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From: cc1@locus.ucla.edu (Michael Gersten)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Initial Opinion of Amiga
Message-ID: <3311@curly.ucla-cs.UCLA.EDU>
Date: Fri, 5-Dec-86 18:41:11 EST
Article-I.D.: curly.3311
Posted: Fri Dec  5 18:41:11 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 13-Dec-86 21:47:22 EST
References: <939@blia.BLI.COM> <3917@mit-eddie.MIT.EDU> <1317@hoptoad.uucp> <1740@jade.BERKELEY.EDU>
Reply-To: ucla-cs!cepu!ucla-an!remsit!stb!michael@ihnp4.UUCP cc1@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU (Michael Gersten)
Organization: Ucla Computer Club (disclaimer)
Lines: 42

In article <1740@jade.BERKELEY.EDU> mwm@eris.BERKELEY.EDU (Mike (Don't have strength to leave) Meyer) writes:

>paths starting with "/" aren't magicked (gee, just like Amoeba!), why
>don't we use it as a shorter-than-".." shorthand for the current
>directories parent directory?

Because that is not what it means. The '/' is a-symetric: at the beginning
of filenames it means "../", elsewhere it means "/". There is no way to
refer to the parent of a directory; there is simply a kludge that allows
access to a parent as a special case at the beginning of a filename.

>The AmigaDOS "clean display" code has the virtue of preventing the
>interleaving of input and output characters in a single line. I also

But it also STOPS output, and stops any program that is trying to do
output. This is what I dis-like; it effectively kills type-ahead.

>John, what can you give me that has (assuming the directory entries
>fit in a block) a one-block-read-per-element path walk, one block read
>to collect all the file names in a directory, and the ability to
>recover from any single-block hit without loosing anything but what's

Very simple. First, the ability to recover from a block hit is not--
REPEAT, NOT--a function of the directory.

Second, most micro's have DOS's with this feature. Trsdos (EVERY version)
comes close (they miss only because they also keep a hash table which
simply hashes the name, resulting in a quicker 'not found'; delete this
and you get one read for filename, path walk, and everything. By putting
links in data blocks, you get one hit doesn't kill.

>on the market require a reboot (that's what C-c on CP/M is - a warm
>boot!) to kill runaway tasks anyway.
>
THIS IS BAD! Even if it is true, that doesn't mean we have to stick wth it

What about background jobs that are running? Better would be to say that
any single-tasking micro requires rebooting.

			Michael Gersten
      Views expressed here may not be those of the Computer Club, UCLA, or
  anyone in their left OR right mind.  And that's the name o' that tune.