Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watnot!watmath!clyde!rutgers!mit-eddie!think!maynard!campbell From: campbell@maynard.UUCP Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: IBM new 'standard' Message-ID: <879@maynard.BSW.COM> Date: Mon, 23-Mar-87 23:17:07 EST Article-I.D.: maynard.879 Posted: Mon Mar 23 23:17:07 1987 Date-Received: Wed, 25-Mar-87 05:39:32 EST References: <701@imsvax.UUCP> Sender: news@think.UUCP Reply-To: campbell@maynard.UUCP (Larry Campbell) Organization: The Boston Software Works, Inc. Lines: 58 Summary: PC-brain refuted [Ted Holden writes a load of rubbish about how nobody will ever need more than 640K, and even if they did some random turbo extender crock with extended memory would suffice... and how operating systems are obsolete... all omitted for brevity, and to help keep lunches down.] What a bag of tripe. Ted's PC-brained thinking is a perfect example of the way microcomputers have set computing BACK ten years. Gee, the PC people are finally discovering "high level" languages (that is, C), fifteen years after the computing industry discovered their value. Operating systems serve two vital purposes. They prevent duplicated work by providing services required by all applications, and they allow applications to cooperate by coordinating access to machine resources. Ted claims that all you need to do to multitask on a PC is to load nine or ten terminate-and-stay-resident crocks... oh, except don't forget you have to load Sidekick before Prokey, or is it the other way around? And it seems like every time I activate my Sidekey Prokick macro from inside a Frametalk Crosswork buffer my machine locks up and trashes my FAT... dear me... sure would be nice if there were some way for these applications to cooperate... The problem here is that there are certain functions that the operating system ought to provide, and MS-DOS doesn't. These include: - reliable file system that scales up to large files well - graphics - communications - multitasking (why force the user to WAIT while the database index is reorganized?) - interprocess communication MS-DOS provides none of these. Not one. Consequently, several hundred application software developers who NEEDED these facilities reinvented the same stupid wheel several hundred different ways, and you CAN'T MIX THE DAMN HACKS TOGETHER in any coherent way. The result is endless articles and letters in the PC magazines about the forbidden combinations of TSR programs, and revolting "carousel" hacks that let you load and unload these gems to prevent collisions. Black magic to ward off the evil effects of other black magic. Gag. Folks, it's about time PC software developers stopped reinventing the wheel, bumping into each other's faces, and stepping on each others toes. Application writers and users both have the right to expect a REAL LIVE OPERATING SYSTEM that provides REAL LIVE USEFUL SERVICES on a PC. UNIX is the best example available today, not because UNIX is so great, but because everything else STINKS. Now, none of this means that I support IBM's effort to impose a proprietary machine/OS standard on the world -- I don't. But it's about time people realized that MS-DOS is a bad joke that was obsolete the day it was born, and the sooner we're rid of it, the better. Eagerly awaiting a decent application development environment on a PC... but not holding my breath... -- Larry Campbell The Boston Software Works, Inc. Internet: campbell@maynard.BSW.COM 120 Fulton Street, Boston MA 02109 uucp: {alliant,think,wjh12}!maynard!campbell +1 617 367 6846