that anyone whose opinion matters would recommend running
> > >something *other* than RedHat. FreeBSD is an excellent operating system
> > >and is well suited to a PostgreSQL environment.

> > I only have experience with Red Hat, Solaris 8 (intel), and LinuxPPC. What
> > do you see as the downside of running Red Hat? My intention is to run RH
> > 7.1, although I can surely be swayed if you can offer some compelling
> > FreeBSD benefits.

> FreeBSD is out-of-the-box more secure, more stable, and generally more
> enjoyable to work with than RedHat. If you had ever seen the power and
> beauty of FreeBSD, you would not continue using RedHat by choice.

<rant mode=perturbed acid=tartaric concentration=100>
I am offended highly by this arrogance. 'Anyone whose opinion matters'
indeed.

I have over a decade of experience with *nix, both SysV and BSD styles.
Both work. Both are stable. Both are fast. I have personal experience
with *nix, from an ancient VAX 11/750 running 4.2BSD to an AT&T
(Convergent) UnixPC (3B1) running SysVR2 to an AT&T 3B20 running Unix V7
to an Apollo DomainOS network running their SysVR3/4.3BSD hybrid to PC's
running Coherent to Linux 0.13 all the way up to Red Hat's 4.0-7.1.

Thomas Lockhart is one of the core group -- and he runs Linux.
Mandrake, at that. His opinion would matter.

This SysV vs BSD war is just ridiculous. I know -- Linux is the target
now, not SysV -- big whoopee. Same war -- different antagonists.

BOTH systems work -- both systems are (as of RH7.1) relatively secure
out of the box.

Have _you_ actually used Red Hat 7.1? I have actually _used_ FreeBSD --
and I prefer Red Hat by choice. And I prefer to have that choice
available.
</rant>

> You probably need to see it to believe it.
> I encourage you to check it out sometime, but you should have no problem
> at all running PostgreSQL on RedHat.

As one who has run a mission-critical intranet on Red Hat Linux +
PostgreSQL since the days of PostgreSQL 6.1.1, I can heartily recommend
Red Hat, properly set up, to anyone.

I can just as easily recommend FreeBSD. It really doesn't matter --
both systems are free (in rms's sense of the word), both systems have
reasonable performance, both systems can be made reasonably secure.
FreeBSD can be made, through sysadmin neglect, as insecure as any Red
Hat release has ever been. And Red Hat can be made as secure as any
release of FreeBSD has ever been.

<plug mode=nohype>
Linux kernel 2.4 is a serious performance contender on UP and SMP
machines, BTW. :-)
</plug>
--
Lamar Owen
WGCR Internet Radio
1 Peter 4:11