Mystery of chroot

[Ed Greshko]

David Boles wrote:

>> Well, if you're not sure of what your definition is of "a true Unix OS" then
>> a challenge or question as to if a PC will run them kind of loses its meaning.
>>
>> I venture to say that most folks would classify Solaris as a "true Unix OS"
>> and yes, they mostly ran on Sparc CPU server systems in rooms with false
>> floors and big A/C's.  And yes, in the early days, the workstation varieties
>> used Sparc CPU's and not your typical Intel or AMD processor.
>>
>> But, today Solaris runs just fine on Intel.  So, I would submit that as an
>> answer to your question.
> 
> Like I said - I was thinking of main frame stuff on big cabinets in really
> cold rooms.

A little background may help to understand where I'm coming from.  I've been
in the industry for 35 years much of that as a hardware engineer.

When the term "main frame" is used we are generally talking about
specialized systems that generally run an OS that was developed/modified to
run on the vendor's specific hardware.  In some cases they are derived from
Unix and it other cases the OS is entirely proprietary.

As an example, I worked for ETA that produced an air-cooled and liquid
nitrogen cooled system that ran a Unix type OS (all relevant fees paid to
whoever owned the IP at that time) that ran on proprietary hardware.  It
really was called a "super computer" in its day.

> I have never tried Solaris or Sparc. Are they considered what I described
> as 'a true Unix'? I was not even aware that they would run in x86 type
> equipment.

Solaris is the OS supplied Sun.  Sparc is the CPU hardware.

To this day, Sun makes servers that are generally housed in those cold rooms
in the big cabinets that you refer to.  Where a computer sits doesn't define
its use.

> I am *not* trying to be a smart *** here. I would like to know.

I'm sure not.  Hope the above what helpful.  But, I still am not clear on
what your definition is of "true Unix".  Maybe I missed it.  So, would you
mind trying again?