Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!nuchat!flatline!sugar!peter
From: peter@sugar.UUCP (Peter da Silva)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: The GNU Manifesto
Message-ID: <1447@sugar.UUCP>
Date: 9 Feb 88 19:37:24 GMT
References: <153@mozart.UUCP> <1351@sugar.UUCP> <9591@tekecs.TEK.COM> <9670@tekecs.TEK.COM>
Organization: Sugar Land UNIX - Houston, TX
Lines: 46

In article <9670@tekecs.TEK.COM>, snoopy@doghouse.gwd.tek.com (Snoopy) writes:
> In article <1393@sugar.UUCP> peter@sugar.UUCP (Peter da Silva) writes:
> >What's your machine, that you run GNUmacs on? A 3b2 or equivalent?
> 
> A Tek 6130.  NS32016 @10MHz, MMU (16MB virtual process limit), FPU,
> 3MB RAM, 40MB disk, color bit-mapped integrated display, screaming tape...

A 3b2 or equivalent.

> >A home computer should cost no more than a small fraction of the price of
> >a small car. I'll amend my statement to read that GNU can not run on any
> >machine that any significant numbers of individuals can hope to own.

> Priced cars lately?  :-(  Prices for machines powerful enough to run GNU
> are dropping.

A small car bottoms out at about 6 grand. A home computer should not cost more
than 2 grand, and ideally should be under the magic $1000 mark.

> >The IBM-PC is the cheapest machine you can run UNIX on... and even then the
> >UNIX is way too bloated. Let me tell you a story... once upon a time there was
> >a good little operating system named Version 7...
> 
> (a) The IBM-PC doesn't have memory management. (b) The hardware can be
> *destroyed* by software.  Totally unacceptable.

It's acceptable to the people running MS-DOS. Version 7 isn't Sun/OS, but
it's orders of magnitude better than anything these poor souls have to work
with.

> MINIX is supposed to be ~v7.  Put MINIX on a 386 machine, do a bit of
> work on it and you might have something.

MINIX isn't terribly real. It's realler than GNU (after all, it's out :->),
but it's got a small fraction of V7, and it's buggy. Comes from having
everything handled by messages.

And, of course, one of my main points is that an 8088 running real UNIX is
already something. I've used it, and I'd rather have it than an 80386 running
Minix.

Doesn't anyone else think there's room for a small, tight, well-crafted
operating system any more?
-- 
-- Peter da Silva  `-_-'  ...!hoptoad!academ!uhnix1!sugar!peter
-- Disclaimer: These U aren't mere opinions... these are *values*.