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From: henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer)
Newsgroups: net.arch,net.micro.16k,net.micro.68k
Subject: Re: 24 bit vs. 32 bit address space
Message-ID: <5351@utzoo.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 26-Mar-85 20:08:47 EST
Article-I.D.: utzoo.5351
Posted: Tue Mar 26 20:08:47 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 26-Mar-85 20:08:47 EST
References: <983@watdcsu.UUCP> <2385@nsc.UUCP> <730@amdcad.UUCP>, <523@inset.UUCP>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
Lines: 24

> ... contemplate why files exist. Why are they there?
> They are an unpleasant fix to the lack of an unconstrained segmented address
> space. Read and Write are a hack around the `obvious' solution of
> attaching to a named address space and assigning to or accessing the
> value of the notional structures that it contains; be they bytes or
> records. Why use lseek(2) when you could have pointers?
> 
> ...which compromise is best; whether it is better to be rich and sick or poor
> and well, or to be comfortable but with a bit of a twinge in the back
> now and then...............

That is indeed the question.  Which would you pick to sweep the world:
a spiffo system (call it, say, "Multics") that runs only on rare and
hideously expensive hardware, or a less-clean system (call it, say,
"Unix") which definitely isn't as spiffy but runs on anything?  Even
if you ignore Multics's excessive second-system-effect complexity, and
Unix's advantages gained from Multics hindsight, the winner is clear.

Incidentally, how do you implement a pipe or a terminal as a segment?

"Revolutions are won by the poor and healthy, not the rich and sick."
-- 
				Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
				{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry