Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!atha!aunro!ersys!drin From: ersys!drin@nro.cs.athabascau.ca (Adrian Smith) Newsgroups: comp.sys.next Subject: Re: 16mb minimum for next machines Message-ID: Date: 29 Apr 91 18:24:34 GMT References: <3381@kluge.fiu.edu> Organization: Edmonton Remote Systems, Edmonton, AB, Canada Lines: 45 acmfiu@serss0.fiu.edu (ACMFIU) writes: > i don't have a next machine but i've been quietly sifting through > the messages here for when i do get one. however, one thing that > has greatly disturbed me is the fact that to get _good_ performance > out of a next you need like 16mb of memory. does anyone remember > the days of the apple II and 64k when that was a lot. i still think > it is. and to say that a "personal" workstation such as the next > needs 16mb to run under is quite pathetic. just what types of memory > gobbing programs are you people running on this thing. and > whatever application it is, i can't see how it's making good use > of the memory it has available. Welcome to UNIX. It's not just the NeXT (although running apps under NeXTStep does require a lot of RAM - flame me if I'm wrong, anyone), it's UNIX in general. A standard old "Hello World" in C takes 48K with no optimized compile switches on my slab. > > and what about these humongous swap files some people have > reported. is this some kind of mistake. this is also quite > ridiculous. The swap files are *not* a mistake. 16Mb is the standard low-water mark on the NeXT, and 20Mb is very common. > > please keep in mind i come from a world where 128k is a lot of > memory. so i criticize this from the viewpoint of _total_ > efficiency. maybe everyone should have started out on these > measly machines. > I started at 4K on a Tandy TRS-80 Model I, Level I, then graduated to a 64K Apple IIe. I've yet to see either one of them do the things my NeXT will.. :-) As the needs of users increase, the tools needed to implement these needs will become mecessarily more complex, and thus require more comples machines. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer: How can I represent anyone? I don't *work* for anyone!! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adrian Smith ersys!drin@nro.cs.athabascau.ca Edmonton Remote Systems: Serving Northern Alberta since 1982