Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: More notes from V.4.0 software developer conference (LONG)
Message-ID: <1988Oct6.183106.1110@utzoo.uucp>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <10421@tekecs.TEK.COM>
Date: Thu, 6 Oct 88 18:31:06 GMT

In article <10421@tekecs.TEK.COM> andrew@frip.gwd.tek.com (Andrew Klossner) writes:
>The philosophy of the V.4.0 source tape is that it provides a "menu" of
>software, and it's up to the OEM to select a subset (within the
>constraints of the SVID).  AT&T hopes that the market will narrow down
>to a core set of features/utilities, so they can slough off the
>remainder (e.g., they'd like to discard one of the three shells).

I trust everyone got a good laugh out of this.  The way to discard one
of the three shells is to discard it, now.  Same thing for the other stuff:
there will always be some diehard fraction of the user community that
really wants feature X to stay around.  Cleaning things up requires
biting the bullet and making such people unhappy, not postponing the
issue in hopes that they will go away.  The problem will only get worse
if all the alternatives are "officially supported".
-- 
The meek can have the Earth;    |    Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
the rest of us have other plans.|uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu