Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!uxc!garcon!garcon.cso.uiuc.edu!grunwald From: grunwald@flute.cs.uiuc.edu Newsgroups: comp.arch Subject: Re: How does the i860 compare as a Message-ID: Date: 28 Mar 89 04:43:53 GMT References: <222551@<1989Mar25> <46500057@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu> Sender: news@garcon.cso.uiuc.edu Organization: University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Lines: 25 In-reply-to: mcdonald@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu's message of 27 Mar 89 16:37:00 GMT In article <46500057@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu> mcdonald@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu writes: .... Resolved: Layered software functionality is sluggish, and therefore undesirable. I'd state it as `layered software sacrifices speed for portability, and therefore keep CPU architecture employed.' While Henry Spencer is correct in stating that the Blit software was responsive, I'll bet you ducks to donkeys that: + it only runs on Blits + it can't run over a network, like X + it probably didn't handle color + it's not used anymore The advantage of ``layered software,'' like X windows or PHIGS is that you can have a reasonable amount of sucesss in porting from brand X to brand Y equipment. -- Dirk Grunwald Univ. of Illinois grunwald@flute.cs.uiuc.edu