Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!purdue!decwrl!ucbvax!agate!eos!eugene
From: eugene@eos.UUCP (Eugene Miya)
Newsgroups: comp.sw.components
Subject: Re: a comment on Using components (shorter)
Message-ID: <3594@eos.UUCP>
Date: 11 May 89 18:07:26 GMT
References: <11293@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU> <3579@eos.UUCP> <1080@ginosko.samsung.com>
Reply-To: eugene@eos.UUCP (Eugene Miya)
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Calif.
Lines: 45

A couple more thoughts (from sitting in a meeting) and a clarification:
Clarification:  oh, I forgot to mention the really neat thing I thought
about Unix software tools was they kept much of the library function
while also being executable programs.  There was the spline program
and the spine function.  Few systems do that, and it also lacks what
others call "user friendly interfaces"  in favor of getting the job done.

The thoughts:  I was thinking about tool (component success)
and these go for hardware as well as software:
1) very important is who gets out there first.
2) cost, cheap, free-ware
3) good reasonable quality

Sort of in this order.  Consider we are still using Fortran, Cobol, etc.
I contact Backus about once every 6 months and it totally amazes him
Fortran is still alive ;) (it's neat, one can ask him "why column major?"
and he comes back and says "Oh, 704 storage handling, easy to check ends of
rows in H/W.").  Witness the success of Convex being the first in that
market place (and FPS).  Being first defines the terminology, creates the
concept, sets the standards. (timing is important, too, you can be too far
ahead).

Cheap free software (hardware): that's how Unix made it $150 for the first
licenses to Universities.  I think Steve Jobs noted how powerful and incentive
this was.  Contrast that to certain LISP AI packages held by companies,
as well as specialized programs.  Can you imagine paying $100K for such
a package?  (Hope so, short of custom software.)  This BTW is what separates
CS from other sciences, no communications without cost.  If you want
to succeed, make it free or cheap, except...

It has to be reasonably well made.  The quality much be fairly good.
One hopes one does it right the first time.  Fortran had lots of "Oops!"
If its cheap maybe you won't be able to give it away.  If its big
and expensive, maybe too big.

Longish signature follows "Type 'n' now"

Another gross generalization from

--eugene miya, NASA Ames Research Center, eugene@aurora.arc.nasa.gov
  resident cynic at the Rock of Ages Home for Retired Hackers:
  "You trust the `reply' command with all those different mailers out there?"
  "If my mail does not reach you, please accept my apology."
  {ncar,decwrl,hplabs,uunet}!ames!eugene
  				Live free or die.