[Wlug] Linux meta-questions - platform choice

[Adam Keck]

Hello All,

   I have some "meta-Linux" questions regarding platform choice.  I am
wondering if anyone knows of any research, papers, or other work that
has been done on the topic.

   Given two major types of IT infrastructure:

- Heterogeneous, where each application/service uses the platform to
which it is best suited.

- Homogeneous, where one bends a particular platform to fit every edge case.

   where the platform can be anything from and OS to a language to an
application stack.

o   Under what general conditions is one infrastructure type more
efficient than the other?

o   What other types of infrastructure are there?

o   More generally, how does one compare infrastructures in a rigorous manner?

     - How does one rigorously define "efficient" when comparing
concepts like infrastructures?

     - What other metrics, besides "efficiency" (however defined) may
be useful in comparing infrastructures?

   Does anyone know of any work where this topic has been abstracted
and analyzed mathematically?  Or of any trade papers where this
question has been looked at in practice?

   So far, I found the following paper via Google:

http://uic.edu/cba/cba-depts/ids/IDSNewsFiles/JGITM_Evaristopaper.pdf

   that seems to be on the topic and some hits on arxiv that appear
related but not specifically on the topic.

   This relates to Linux in that convincing an organization to switch
entirely over to Linux seems to be prohibitively hard in practice, but
if one can show that the heterogeneous case above can be more
efficient, then one can make the case for using Linux where it fits
best.


Thanks for any info/opinions/personal experiences!

-Adam