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From: cik@l.cc.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin)
Newsgroups: comp.arch,comp.lang.misc
Subject: Re: Universal OS (was Re: Survey of
Message-ID: <762@l.cc.purdue.edu>
Date: 26 Apr 88 12:08:30 GMT
References: <769@imagine.PAWL.RPI.EDU> <76700017@uiucdcsp> <843@actnyc.UUCP>
Organization: Purdue University Statistics Department
Lines: 28
Summary: This is very definitely not the case.

In article <843@actnyc.UUCP>, prh@actnyc.UUCP (Paul R. Haas) writes:

> The same should be true of computers.  A user should be able to use
> the same programming language(s), the same command language(s)
> (shell(s)) and the same window system(s) on all the computers that
> she uses.  The choice of language should be based on the problem to
> be solved and the person implimenting the solution.

Even when compilers are more intelligent than 99% of all programmers, this
is not true.  I believe that a fair language can be developed which is close
to universal, but it will have to be almost totally flexible.  However, even
the algorithm to solve a particular problem may have to be highly machine
dependent for any remotely reasonable efficiency.  The existence of a single
hardware instruction may affect the choice of algorithms greatly.  Thus, the
user needs to know about how machine capabilities affect performance.

We should now be striving for that flexibility.  It will help, but will not
solve the problem.  The language, shell, window, editor, etc. developers
should try to find out everything that a programming genius would consider
including (and do not rely on what one genius wants; ask everybody) and try
to include it _all_.  In addition, the (whatever) should be designed so that
any used can expand it easily, because I can not tell you today about the
feature which I will consider "obviously" needed tomorrow.
to find out ev

-- 
Herman Rubin, Dept. of Statistics, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette IN47907
Phone: (317)494-6054
hrubin@l.cc.purdue.edu (ARPA or UUCP) or hrubin@purccvm.bitnet