Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!linac!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!cis.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!zardoz.eng.ohio-state.edu!agvax2.ag.ohio-state.edu!GAYNOR From: gaynor@agvax2.ag.ohio-state.edu Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system Subject: Re: How to write to Apple Message-ID: <1991Jun26.193006.25424@zardoz.eng.ohio-state.edu> Date: 26 Jun 91 19:30:06 GMT References: <54119@apple.Apple.COM> ,<54285@apple.Apple.COM> Sender: news@zardoz.eng.ohio-state.edu (Usenet news) Reply-To: gaynor@agvax2.ag.ohio-state.edu Organization: Ohio Cooperative Extension Service Lines: 76 Nntp-Posting-Host: agvax2.ag.ohio-state.edu In article <54285@apple.Apple.COM>, bc@Apple.COM (bill coderre) writes: > [in reference to the "Dirty" ROM debate...] > >And many users would like NOT to have another "option" of difference >in the machine configuration. That much more complexity to debug. >Therefore, at major installed sites, there would be violent opposition >to upgrading, since it's a logistical problem, and if there were an >upgrade, it would have to be to all of the machines at once, so that >all the machines are "the same." I do not agree with this logic, Bill. (Or, since you're playing Devil's Advocate, I would not agree with any person forwarding this logic as an argument). Why? 1) This is the "never-change" argument. Anyone who supports this logic would also,by extension of the logic, have to hold that typewriters or computers should never have been introduced into the office environment - because these new implements were "different" than currently installed base, and created new support challenges. 2) I defy you to show me a single "major installed site" in which the computer environment is completely homogenous. Where everyone is using the same model of computer, with the same RAM and HD and software. Where nobody is using a IIci, IIfx, or IIsi. 32-bit Clean ROMs are an investment in the useful lifespan of the CPU in question. Any organization that insists that internal computing never change will, eventually, go out of business. 3) Finally, why must the change be instantaneous? The change could be gradual, with new ROMs being installed in site machines over time, and the users running in 24-bit mode until the site was certain that all applications were 32-bit clean. When the time came that all apps and CPUs were 32-bit clean, all users could begin to run in 32-bit mode. >Currently, assuming that MODE-32 works well (I have NO info), it is a >great solution, since it's: > > 1) Cheaper than a ROM upgrade would be > 2) User installable, without hardware downtime > 3) Easily de-installed in case of compatibility problems Point 1) is uncertain. Points 2) and 3) are valid, and could be applied to an Apple-blessed-and-supported software solution. But there is a single, huge, disadvantage. MODE32 is 3rd Party software. There is no guarantee that it will work with System 7.1. There is no guarantee that it does not make some subtle change that will crash a totally Inside-Mac compliant application. It is the "right solution" but the wrong company. Hardware or software. It doesn't matter. The IIci/fx/si prove that 32-bit Cleanliness is possible in hardware. MODE32 and A/UX prove it can be done in software. But, either way, it is something that should be done by Apple Computer Inc. Users should not be forced to go scrambling to a 3rd party vendor to make use of the advertised and documented abilities of a piece of Apple hardware. >If you want to write Apple, go right ahead. They'll listen. I did. I will again. But I'm not a "major installed site." I'm not a Director of Computing at a Major University. I'm just "some guy" with an SE/30 who wants to know why I have to go to a Connectix to get full functionality out of my investment. >bill coderre >survived the layoffs, thank goodness Congratulations. --- Jim Gaynor - AgVAX System Manager - Academic Computing - Ohio State University VMS: UNIX: Disclaimer : All opinions expressed here are mine and only mine. So there! Witty Quote: "Shoot him now! Shoot him now!" - Daffy Duck, "Rabbit Seasonings"