Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.misc Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!yee From: yee@aix01.aix.rpi.edu (Crimson Avenger) Subject: Re: (Sigh) Here we go again... Message-ID: Nntp-Posting-Host: aix01srv.aix.rpi.edu Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY References: <3.8g.ra@rpi.edu> <1991May9.161302.9489@watson.ibm.com> Date: 14 May 91 14:55:52 GMT Lines: 45 In article <1991May9.161302.9489@watson.ibm.com> (Larry Salomon) writes: > >Agreed. Unix's availability on many different platforms is one of the >reasons it is so popular. > >Yeah right. Tell that to Mr. Joe Executive who is in charge of 300 >people and DOESN'T HAVE TIME TO LEARN. I can think of one example in my instances that learning command in is important. I have my computer at home, and I call a system over a modem and I don't have GUI capabilities. It's fine to use GUI if your connected within a network, but over a phone line, I have been told that it's not possible to have X-windows over a modem, because something about the band-width that won't allow it. (I heard that it might be possible with SLIP, but I really haven't look into it). I think it's also important that Mr. Joe Executive learns what his employees does so he/she can't understant what is going on in the company. You think it's like you bark an order and something gets done. You don't know HOW it's done, you know that it's done. Is that what you are refering to? >Oh boy. This is a gem. Tell me then why a programmer who is new to Unix >takes so long to learn how to program for it? I was a Unix neophyte once >(and kinda still am) and you don't know HOW FRUSTRATING it is to want to >do something in my program and not knowing the system call and then >having to spend 30 minutes looking through 'man' pages trying to find the >right function. Oh sure, 'popen' (:sarcasm.) OBVIOUSLY (:esarcasm.) >means to shell to another process and create a pipe between the two. > Most people programming on UNIX uses C, so programming in C is simple. It may take time, but you can learn it. I learned my C on the PC, and then move up to workstations (UNIX). The frustration with the system calls is that there are so many to do different things, and you want to find the one that does the best for you. I don't know about going through "man" pages trying to find the system calls, that is one way. Generally, you should be able to find it faster in a well-documented programmer's system call book OR you can buy one off a book in Dalton's Bookstore that is better written. I'm not sure if man pages were meant for system call lookups, I generally use it only for UNIX commands which I try to get the parameters for. -- -- Robert aka Crimson Avenger (yee@rpi.edu or crimson_avenger@mts.rpi.edu) Once a hacker, always a hacker. (usere3jp@rpitsmts.bitnet)