Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!uupsi!mstr!sa1.hgc.edu!craig From: craig@sa1.hgc.edu (craig chaiken) Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc Subject: Re: Unix or DOS (was Re: Where is the long awaited MS DOS 5.0 ?) Message-ID: <1990Dec30.205621.145@mstr.hgc.edu> Date: 30 Dec 90 20:56:21 GMT References: <8550@tekgvs.LABS.TEK.COM> <13523@milton.u.washington.edu> Sender: Usenet@mstr.hgc.edu (Action News Central) Reply-To: craig@sa1.hgc.edu.UUCP (craig chaiken) Organization: The Hartford Graduate Center, Hartford CT. Lines: 25 Nntp-Posting-Host: sa1.hgc.edu I have administered a number of Unix systems over the last several years. It is very clear that UNIX is a far more powerful operating system, but with power comes complexity. I am not referring to the more complex syntax, but to the more complex administration of UNIX. Consider the concept of a system shutdown, for example. A UNIX system cannot simply be shut off when not in use, it must be shutdown with a program; failure to do so will cause disk corruption. Consider the /dev directory. Accidentally deleting an important device file will result in an unrecoverable system. Consider the /etc/passwd file. Accidental corruption of this file will result in the inability to access the system. Consider file attributes. A small discrepancy in file attributes will result in subtle, hard to identify errors. My point is this: An operating system as powerful and complex as UNIX requires skilled administration. To put it simply, UNIX will never replace MSDOS as a general purpose operating system, because sophisticated users represent too small a percentage of the installed computer base. Craig Chaiken craig@mstr.hgc.edu