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From: daleske@cbdkc1.UUCP ( John Daleske x4335 3S324W RAA)
Newsgroups: mod.os.os9
Subject: OS-9 as an instructional tool
Message-ID: <1544@cbdkc1.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 25-Aug-86 09:49:23 EDT
Article-I.D.: cbdkc1.1544
Posted: Mon Aug 25 09:49:23 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 26-Aug-86 04:54:11 EDT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Columbus
Lines: 22
Approved: daleske@cbdkc1.ATT.COM

Is anyone out there using OS-9 as a teaching tool in CS?  If I were
teaching an operating systems course, I'd be very tempted to tell all
the students to go out and buy a CoCo III with OS-9.

OS-9 is a very good example of many important CS ideas--Certainly more,
save for horrible cautionary examples, than about any other microcomputer
OS around.  (AmigaDOS being the sole exception I'm aware of.)

OS-9's modular structure lets one give students non-toy assignments, and
serves as an example of good design.  (How many other OSs would it be
reasonable to ask students to write a file manager or device driver for?
Certainly not Unix, which has benefitted so from university exposure--
just try to get a university computer center to let students look at
source!  With OS-9's reasonable interface design, one would need only
some sample listings of the kind readily available in Dibble & Puckett.)

				James Jones,
				speaking only for myself.

(I do have this idea for a product--DISCLAIMO, which levels the ground
for one mile around your terminal so there's nobody left to share your
opinion...:-)