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From: ron@topaz.rutgers.edu.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.arch,comp.unix.wizards,comp.os.misc
Subject: Re: Free Software Foundation (was: Re: Mach, the new standard?)
Message-ID: <14670@topaz.rutgers.edu>
Date: Sat, 12-Sep-87 16:23:31 EDT
Article-I.D.: topaz.14670
Posted: Sat Sep 12 16:23:31 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 13-Sep-87 08:36:22 EDT
References: <1665@ncr-sd.SanDiego.NCR.COM> <8381@utzoo.UUCP> <797@Pescadero.ARPA> <3728a4c0.ccb2@apollo.uucp> <692@sugar.UUCP>
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.
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The MINIX kernel supports the most of the V7 system calls.  That is
not to say it is equivelent to what we grew up with as Version 7.
MINIX does not swap (at least not the one I have).  Devices work
different.  In addition, although it probably is good for it's
intended purpose (teaching) they way it goes about doing certain
things makes it a bit slower than it needs to be.  In addition,
the vast amount of user mode code are subsets of the V7 programs or
not there at all.

Anyhow, RMS is right.  He shouldn't be re-implementing either V7 or
BSD.  If I just wanted to USE a UNIX-like operating system, I'd use
one of the ones currently available that already runs on my PC.
It's senseless duplication of effort. 

Since RMS is trying to bring about social change in computer use,
I doubt that reimplementing the past is going to help.  Systems
he has developed previously have become succesful because they
were novel and worthwile, not because they were given away free.
I'd rather see him blazing his way for the next generation than
forced to reimplement the same old stuff so a few lazy hackers
could have free source code to diddle with.

-Ron