Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!gatech!udel!eplrx7!leipold
From: leipold@eplrx7.UUCP (leipold)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Real Multifinder (was Re: Hey Apple Mac engineers...)
Message-ID: <738@eplrx7.UUCP>
Date: 1 Sep 89 12:54:13 GMT
References: <46100321@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu> <1989Aug15.001507.14552@sj.ate.slb.com> <24626@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu> <3997@internal.Apple.COM>
Reply-To: leipold@eplrx7.UUCP (Walt Leipold)
Distribution: usa
Organization: E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.
Lines: 28

In article <3997@internal.Apple.COM> Larry Rosenstein writes:
>It is possible to work under MultiFinder without writing any extra code, 
>although by writing some MultiFinder-specific code you can make the system 
>operate more smoothly.

I've been watching this thread for a week or so, and have to disagree
(partially) with the above.  The original question appeared to refer to
the amount of extra code you'd need to add to a Unix-style program
(which gets backgrounding for free) to get it running in the background
on the Mac.  This is not just a matter of adding some Multifinder-
specific code.  Instead, you have to add an entire event loop to the
program to allow Multifinder to timeslice it.  And quite often, a
program's original (hopefully) clean structure (the case for most
Unix filters) is badly corrupted by contorting it to fit an event loop.

Of course, you could argue that Unix-style filter programs don't fit
the Mac's user interface model, and that their use should therefore be
discouraged (or even made a punishable offense).  However, there are a
_lot_ of good Unix programs.  I'd like to be able to use them "out of
the box" on my Mac.  And some tasks (that I'd probably like to run in
the background anyway) are more efficiently handled with the Unix 'user
interface standard' of filters and pipes, especially when enhanced by
shell scripts and filename wildcards.

-- 
"As long as you've lit one candle,                         Walt Leipold
you're allowed to curse the darkness."       (leipolw%esvax@dupont.com)
--