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From: jack@mcvax.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sources.wanted,comp.unix.wizards,comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: UUCP Port Turnaround (==> Unix Kernel hacks)
Message-ID: <7282@boring.mcvax.cwi.nl>
Date: Wed, 25-Feb-87 14:05:43 EST
Article-I.D.: boring.7282
Posted: Wed Feb 25 14:05:43 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 27-Feb-87 21:08:20 EST
References: <171@ndmath.UUCP> <4090@nsc.nsc.com> <166@piaget.UUCP>
Reply-To: jack@boring.UUCP (Jack Jansen)
Organization: AMOEBA project, CWI, Amsterdam
Lines: 31
Xref: utgpu comp.sources.wanted:635 comp.unix.wizards:1121 comp.unix.questions:1177

In article <395@stracs.cs.strath.ac.uk> jim@cs.strath.ac.uk writes:
>
>Granted MACH has lots of interesting things in it, but it is HUGE. Even
>a BSD kernel pales into insignificance. I recall someone from CMU saying
>that their development kernel had a 700K text segment! OK - it may have
>had lots of redundant code for development work, but I can't see how MACH
>could be smaller than a comparable Berkeley kernel with all these nice new
>ideas that CMU are implementing. 
>
>The MACH kernel source might be prettier, but can we afford the extra core
>needed to run it? :-)
>
This isn't strictly true: since MACH is a distributed operating
system, you can configure your systems intelligently. For instance,
put all terminals on one machine, all your disks on another one,
etc.
I'm not too familiar with MACH, but if it follows the model
of most distributed operating systems (like V or Amoeba),
if will consist of a moderately-sized kernel, accompanied
by a large number of huge server to provide 4.3 compatability.
This should make this scheme possible.

This has the big advantage that you don't have to have all servers
on all machines.

Admitted, it has the disadvantage that one machine going down
will leave you with a perfectly running distributed system without
any terminals:-)
-- 
	Jack Jansen, jack@cwi.nl (or jack@mcvax.uucp)
	The shell is my oyster.