> We have been using binaries compiled with the Digital Fortran
> Compiler under Tru64 4.0D using the non_shared option on our RedHad
> Alpha Linux machines without any problems.
> But after upgrading them from RedHat 5.2 to Redhat 6.1/6.2 the
> output to stdout using the Fortran WRITE command with ADVANCE='NO'
> does not work any longer. Seems that RedHat changed something in
> their libraries. Does anybody know a work around or links where to
> find more information?
SET RANT/FULL
How about running Digital Unix, err Tru64?
Sure, it costs more. In general, I can understand wanting to save
money. I have a lot of debts, am currently trying to avoid losing even
more in my divorce settlement, my job contract expires in four months, I
have unpaid bills and hope I don't lose my flat if I can't get the money
together on time. In an individual case, one always wants to save
money. But what about the big picture? If I found a briefcase full of
bills on the street, I'd probably keep it, reasoning that whoever can
afford to lose that much doesn't need it as much as I do. But of
course, this can't be a solution for everything; people have to work and
get paid for it for society to keep existing.
The whole linux thing has gotten some people to think that EVERY
solution has to be free. (None of this, by the way, is directed to your
request personally, but rather is a general rant.) The total costs,
however, are usually much higher---more people to maintain the stuff,
wasted time solving problems like the one above etc. Developing good
quality software costs effort, as anyone knows who's done it. Why
shouldn't this effort be paid just like other effort? The fact that one
can now easily copy data cheaply is not the point---who suggests that
authors should not be paid for their books just because it is easy to
publish on the net? As always, the money is for the effort; it might be
tied to artificially-priced media just as a practical way of collecting
revenue, but other models are possible.
I use some free software. I've made some of my own stuff publicly
available. Fine if one is able to do so, or if it otherwise wouldn't
see the light of day at all. But to EXPECT a solution to something as
complicated as the interaction between an OS, RTL and a binary
executable to be free is really stretching it. Sure, if you want to
play around and wouldn't have spent the money anyway (the standard line
I hear from people copying music CDs), linux is a nice parlour game, but
I think it's a bit naive to expect it to "work" in the same sense that a
commercial offering should work.
Certainly, I expect to be able to use arbitrarily old executables after
upgrading the OS. What a pain if it didn't. Is the TOTAL cost of
moving to Tru64 unix really more than the TOTAL costs of running linux?
I probably sound old-fashioned. Well, some things WERE better in the
past. Instead of quality stuff, the majority of the community today
seems split between people who think paying for software is evil and end
up spending---if all costs are counted---much more than they would have
had they bought the stuff and helped an hones programmer make a living,
and people who just produce low-quality software, as in the links here.
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q131/1/09.asp
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-1707928.html
SET NORANT
Phillip Helbig
--
Kapteyn Instituut Email .............. [log in to unmask]
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen Tel. ................... +31 50 363 4067
Postbus 800 Fax .................... +31 50 363 6100
NL-9700 AV Groningen Web ... http://www.astro.rug.nl/~helbig/
******************************** formerly at ********************************
this will still work for a while -----> Email ......... [log in to unmask]
University of Manchester Tel. ... +44 1477 571 321 (ext. 2635)
Jodrell Bank Observatory Fax ................ +44 1477 571 618
Macclesfield Telex ................ 36149 JODREL G
UK-Cheshire SK11 9DL Web ... http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/~pjh/
My opinions are not necessarily those of either of the above institutes.
<A HREF=" http://gladia.astro.rug.nl:8000/helbig/hire/hire.html ">HIRE ME!</A>
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