Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!mcvax!hp4nl!eutrc3!rcst8
From: rcst8@eutrc3.UUCP (Pieter Schoenmakers)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Operating Systems (Re: archimedes)
Keywords: Archimedes, OS
Message-ID: <372@eutrc3.UUCP>
Date: 16 Nov 88 07:46:37 GMT
References: <1216@dutesta.UUCP> <2212@ficc.uu.net>
Reply-To: rcst8@eutrc3.UUCP (Pieter Schoenmakers)
Organization: Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands
Lines: 25

In article <2212@ficc.uu.net> Peter da Silva writes: [about Archimedes]
>
>No, it really doesn't have an operating system. It has what's called a DOS:
>a Disk Operating System. The man distinction between the two is that a DOS
>really only manages one resource: the disk. It provides minimal memory and
>device management, but no CPU manager (scheduler). I understand the newer
>versons of the system have a scheduler kludged into the window system (rather
>like certain other personal micros).
>

( I know this usegroup is not the right place to discuss Archimedes, but -alas-
  I'll cross the line. )

You're wrong! If you want to see an example of a DOS, look at MS-DOS. It
manages the disks and does some screen (and other) IO, but the latter is so
``good'' that almost all programs choose to do all the rest of the IO
themselves. Conclusion MS-DOS isn't nice.
   The Archimedes' OS (called Arthur) provides __EVERYTHING__ what could
be expected from an OS __without multitasking__. It does provide the device-
and memory-management you apparently want. You're saying that a computer
without multitasking doesn't have an OS! That's nonsense.

greetings,

---Tiggr