Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!amdahl!pacbell!hoptoad!peora!rtmvax!bilver!jwt!john From: john@jwt.UUCP (John Temples) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: Why unix doesn't catch on Message-ID: <256@jwt.UUCP> Date: 9 Apr 89 16:54:29 GMT References: <7632@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> Reply-To: john@jwt.UUCP (John Temples) Organization: John W. Temples, III -- Orlando, FL Lines: 36 In article <7632@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> C. Antonio Romero writes: >Well, for one thing, not all Unixes come with C compilers. I suppose >one could require that they did, but this would swell the size of Unix. True, but I can't imagine anyone having something as powerful as Unix without having a C compiler to go with it. It seems like a waste. >Also, I see problems with people having enough disk space to handle all >the object files, libraries, etc. The object files and libraries can be deleted after you're done compiling. >Third, if you're a developer, do you want to be sending the source for >that really nifty proprietary whatever you're selling all over Gimpel Software is making their PC-Lint product available in something called "shrouded source". It lets you compile the software on your target machine, without being able to make sense of the source code. I don't know how viable this technique is, but it seems like it could have possibilities. >We all hear horror stories about how resource-intensive OS/2 is, and I don't know how resource intensive OS/2 is, but I doubt it's any more so than 386 Unix. I would consider 4MB of RAM and an 80 MB drive as a _minimum_ configuration under which to run 386 Unix with DOS Merge as a single user platform. Yes, it will run in less, but not at what I would consider acceptable performance. But in this era of cheap hardware, I don't see minor differences in resource requirements as being a basis on which to compare operating systems. Trying to criticize an operating system like Unix or OS/2 because it requires more resources than a monitor program like DOS is silly. I use Unix whenever I can, DOS as little as possible, and I've never touched OS/2. But I'm not going to say that Unix is "better" than the other two. It suits my needs, that's why I use it. Everyone should use the OS that best suits their needs. -- John Temples - UUCP: {uiucuxc,hoptoad,petsd}!peora!rtmvax!bilver!jwt!john