Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!coolidge From: coolidge@cassius.cs.uiuc.edu (John Coolidge) Newsgroups: comp.unix.aux Subject: Re: A/UX just a ploy? (Was Re: Is A/UX viable? Your advice sought) Message-ID: Date: 1 Aug 90 22:25:53 GMT References: <32285@cup.portal.com> <1990Jul31.232639.18896@brutus.cs.uiuc.edu> <221@gort.cs.utexas.edu> Sender: news@brutus.cs.uiuc.edu Reply-To: coolidge@cs.uiuc.edu Organization: U of Illinois, CS Dept., Systems Research Group Lines: 42 jason@cs.utexas.edu (Jason Martin Levitt) writes: >In article <1990Jul31.232639.18896@brutus.cs.uiuc.edu> I write: >>My impression....[stuff deleted] >>is that Apple is committed to A/UX for the long >>haul. They've put a lot of work into 2.0, work that doesn't affect >>government procurement requirements for UNIX-compatible systems >>(how many government contracts require UNIX with MacOS support? :-)). >> > I think you've got it backwards, John. Apple wants to deliver >*MacOS* solutions, not Unix solutions. The government requires >Unix, so Apple delivers an operating system that allows a nearly >complete MacOS under Unix. Huzzah! Again, I think this is only partially true. If UNIX was only supposed to be there for purchase requirements and the like, Apple would count on people to reboot the things into MacOS and use those tools. The merger of the two means (I think) that they expect people to get useful work done with both types of tools at the same time. That's how I'm using 2.0, and I suspect that's how lots of people will use it. At the same time, the MacOS is moving, ever so slowly, towards something a lot more like Unix. 7.0 is going to have virtual memory, symlinks, and so forth. I've heard rumors (probably not true, but fun :-)) that 8.0 should have protection and optional preemptive multitasking. At any rate, judging from the types of effort that went into 2.0 and what it appears (from hiring specs and so forth) Apple wants in the development team for the long hall (3.0? :-)), I really think the UNIX part of A/UX is here for the long haul. I expect to see lots of UNIX features added to A/UX in future releases, and lots of support for existing code, as well as further integration of the MacOS into the UNIX world. --John -------------------------------------------------------------------------- John L. Coolidge Internet:coolidge@cs.uiuc.edu UUCP:uiucdcs!coolidge Of course I don't speak for the U of I (or anyone else except myself) Copyright 1990 John L. Coolidge. Copying allowed if (and only if) attributed. You may redistribute this article if and only if your recipients may as well.