Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.csd.uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!ficc!peter
From: peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.i386
Subject: Re: Cache board .vs. caching kernel  (Re: ESDI controller recommendations)
Message-ID: <6056@ficc.uu.net>
Date: 5 Sep 89 22:26:00 GMT
References: <121@mdi386.UUCP> <1474@wb3ffv.ampr.org> <4843@looking.on.ca> <1989Sep5.052934.20655@ddsw1.MCS.COM>
Organization: Xenix Support, FICC
Lines: 36

In article <1989Sep5.052934.20655@ddsw1.MCS.COM>, karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Karl Denninger) writes:
> Yeah, you got my dander up.  You're out here spouting off at the fingers
> about some utopian operating system which we can't buy.  Some enhancement to
> the kernel that we can't make.  The rest of us in this newsgroup operate in
> the real world, not a utopia with kernel source access.

Let me tell you a little story. There is a company called Commodore that
manufactures a computer called the Amiga. Now there was a design flaw, or
if you like... a bug, in version 1.2 of the operating system that gave a
large advantage to a particular hardware caching policy. Another company,
called ASDG, designed a disk controller called the SDP to take advantage of
this. Unfortunately for ASDG, Commodore fixed the design flaw in version 1.3
of the operating system before ASDG could get the SDP out the door. The
SDP vanished...

You're luckier... AT&T is somewhat slower about coming up with updates than
Commodore, and has neglected to fix this particular flaw. But you're still
in the position of the folks who build extended memory systems for DOS.
The product will remain in use, but folks will still gripe about its
necessity.

You might as well get used to it.

> Comp.unix.i386 is also for discussion of REAL Unix operating systems 
> available for these machines, not dreams that someone has in their head, 
> or something for a minicomputer that isn't available.  

I proposed this group and ran the vote, and don't recall making any sort
of exception for wishful thinking and pipe dreams. After all, why should
this group be the sole exception? I definitely agree with you that this
discussion has gotten a bit rancorous...
-- 
Peter da Silva, *NIX support guy @ Ferranti International Controls Corporation.
Biz: peter@ficc.uu.net, +1 713 274 5180. Fun: peter@sugar.hackercorp.com. `-_-'
"The Distribution: field on the header has been modified so as not to      'U`
 violate Information Export laws." -- eugene miya, NASA Ames Research Center.