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Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!genrad!mit-eddie!mit-vax!eagle!mhuxi!houxm!mel
From: mel@houxm.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards
Subject: Re: Comments on Unix from the DEC-Professional
Message-ID: <550@houxm.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 27-Sep-83 09:04:06 EDT
Article-I.D.: houxm.550
Posted: Tue Sep 27 09:04:06 1983
Date-Received: Thu, 29-Sep-83 01:10:42 EDT
References: <221@decvax.UUCP>
Organization: Bell Labs, Holmdel NJ
Lines: 23

I agree somewhat with what Martin Minow says, but please everybody - name
and document your favorite system that is better in ALL these respects.
Don't flame on about your goodie that beats UNIX in one or another, that's
easy - tell us about a system that is really better than UNIX for doing
those things people use computers to do.

Is there a system out that has more, and more diverse user applications? Does
any system out there not require a systems guru (IBM and DEC-10's seem to need
whole groups of them - and who can get a DEC Rainbow to do ANYTHING useful
without a guru around)? Is there any advantage to having the "mass produced"
common system?  We run a lot of UNIX systems that look similar, and true, no
two are identical. But, mostly for reasons that have nothing to do with UNIX. 
UNIX allows them to look similar even though they run on dis-similar hardware
and serve completely different user communities and purposes. Does UNIX break
more frequently than other systems?  Not that I have noticed. If so, shouldn't
that be fixed?  What other system has more novice users, and gets novice users
doing useful work faster than UNIX?  What system attracts and holds more
users?  Would you go back to TSO? CP/M? TOPS-20? CMS? VMS? what? why?  Are any
of the UNIX-alikes that aren't, better than the ones that are?

Please answer all the questions, not just one or two.  If UNIX is so awful,
why is it so popular - and why do I like it so much?
  Mel Haas  ,  houxm!mel