Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!hplabs!nsc!glennw
From: glennw@nsc.nsc.com (Glenn Weinberg)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Standard Un*x H/W architecture (was: MAC 88000)
Summary: The level of standardization is important
Keywords: Standards
Message-ID: <5230@nsc.nsc.com>
Date: 18 Jul 88 20:18:12 GMT
References: <11956@ames.arc.nasa.gov>
Reply-To: glennw@nsc.UUCP (Glenn Weinberg)
Organization: National Semiconductor, Sunnyvale
Lines: 30

In article <11956@ames.arc.nasa.gov> lamaster@ames.arc.nasa.gov.UUCP (Hugh LaMaster) writes:
>One may just as well ask:  Why only 50Hz and 60 Hz power (and wouldn't one
>standard be even better?) ?  Why not have every appliance use its optimal
>frequency - maybe 47 Hz is ideal for drills, 53 Hz for washing machines.

Yes, all drills and washing machines (in the U.S.--let's leave the
international voltage disputes for another day!) run on 115V 60Hz
(approximately).  But does that mean that they all must have the same
motor, or even the same kind of motor?  As long as the motor runs on
standard voltage (and a manufacturer could, of course, add a transformer
if so desired) and drives the appliance, who cares about the motor's
architecture?  For that matter, should a 1/4" "handyman" drill have
the same type of motor as a 1/2" commercial-duty drill?  Does a drill
have the same type of motor as a washing machine, or a nuclear power
plant circulating pump?

The point is that, generally, standardization makes sense only within a
narrowly defined range of function and performance.  If you try to
standardize over too wide a range, you end up with something that satisfies
no one.  Bringing the analogy back to Un*x, one of the attractions of Un*x
is that it runs on a wide range of machines.  If you think of the PC as
a drill, a mini as a washing machine, and a Cray as a circulating pump,
you can also see why it may not make sense for all these different
machines to have a single architecture.

Now I realize that drills, washing machines and nuclear power plants don't
have the same intercommunication needs as Un*x boxes, but I think that's
just a complicating issue, not an overriding one.
-- 
Glenn Weinberg					Email: glennw@nsc.nsc.com
National Semiconductor Corporation		Phone: (408) 721-8102
(My opinions are strictly my own, but you can borrow them if you want.)