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Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!simtel!news.kei.com!news.mathworks.com!news2.near.net!howland.reston.ans.net!math.ohio-state.edu!usc!nic-nac.CSU.net!newshub.sdsu.edu!saturn!larryr From: larryr@saturn.sdsu.edu (Larry Riedel) Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Subject: Re: Slight flame from Linux user Date: 14 Jun 1995 05:34:36 GMT Organization: San Diego State University, College of Sciences Lines: 41 Message-ID: <3rlsdd$eoh@pandora.sdsu.edu> References: <3qq5i8$2jj@anshar.shadow.net> <3qqotb$sla@hamilton.maths.tcd.ie> <D9nMI9.Lys@midway.uchicago.edu> <D9pJBs.KG4@plato.ds.boeing.com> <GPALMER.95Jun7001333@westhill.cdrom.com> <3r4f25$c5j@hamilton.maths.tcd.ie> <3r9t63$31c@anshar.shadow.net> <3rboo0$q5j@hamilton.maths.tcd.ie> <3rg9jv$2qf@pandora.sdsu.edu> <3rhckp$3n6@hamilton.maths.tcd.ie> <3rhln0$55a@pandora.sdsu.edu> <3rkphc$ghm@bell.maths.tcd.ie> NNTP-Posting-Host: saturn.sdsu.edu X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] Timothy Murphy (tim@maths.tcd.ie) wrote: > larryr@saturn.sdsu.edu (Larry Riedel) writes: > > I have not seen anyone saying that "Unix is inherently more difficult > > than its rivals" - probably because that is a vacuous statement. > > Obviously you have not been reading this thread, > which was started by someone (in fact more than one person) > saying that Unix _was_ inherently difficult. I have read every article in this thread. Some people have made statements to the effect that Unix is inherently difficult, but I never said they didn't. I said that no one said that Unix is inherently MORE difficult THAN ITS RIVALS. I agree that Unix is inherently difficult when it is used for complex things, as is Windows NT or other OSes. I also agree that a DOS, Mac, or Windows 3.x system is not only difficult to configure to perform all the tasks that a Unix system can perform - it is virtually impossible. I have never heard of a DOS, Windows 3.x, or Mac system that can simultaneously function as a mail hub/router (SMTP+UUCP+POP), NFS and/or SMB server, IP gateway/firewall (serial or ethernet), DNS server, USENET server, WWW server, terminal server, printer server, and FTP server, but this and more can all be done on one Unix system, although it IS difficult to configure. Setting up a Windows NT box to do all these things is no easier than setting up a Unix box, if it can even be done at all right now with Windows NT. I think it is debatable that there currently are any real "rivals" of Unix, but I would say that at this point although configuring any system to do all these things is inherently difficult, it is LESS difficult on Unix than on any "rival." I also think it will continue to be easier to do complex things on Unix than other platforms - if developers for Unix continue the tradition of providing usable functionality, not novice-proof user interfaces, which has made Unix the standard OS for complex and critical applications and their development. Larry