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<< allow people to remotely login via telnet and offer a usable CLI >>
Win2k offers this. I still don't get what you mean by "usable CLI." As I've said in the past, I spend a great portion of my time using CLI applications on my windows boxen. >>
Linux is in fact a CLI-based OS. Windows is not. With Linux you can do everything using the CLI. On top of that, Linux offers superior scripting capabilities.
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<< offer more than just one desktop >>
It's quite simple to write something to do this, or you can d/l one of the hundreds of programs that do the same thing. >>
I know what you mean (I'm currently running GeoShell), but it's not the same thing.
The GUI of Windows is simply too much integrated into the system.
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<< run without using a GUI. >>
That's just a different virtue of the OS. >>
It's something Windows can not do because Windows is a GUI-based OS.
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<< be customized to its core. >>
Indeed. This is the main reason I enjoy working on *nix.
<< be customized to fit on a PDA. >>
Not true. It can be customized, just not by you. 🙂 "Pocket PC" programming is identical to normal win32 programming for the desktop in many aspects. I don't know exactly what MS did to "customize" the kernel, but it is effectively the same core. >>
Nope, there are quite some people here who can tell you why Windows CE etc. are not Windows. Linux remains Linux, because its kernel can truly be stripped until very little remains.
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<< be customized to work on any type of server. >>
Server hardware, or architectures? Are you talking CISC vs. RISC, IA-32 vs. IA-64, or what? "Customizing" a kernel to work on each of these respective platforms is time consuming, and obviously MS, as a company, will not arbitrarily release their product for platforms that aren't part of their target market. But yes, you are correct, you could literally customize the linux kernel to function on any architecture (although a fun task it wouldn't be in most cases methinks).
<< be ported without any major problems to any architecture. >>
I guess I responded to this, in part, above. Are we talking strictly linux? I've had a tough time indeed porting some stuff from linux to SCO, for instance.
<< allow someone to save a system after a configuration error by editing some config files using a rescuedisk and Vi. >>
There are many CLI registry editors available (including one provided in every install of windows). You can also merge .reg files from the CLI to "rollback" any changes, etc. Not always as convenient as editing a simple *.conf file, but not everyone knows vi either. >>
The registry remains the nightmare of many system administrators, though. Editing a couple of config files is much easier, since it doesn't require any extra tools, just a texteditor.
BTW, I've never seen a CLI-based regedit.
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<< etc. >>
I agree!
Just ignore me, you know I can't help but respond to these types of threads. 🙂 >>
Okay, I'll ignore you 😛