Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!usc!jarthur!bridge2!ngg
From: ngg@bridge2.ESD.3Com.COM (Norman Goodger)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: Not another NeXT defector???!!!
Message-ID: <2942@bridge2.ESD.3Com.COM>
Date: 20 Nov 90 19:30:46 GMT
References: <2924@bridge2.ESD.3Com.COM> <1990Nov9.230811.20858@agate.berkeley.edu> <2927@bridge2.ESD.3Com.COM> <1990Nov10.020441.5331@agate.berkeley.edu>
Organization: 3Com Corp., Mt. View, CA
Lines: 60

In article <1990Nov10.020441.5331@agate.berkeley.edu> knrgroup@garnet.berkeley.edu (Raymond group) writes:
>Here we go again.  We're back to misconception #1 about the NeXT:  the NeXT
>is a typical Unix box.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  It is not
>like the Sun or any other Unix box, because the NeXT HIDES Unix from the
>user.  
>
	You still don't get it, probably never will.. So what if Next hides
	the unix os from the user. If you own the system and no matter
	what interface you slap on it, the user is going to need how to
	use the underlying OS somewhere along the line.

>The point I've made over and over again is that the NeXT allows you to
>TOTALLY ignore Unix if you want to.  Sit a Unix expert in front of a NeXT
>and he/she would be hard pressed to figure out Unix was running under
>NeXTStep.  
>
>Think of it this way.  Do you have to know low level Mac OS to use a Mac?
>Absolutely no.  Unix on a NeXT is like the Mac OS on a Mac.  It is in the
>background and away from the sight of the user.  The nice thing about the
>NeXT though is that, if you WANT to, you can access Unix through a nice
>shell and use it.  
>
>A NeXT owner will NOT "need" to know Unix.  However, perhaps because people
>have the misconception that the NeXT is like a Sun or some other Unix
>workstation, they may not give the NeXT a fair shake.
	
	This is totally bogus... If the machines underlying OS is Unix,
	it is virutally impossible to shield a user from having to have
	some knowledge of how it works if they own the machine. Somewhere
	along the line they will have to understand and comprehend Unix
	to make full use of the system should they own one. If you want
	to just sit in front of it and admire the interface all day, thats
	fine, but eventually you might want to get some work done, and
	depending the users specific needs, that will more than likely
	require at some point a comprehension of unix, "Because its there"
	and thats what the Next uses to "run"

>It is now very clear to me why NeXT does not attend many Unix expos.  NeXT
>has been unfairly branded as a Unix box by many people, and NeXT is trying
>to combat this gross misperception.  
>Think hard about this:  NeXTStep (NeXT's user environment) does not have to
>run on top of Unix.  It already runs on top of OS/2.  It could conceivably
>run on top of the Mac OS.  
>  
	The only gross misperception as I see it is the one that says
	I own a Next, its OS is Unix with a spiffy interface that I'll
	never have to look beyond to make full and complete use of my
	Next System. 

	I don't have to think hard about whether NextStep can run on 
	top of other OS's, its irrelavant since the Next box runs on
	neither OS2 or Mac, it runs Unix.



-- 
Norm Goodger				SysOp - MacInfo BBS @415-795-8862
3Com Corp.				Co-SysOp FreeSoft RT - GEnie.
Enterprise Systems Division             (I disclaim anything and everything)
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