Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!philmtl!altitude!pascal From: pascal@altitude.CAM.ORG (Pascal Gosselin) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc Subject: Re: What can't it do? Loss of... Message-ID: <1990Jul12.034924.3770@altitude.CAM.ORG> Date: 12 Jul 90 03:49:24 GMT References: <886@mdavcr.UUCP> <28778.269229da@vaxb.acs.unt.edu> <1990Jul8.220052.24143@spectrum.CMC.COM> <2977@tellab5.tellabs.com> <893@mdavcr.UUCP> Organization: None Lines: 42 I took find the lack of BATCH/SCRIPTING/CRON/PATHs on the Macintosh to be a MAJOR limitation. However, last week I got this flash at work while talking to our Apple Sales Rep (we are an Apple VAR). She was asking us "why" we could possibly NEED AU/X 2.0 since we do not sell Unix-Based software. I tried to explain to her that you could do all sorts of neat stuff with Unix, like Usenet/Mail (try explaining that to someone who's never witnessed the power of Unix mail facilities). The flash that I got was that there were some AWESOME possibilities for combining AU/X with the Mac OS to provide all sorts of automation that the Macro programs can't deliver. Imagine using UUCP mechanisms for automatic updating of multiple remote databases (with other AU/X based Macintoshes) that are actually MACINTOSH files, NOT Unix file systems. The demos I have seen of AU/X 2.0 seem to indicate that the overall interaction of the Mac OS and AU/X (including file systems) seem to be very high. I can already imagine LOTS of applications for using AU/X 2.0 to boost the brain-dead capacities of finder. What ever happed to the SCRIPTING language that was SUPPOSED to somehow be part of system 7.0 ? I'm not talking about IAC (Apple Events), I'm talking BATCH PROCESSING here. The Mac is dreadfully lacking batch modes, how can you automatically start 4 or 5 programs, back up a hard disk at 2:00am and run a conversion utility on 10 different files without doing a zillion mouse clicks and redoing every macro over because the desktop always has a different file/folder/disk placement??? In fact, last month Apple Canada spent 1/2 a day showing us how the OASIS architecture was to evolve as to eventually making the differences between a Mac running AU/X and Mac OS to be totally transparent to the user. AU/X 2.0 goes a long way to make UNIX available to everyday Mac users, but it's the Mac OS that needs to learn tricks from Unix now, not the other way around! -- +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Pascal Gosselin | Internet: pascal@altitude.CAM.ORG | | Gest-Mac Inc. Apple VAR | (514) 939-1127 CIS: 72757,1570 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+