Re: [cobalt-developers] Question to all Developers

["Byron C. Servies" <bservies@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On 2/21/2000 at 10:07 PM, jamesr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (James Robertson) wrote:

> At 20:24 21/02/2000 , George Pajari wrote:
> 
> 
> >The Qube marketing material is accurate. You will find setting up the
> >Qube to be trivial and its Linux kernel reliable and robust. Setting
> >up your own Linux system from scratch would be much more time
> >consuming and not necessarily give you any more functionality (indeed
> >probably less unless you know a lot about Linux and how to
> >install/configure the various services). And as for that other
> >operating system, it's simply Not There in comparison.
> 
> I have attempted to do nothing unusual with my Qube.
> 
> I have, however, found the web interface to be limiting and
> problematic.
> 
> There are many standard things that cannot be done easily on a Qube,
> and it is often not obvious exactly what the interface is trying to
> do.
> 
> The documentation is completely inadequate.
> 
> While we have got most things up and running, I would think twice
> before ordering a Qube for a client.
> 
> Considering that normal Linux documentation simply does not apply to
> the Qube, we may well have been better simply setting up a normal
> RedHat box.
> 
> Just my $0.02,

My experience has been the opposite: I now recommend Qubes to nearly everyone who
wants to run a SOHO.

As a software engineer, I want to work on the product that keeps my salary coming
in, not learning how to set up a secure box for my home network; I wanted an
appliance.  Plug the Qube2 in, type a couple of numbers, and you're off to the
races.  It did exactly what it said it would for me; the documentation got me up
and running in very little time.

I also question why normal linux documentation doesn't apply: under the web hood,
everything is a standard linux 2.0.x distribution, AFIK; very similar to an old
redhat distribution for x86.  It would be great to have a 2.2.x kernel for the
Qube, though, which would probably solve any discrepancy between current
documentation and the documentation compatible with the box.

I have made a few modifications: ssh instead of telnet (thanks to Cobalt for the
great FAQ on their site for this) and a modification to the Adaptec SCSI module to
run a less expensive version of an Adaptec SCSI card.  I wouldn't have bothered
with this, but I want to run my companies product on the Qube and require SCSI
support for that.

Byron