Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!ames!ncar!boulder!sunybcs!bingvaxu!leah!itsgw!imagine!pawl18.pawl.rpi.edu!jesup
From: jesup@pawl18.pawl.rpi.edu (Randell E. Jesup)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Universal OS (was Re: Survey of architectures)
Message-ID: <769@imagine.PAWL.RPI.EDU>
Date: 23 Apr 88 02:16:36 GMT
References: <2048@gumby.mips.COM> <10504@steinmetz.ge.com> <7657@ames.arpa> <21883@bu-cs.BU.EDU> <29301@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com>
Sender: news@imagine.PAWL.RPI.EDU
Reply-To: jesup@pawl18.pawl.rpi.edu (Randell E. Jesup)
Organization: RPI Public Access Workstation Lab - Troy, NY
Lines: 40

In article <29301@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com> chuck@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com (Charles Simmons) writes:
>In article <21883@bu-cs.BU.EDU> bzs@bu-cs.BU.EDU (Barry Shein) writes:
>>Computers exist within a techno-economic framework. Why doesn't
>>someone build the ultimate frob panel that will work as well for an
>>oscilloscope as a microwave oven or synchrotron? Is this a reasonable
>>question?

>First, I would question whether the original poster really
>cares about having a single machine implementation and a single
>instruction set.  My claim is that most people are not directly
>exposed to these aspects of a computer system and that they
>could really care less.

	Usually this is quite correct, most users only care if it runs the
software they want to use and how fast it does this.

>I see no inherent reason why standard
>versions of an operating system and language cannot and should
>not exist, except for the fact that no one has yet designed
>the perfect OS and language.

	The perfect OS is like the perfect car, or the perfect man/woman, or
....  What is "perfect" is HIGHLY dependant on ones point of view.  Hardware
plays a BIG role in OS design, what types of applications will be run under
it, what the resource constraints are, etc.  Even what should be considered
part of the "OS" is a highly debated point (see BSD vs SysV wars).

	This isn't to say that there is some amount of concensus (usually)
on the major features of a good OS, but even these are dependant on the use
it will be put to.  Note the differences between OS's of imbedded controllers,
multi-user computers, individual workstations, Lisp Machines used for AI, and
airline mainframes.  There are reasons for the differences.

	I won't even think of touching the perfect language question.  I
don't want a mailbox with 50Meg of mail in it.  :-)

     //	Randell Jesup			      Lunge Software Development
    //	Dedicated Amiga Programmer            13 Frear Ave, Troy, NY 12180
 \\//	beowulf!lunge!jesup@steinmetz.UUCP    (518) 272-2942
  \/    (uunet!steinmetz!beowulf!lunge!jesup) BIX: rjesup
(-: The Few, The Proud, The Architects of the RPM40 40MIPS CMOS Micro :-)