Free Republic

Comparing Server OSes: Why SCO UNIX Is A Bad Idea by Jem Matzan It's a rather difficult mission to shop for an operating system for a server. When most people think of server OSes they think of Unix, and when they think of Unix they think of SCO, the company that owns the Unix source code. But there are so many more choices out there, the least of which offers a bonanza of advantages over SCO's Unix products. Having said that, let's explore the Unix world and take a look at what it has to offer the server and workstation...

George Clooney is furious FOX Distributors used the fact that his naked backside appears in the science fiction film 'Solaris' to order to stir interest in the project.The hunky actor is fiercely proud of the Steven Soderbergh directed film and has slammed the studio for not giving the movie the encouragement it deserves.And the 'Perfect Storm' star is certain that the studio bosses will live to regret their actions. He says 'It immediately trivializes what Steven did and even more so what I was doing. And it makes me mad because you don't get the credit for doing what you...

The cost of running Linux is roughly 40% that of Microsoft Windows, and only 14% that of Sun Microsystem's Solaris, according to a new study which examined the actual costs of running various operating systems over three years. The study, by the Robert Frances Group, in Westport, Conn., looked at production deployments of Web servers running on the three operating systems at 14 Global 2000 enterprises. Linux cost $74,475 over three years, while a Windows deployment cost $190,662 and one on Solaris $561,520. Most of the savings with Linux come from software licensing fees. Companies will typically purchase commercial versions...

Sun patches two Solaris holes SUN MICROSYSTEMS RELEASED a patch that closed two security holes in its Solaris operating system Tuesday. The holes could have allowed an attacker to take control of vulnerable systems. The vulnerabilities affect the snmpdx and mibiisa agents that are components of versions 2.6, 7 and 8 of the company's Solaris operating system, according to an alert from Sun, in Palo Alto, Calif. The two affected agents both run with root privileges, the highest level of access on systems, and are part of the OS's SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) capabilities. The capabilities allow for device...

Hackers can potentially exploit a format-string vulnerability in remote wall requests to execute arbitrary code in Solaris, Sun Microsystems Inc.'s version of the Unix operating system, security experts warned. Sun Solaris Versions 2.5.1, 2.6, 7 and 8 require a security patch to the utility rwall daemon or rpc.rwalld, the CERT Coordination Center at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh said in an advisory yesterday. The rwall daemon listens for wall requests, which are used to send messages to terminals using a time-sharing system. The advisory warned that the utility contains a format string vulnerability that could permit a hacker to get...