Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!caen!uwm.edu!bionet!agate!eos!aio!vf.jsc.nasa.gov!kent From: kent@vf.jsc.nasa.gov Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware Subject: Re: Amiga Custom Chips - Mem management and resource tracking Message-ID: <1991Apr3.153236.1@vf.jsc.nasa.gov> Date: 3 Apr 91 21:32:36 GMT References: <1991Apr2.235710.13984@news.iastate.edu> <1991Apr3.201259.8377@engin.umich.edu> Sender: news@aio.jsc.nasa.gov (USENET News System) Organization: NASA Johnson Space Flight Center Lines: 23 > > What is the big deal about memory protection and resource tracking? > Sure, it might be a nice toy, but it wouldn't be real useful on a > single-user system. Is this one of those things people want just > because Unix has it? > > Memory protection would prevent a program crash from crashing the whole machine. The memory management unit would limit each program to its own memory space. Thus, the program could not go stomping off into memory with muddy boots. Hence the end of the Guru. Resource tracking would allow the operating system to deallocate all resources a program failed do because it crashed or the programmer did not write code to deallocate all memory, devices and so on. The features are very desireable on any multitasking system. -- Mike Kent - Lockheed Engineering and Sciences Company at NASA JSC 2400 NASA RD One, Houston, TX 77058 (713) 483-3791