Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!helios!daugher From: daugher@cs.tamu.edu (Dr. Walter C. Daugherity) Newsgroups: comp.sys.next Subject: Re: in Time, again Summary: don't worry about 68040 bugs Keywords: NeXT, 68040 bugs Message-ID: <9046@helios.TAMU.EDU> Date: 12 Oct 90 23:47:09 GMT References: <8969@helios.TAMU.EDU> <3258@uakari.primate.wisc.edu> Sender: usenet@helios.TAMU.EDU Distribution: na Organization: Texas A&M University Lines: 33 In article <3258@uakari.primate.wisc.edu> bin@primate.wisc.edu writes: >From article <8969@helios.TAMU.EDU>, by mcguire@cs.tamu.edu (Tim McGuire): >> They tell me that the first large batch of 68040s had a bug which did not >> affect any of the NeXT software because mach does not use the affected >> opcode. This bug does sink most of the other companies who would use the 40. >> So NeXT took delivery of the entire batch and can thus release an 040 machine >> well ahead of everyone else. > >Hmm, maybe Mach itself doesn't use the opcode, but what's to stop *any* >piece of application software from using it - and crashing? >-- >Paul DuBois >dubois@primate.wisc.edu > > "Was all of this because I wore a big man's hat?" The main reason software developers won't use any buggy 68040 instructions which aren't on the 68030 is that they will want as large a market as possible. Thus they should use 68030 instructions only so they can sell their wares to run on old or new NeXT's. (Listen up, you budding software entrepreneurs :-).) Nevertheless, IMHO NeXT is most likely to wait and ship clean 68040's. They really don't need to give their critics any ammunition, however irrelevant (see above). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Walter C. Daugherity Internet, NeXTmail: daugher@cs.tamu.edu Knowledge Systems Research Center uucp: uunet!cs.tamu.edu!daugher Texas A & M University BITNET: DAUGHER@TAMVENUS College Station, TX 77843-3112 CSNET: daugher%cs.tamu.edu@RELAY.CS.NET ---Not an official document of Texas A&M---