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From: tsarna@polar.bowdoin.edu (Tyler Sarna)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: Re: Fred, Advanced MINIX, PH, AST and so on
Message-ID: <54878@nigel.ee.udel.edu>
Date: 28 May 91 23:17:38 GMT
Sender: mmdf@ee.udel.edu
Lines: 43

Andy Tanenbaum wrote:
> having 2 500-page books, or 3 333-page books, or 4 250-page books, or 100
> 10-page pamphlets.

21,000 playing cards?

> IEEE P1003.1, mostly because I believe in standards.  Americans living in
> Europe are probably more sensitive to standards than anybody else.  People
> in the U.S. just assume that the whole world uses inches; it never even
> occurs to them that the U.S. way in many areas is weird.  Europeans just shrug

Well, that's a pretty sweeping statement, but I'll agree in
general. Personally, I like the SI much better than the English
system, and I certainly beleive that the US is weird in more than
a few ways.

> and assume that it is natural that every time you drive 1000 km the shape of
> the electrical outlets change, so a device that works at (x, y) can't be
> plugged in at (x + 1000, y).

Boy, you must have very, very straight roads in the NL if that
math works :-)

> for them to verify. Suppose something buys MINIX, makes 20 copies of the
> receipt, and gives them to his friends.  Suppose somebody makes 20 color
> photocopies of the boot disk label and glues them to blank disks.  PH does

I don't see that the logic holds -- nothing prevents the person
from applying the patch kit to his copy of MINIX, and THEN
giving it to 20 friends. I do agree, however, that it would be
much easier for FvK to just distribute the cdiffs than to
try to be some sort of martyr. One wonders why he doesn't.

> [A new un-Minix not a bright idea]

Yes, I beleive I made this point in an earlier post. The freenix/cheapnix
market is rather crowded and will get even more crowded soon.
Yet another new system serves no purpose, other than the joy of creation.

-- 
Tyler "Ty" Sarna                            tsarna@polar.bowdoin.edu

           "Death therapy, Bob. It's a guaranteed cure."