Why have Unix gurus.

[tcs%usna.uucp at BRL-BMD.ARPA]

In response to Jon Forrest:
> I can plan my
> budget knowing exactly how much it will cost be to run VMS. With
> Unix, software maintainence requires one or more gurus who spend
> lots of time on the phone, going to conferences, reading nets
> like this, and hacking. The worst part of this is that so much
> effort is duplicated. For example, how much time has been spent
> by all the Unix users in the world to find and fix the bugs that
> are now being described. I bet that each bug has been found and
> worked on by more than one person. This is wasted time.

I agree that running Unix that is not purchased from a 'full service'
vendor means that a site needs one or two 'gurus' to keep up with
enhancements and bugs.  Yes, that effort is duplicated at each such
site.  I don't recomment Unix to people who want only one system
and don't want maintenance headaches.  

Now for the disagreements:

Most computer sites require a 'guru', regardless of "vendor support".  
This person is the one who knows the answer to the really obscure and
difficult questions.  Sites who try to muddle along without such a
person often implement marginal solutions to their problems because they
are not aware of all the features of their system.  When they run into
problems, many man-hours are wasted trying to create workable solutions.

I do recommend Unix to sites who need a variety of computing systems
for a variety of problems.  I can purchase a Masscomp to do data
acquisition and tie it into an Ethernet with a Gould for performing the
analysis.  If the Gould isn't enough horsepower, then I have
justification for one of the super-computers that runs Unix (Cray 2).
It is *my* job to make sure that the users have as common an environment
between machines as I can provide.  This way my user community (which
numbers far more than one or two 'gurus') doesn't have to spend time
remembering which editor they are using and adjust accordingly.  THIS is
the duplication of effort that I feel justifies using Unix over any
other OS.

	-tcs
	Terry Slattery	  U.S. Naval Academy	301-267-4413
	ARPA: tcs at brl-bmd     UUCP: decvax!brl-bmd!usna!tcs