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From: bass@dmsd.UUCP (John Bass)
Newsgroups: net.micro
Subject: re: the GNU Manifesto
Message-ID: <184@dmsd.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 31-Mar-85 04:01:13 EST
Article-I.D.: dmsd.184
Posted: Sun Mar 31 04:01:13 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 3-Apr-85 03:14:32 EST
References: <7672@rochester.UUCP>
Lines: 44

Mr Henry Kautz has said it about as well as any could ... I agree. Rewriting
unix is a waste of good talent there are too many really nneded things to
do in this world.

GNU is likely to get finished just in time to realize that it is not a needed
tool anymore. I have worked with UNIX since V5/V6 and have watched it grow.
EVEN in the begining the UNIX OS was JUST ANOTHER OPERATING SYSTEM from the
Multics, TENEX, XDS940 (Berkeley Timesharing System) mold. UNIX as an OS has
maybe another few years of life before the hardware outstrips the need for it
in its current mold (if not already true). The rapid shift to Macintosh/GEM
type user interfaces in the next few years combined with distributed
multiprocessor system designs will make new UNIX kernels from AT&T and other
vendors change radically in design.

What UNIX REALLY IS (and its true value is) is a rich tools environment.
UNIX as JUST an operating system would most likely have DIED years ago in
some dark corner of Bell Labs --- the fact that the OS and Tools make such
a rich development environment and applications host was it's real success.
The TOOLS are unix -- NOT THE OS. UNIX is C, Lex, Yacc, UUCP, SCCS, grep,
Make, awk, plot, and so on --- /unix is a MINOR part of UNIX.

Rewriting the UNIX OS is a fun project to start -- many of us have started
(and few finished) the task -- a great learning exersize but not the way
to leave your mark for the world -- many others have been along the same
path. 

Mr Stallman dreams of some idealistic world where HE can get paid to write
softare to be given away for free -- but it is wrong for the rest of us to
work writing software as self employed independents and sell it to make a
living. I wonder how many of the kids shouting his liberal politics and
economics really understand that if all software were REALLY FREE then the
high paying systems programmer jobs they dream of would never exist.

Going to school and working for free is fine has long as daddy has deep pockets
to pay the bills -- but for most of us many greedy little hands want money
for food, housing, transportations, and entertainment and daddy doesn't pay
the bills forever -- working for a paycheck to pay bills is a reality that
even Mr Stallman can't escape forever unless his daddy has VERY deep pockets.

The danger to society is that the KIDS tring to follow these idealisms may
waste half their productive youth on a fantsy bigger than just GNU -- and
fall prey to the socialist falacy.

John Bass