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Ask HN: Anyone using proprietary Unix at work?

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Re: Ask HN: Anyone using proprietary Unix at work?

#141

Post by jolmg »

PreInternet01 wrote: post #130
29athrowaway wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why?

Fair question, although the basic answer should be obvious: the users still need access to the data! So, the question becomes more like "why not upgrade", or more specifically "why not migrate the data to something that is not so shockingly obsolete", since it's probably clear that there is no real upgrade path here (both SCO and the vendor of the accounting system are long gone). Usually with systems of this vintage…

It's not Informix-4GL, is it? If it is, the DB should be available via `dbaccess`. If you don't have that executable to verify, I imagine the binary files are probably of extensions `.4ge` and `.frm`. Then, the DB is likely a directory with the extension `.dbs`, that has a pair of files per table with the extensions `.dat` and `.idx`.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone using proprietary Unix at work?

#144

Post by zinekeller »

hrrsn wrote: post #136

I work at a telco. We have many museum-grade Unices in production, mostly AIX and Solaris - we even have a Wang still running in one of our datacenters. It's largely a case of there isn't a business case to migrate it to modern hardware - one day we'll no longer operate a legacy copper PSTN network, but until that day comes, we still need it all. We still have maintenance contracts on some hardware, like our Sun Fire…

That makes sense, paying for maintenance would be cheaper than rewriting everything then dumping it out five years (or even 10 years) later. Just make sure that everything can be pulled out before 2038 or else you'll need to rewrite everything.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone using proprietary Unix at work?

#145

Post by pieterr »

qwezxcrty wrote: post #60

I'm working with (although rather superficially) a ASML PAS5500 KrF DUV stepper. Its control workstation is based on some kind of unix (I guess Solaris). The stepper is a tool that is too expensive to retire, and if routinely maintained, can remain operational and happily expose wafers for more than twenty years[1]. No surprise to see it contains some ancient (by consumer electronics standards) software. [1] https://…

Solaris indeed. More recent scanner products use Linux.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone using proprietary Unix at work?

#146

Post by hrrsn »

zinekeller wrote: post #144
hrrsn wrote: post #136

I work at a telco. We have many museum-grade Unices in production, mostly AIX and Solaris - we even have a Wang still running in one of our datacenters. It's largely a case of there isn't a business case to migrate it to modern hardware - one day we'll no longer operate a legacy copper PSTN network, but until that day comes, we still need it all. We still have maintenance contracts on some hardware, like our Sun Fire…

That makes sense, paying for maintenance would be cheaper than rewriting everything then dumping it out five years (or even 10 years) later. Just make sure that everything can be pulled out before 2038 or else you'll need to rewrite everything.

It's most definitely already on it's way out - but it's a slow process :) Most of the switching hardware is significantly older than I am!

Re: Ask HN: Anyone using proprietary Unix at work?

#147

Post by [deleted] »

rolenthedeep wrote: post #82
anyfoo wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That does sound like an absolute clusterfuck of software. But just in case it wasn't clear, I don't think that "custom *nix OS" is to blame at all. And as for text based UIs, they're still fantastic for things like data entry and lookup. It just seems that the actual software running on the OS, with the text UI, seems to be profoundly terrible in your case.

Yeah, the OS itself was passable. It had the absolute bare minimum required to work, so not much could go wrong. The ancient software also wasn't bad. After a few months learning the hotkeys and menu structure, the speed with which you can enter and process data was absolutely incredible. It had problems, but usually minor and patched in a reasonable time for corporate IT. The real problem was their database manageme…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Anyone using proprietary Unix at work?

#148

Post by zozbot234 »

PreInternet01 wrote: post #5

Yup. SCO OpenServer 5.0.something, for some partner's accounting department. Neither the OS nor the application software have been updated since the late 1990s, but if it works, it works, I guess... (to be honest: the application software is only used to run reports in response to requests from the legal department, but apparently still can't be shut down -- I ask once a year, next upcoming 'query date' in my agenda…

Looks like OpenServer 5 is still being marketed by UnXis/Xinuos, so you might be on the hook for any ongoing licensing costs. They released the latest update in 2018.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone using proprietary Unix at work?

#149

Post by azalemeth »

favorited wrote: post #56
not_the_fda wrote: post #31

This is running Solaris. https://www.usa.philips.com/healthcare/solutions/radiation-o... Last I heard they were desperately trying to get it on Linux. Why it isn't is because its a huge legacy application with some very horrible hacks specific to the OS.

The last time I got an MRI, the control room had one of those iconic purple SGI O2 workstations on the desk. I guess they were pretty popular with medical imaging products.

Indeed. Irix on an sgi o2 was the standard recon box until about 2005.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone using proprietary Unix at work?

#150

Post by newman314 »

jl6 wrote: post #33

AIX on POWER hardware, because it runs SAP, and between IBM and SAP they provide all-encompassing certification and support. Swapping out the OS would invalidate those assurances. Yes, modern SAP runs on Linux. Yes, it would be a good idea to migrate off AIX. But the system has been in place for 20 years and it will be another 5 years at least before that migration happens. There’s a bunch of enterprisey technology t…

AIX on POWER here too but planning to move to Linux on POWER everywhere as part of the P10 refresh cycle.

HANA is already Linux on POWER so it will be nice not to have the AIX/SUSE split once we fully migrate over.

We tend to run pretty up to date config wise so it's helped quite a bit while planning upgrades. Only AIX 7.3 and SLES 15 SP3. Already moved from P7 => P8 => P9.

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