Update: I have a weblog. Easy to use weblogs are exactly what the web is all about IMHO - putting publishing power in the hands of everyday people. Check out my VMUNIX Blues blog for more of my thoughts about things that matter to me.
I used to have a "home page" about myself. It was the first thing I put online, back in 1990 (gopher!). A home page is a rather vain concept, really. In its place, you'll find this page which lists some of my interests and links to places on the Internet where you can learn more about them - and in doing so perhaps learn a little about me.
In most computer science classes, you're taught that a good operating system is invisible. The OS is a conduit, a non-obtrusive mechanism for enabling apps and users to get things done. For some of us, however, it's the operating system itself that gets our attention and tickles our imagination. We load OSes on our computers like most people load games or warez. We play with them, work with them, try to uncover their deepest secrets. Here are systems that have held my gaze for months and years at a time:
|
MacOS X - Apple's new OS, the 5th BSD. With a Mach microkernel, a 4.4-BSD Unix userland, NeXT's OO GUI framework, and the Mac's infamous interface elegance, it's certainly the most sophisticated operating system to ever be placed in the hands of the average consumer. A geek's toy, an artist's canvas. Apple just may make it with the long overdue replacement for their aging MacOS. If you can get your hands on some Apple hardware that will run OSX, it's certainly worth taking for a spin. |
|
Linux - The infamous free Unix-clone is now nearly 10 years old, and there's still a large number of distributions that cater to a wide range of enthusiasts - check out the radically different approaches of RedHat and Gentoo to see what I mean. With the maturity of the 2.4.x series of kernels, Linux has truly grown to be a full-fledged Unix, and has steadily been eroding both commercial Unix as well as Windows and Novell operating systems in the server market. Whether or not it can make inroads as a consumer desktop OS with technologies like KDE remains to be seen. |
|
|
Solaris - While I arguably have more experience (and knowledge) on Solaris than any other UNIX variant, I lost interest in Sun's UNIX in the late 90s. Sun focused on hardware to satisfy the big iron niche market and more or less let Solaris stagnate in comparison to the feverish pace of innovation that was happening in the Linux and the BSDs communities. That all changed with the release of Solaris 10 and OpenSolaris, however, and now Sun is back on track as an operating system innovator again. Considering Solaris' deep rooted foothold in large enterprises, and its leading edge feature set today, including a fanatical dedication to system observability, you'd be crazy to not get comfortable in what may very well be the "last standing" true UNIX. With the source code to Solaris now open (OpenSolaris), that's where I'd recommend any enthusiast get started. |
|
FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD - 3 freely redistributable operating systems emerged from the work done by the CSRG of the University of California at Berkeley. The CSRG effort to improve, and eventually completely rewrite AT&T's UNIX operating system culminated with the "4.4BSD-Lite, Release 2" milestone, the common basis for each of the modern day BSDs, including Apple's MacOS X. FreeBSD is the most popular of the bunch by a wide margin, known for it's incredible speed, stability, and relative ease of use. Its VM system is still the stuff of legend. NetBSD is the computer science student's wet dream - an operating system completely focused on correctness and portability. OpenBSD is arguably the most secure multiuser, networked operating system in existence. They share a common ancestry dating to the early 1970s, but each has evolved into remarkable, unique operating systems worthy of examination. |
|
IRIX® - While I've used all the commercial Unix varients, IRIX and SGI are notable for a couple of reasons. For one, IRIX is one of the more "different" Unix flavours. Secondly, SGI made some funky, interesting hardware that you can now pick up at bargain basement prices at auctions, bankruptcy sales, etc. IRIX evolved largely due to the demands of SGI's demanding visualization customers. These computationally intensive deployments required massive everything on the hardware end of things: gobs of RAM, lots of fast processors, fancy graphics subsystems, fleets of disk, and unheard of throughput rates. Naturally, IRIX had to scale just as SGI's hardware did. Under the hood, SGI innovated with support for SMP and ccNUMA memory/processor architectures, developed an advanced 64-bit journalled filesystem (XFS), and were an early adopter of kernel-backed application threads. On the surface, while Sun, HP, and IBM all implemented the clunky CDE desktop interface for their Unixes, SGI stuck with and continued to improve their own "IRIX Interactive Desktop". Different, innovative, and fun for a SYSV based Unix! While you can now use SGI's excellent XFS filesystem in Linux, you'll need SGI hardware to play with IRIX. You can't beat an Indigo2 IMPACT® system in terms of bang for your buck, but if you're like me you'll pay a wee bit more for the infinitely cuter O2® "toaster". |
|
BeOS - Now officially dead, BeOS was all about new ideas. A completely object-oriented operating system, implemented in an object-oriented language. Pervasive threading in the kernel. A database-like filesystem. Astoundingly simple to program developer "kits". The from-the-ground-up effort produced a remarkably pleasant to use operating system that simply ran like the blazes. Be ran out of steam, but they left a lasting impact with their little OS - from both the technical and business point of views. BeOS Journal is a good place to go for info on the latest in the BeOS world, including the various efforts to port the BeOS "kits" to other operating systems, as well as efforts to resurect BeOS R5 itself as an open source project. |
|
Amiga - I grew up with Commodore computers. First the Vic-20, then the C-64. It was the Amiga 1000, however, released in 1985 that really caught my attention and sparked my interest in operating systems. A full 15 years ahead of its time, this remarkable multi-tasking, multi-threaded operating system offered performance, stability, and style that's arguably still unmatched today - except perhaps by BeOS. The system enthralled tens of thousands of loyal fans who still stand by their operating system today, now known as "Amiga Classic". While the back-from-dead Amiga Corp. has new Amiga DE, AmigaOS 4, and AmigaONE things going on, I think the real fun is to get your hands on one of the later 68k Amigas. You'll be amazed that Commodore managed to kill this beauty off. |
Bicycles
have been a part of my life since I was a child. My bike represented freedom
then. The freedom to go where I wanted, do what I wanted. And bikes were fun.
There's something remarkable about these two-wheeled human-powered vehicles
that keeps me biking to this day. Since arriving in Vancouver, I've been caught
up in the North Shore freeride movement. Biking
Vancouver's North Shore is a cycling experience like no other. I'm part
of a company/team/group called NSMB.com -
or North Shore Mountain Biking.com.
Bike Magazine also maintains a web site with lots of good reading. The guys at Bike are passionate about mountain biking, and it shows. Pinkbike, out of Calgary, always has something to say and is a good place to go for the latest mountain bike news too. Gabor's MTB links is a very comprehensive set of links to just about all of the companies that make products for mountain bikes.
I
have a consulting company that specializes in IT infrastructure solutions. Mostly
Unix and IP networking stuff, with a bit of web programming thrown in for good
measure. it's good fun and I get to work with friends. The company is Permeta
Inc.
mark (at) vmunix.com I know - there's not a spam list on earth my email address isn't already on.....
|
Last modified: October 15 2006 20:47:53. |
|