Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!think.com!mintaka!ogicse!plains!overby From: overby@plains.NoDak.edu (Glen Overby) Newsgroups: comp.os.minix Subject: Re: >>Where is MINIX going? Summary: Goals and Mechanisms need to be defined Message-ID: <7129@plains.NoDak.edu> Date: 12 Dec 90 20:23:20 GMT References: <3735@rwthinf.UUCP> Organization: (v) to organize. Lines: 46 In article <3735@rwthinf.UUCP> u31b3hs@cip-s01.informatik.rwth-aachen.de (Michael Haardt) writes:, >In ">Where is MINIX going?" Jim Paradis writes: >>Perhaps one way to "resist" the pressure to add features would be >>to do what a lot of other OS vendors do: have an "official" >>distribution, and also have an "unspported features" tape/disk >>set. [...] > [...] I suggest, that big archive servers reorganize their archives in: > (unofficial) upgrades for official sources > rewritten programs which replace official sources I like the idea, no matter whether it's done by an archive site maintainer or not. I think it would take a lot of load off of Andy's shoulders to have a 3rd party taking on some of the more adventurous deviations so that he wouldn't have to, but at the same time it might seem to wrench Minix from Andy's hands. I wouldn't want this discussion (or project, if it ever goes anywhere) to come across saying to Andy "Thanks for Minix, now let go". There have been times I've sensed feelings like this in this forum. The archive sites are each a one-man effort, and I've (unsuccessfully) tried to organize the archive maintainers as a sub-group of the net as a whole. Right now I do not know of anyone who is attempting to a "complete" archive for the ST, Amiga and Mac (if there is, please tell me so I can quit being concerned about those machines). I try to do this on the PC side but I'm several months out of date. As an interim "solution" I made my "save" directory accessable via the archive server. Back to the origional "User Contributed Software issue. There are two camps: I see two: 16-bit and 32-bit. The 16-bit people are basically adding conservative enhancements to 1.5, while the 32-bit people are running GNU Emacs. Each has it's own merits, followers and fanatics. One time (in the 1.3 days) I upload ed a "snapshot" of my conservatively "hacked" system. I have hoped to do that again, but I've never gotten around to it. In fact, I haven't done anything with programs from the net for several months. I had hoped that the "minix referees" group would take more of a commanding position (along the lines of the "distributed comp.sources.unix" group being flamed about on the admin groups) but that did not happen. There doesn't seem to be many volunteers willing to make the time commitment to put something like this together and keep it going. -- Glen Overby uunet!plains!overby (UUCP) overby@plains (Bitnet)