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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.mira.net.au!vic.news.telstra.net!act.news.telstra.net!psgrain!newsfeed.internetmci.com!uwm.edu!newsspool.doit.wisc.edu!night.primate.wisc.edu!nntp.msstate.edu!cssun.mathcs.emory.edu!cc.gatech.edu!joshuam From: joshuam@cc.gatech.edu (Joshy) Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.development.system,comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc,comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.os.linux.advocacy Subject: Re: Historic Opportunity facing Free Unix (was Re: The Lai/Baker paper, benchmarks, and the world of free UNIX) Date: 26 Apr 1996 15:48:37 -0400 Organization: The Zany Adventures Of Max And His Python Crimp Lines: 39 Message-ID: <4lr9al$jea@felix.cc.gatech.edu> References: <NELSON.96Apr15010553@ns.crynwr.com> <yfgbuktfn1w.fsf@time.cdrom.com> <4l89ov$g5i@river.biddeford.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: felix.cc.gatech.edu NNTP-Posting-User: joshuam Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.os.linux.development.system:22453 comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc:861 comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc:3545 comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc:3405 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:18253 comp.os.linux.advocacy:47269 Why Free Unix should be on the desktop: Free Unix has these features A fast filesystem A flat memory model with a good virtual memory system true 32bit multitasking fantastic networking support lots of development utilites a completely crash proof kernel a future on SMP motherboards except for maybe the development utilites all of these are things that are needed in a good desktop operating system. Especially the multitaksing and memory systems. All of these features are the basic building blocks to a good desktop system. All it needs is a way to tie them together in a useful and easy to use interface. This is also the problem with Free Unix. No one wants to (or is able to) tie these together. I've noticed that most linux geeks are perfectly happy to write a device driver for a new kind of network card but no one wants to write a good font system for using in a wordprocessor. Until the focus of Free Unix shifts from hardware support to software support the taking of the desktop will eternally be on the horizon. Take a look at www.be.com They have all of the features I mentioned above but they aren't hardware centric. They have a cool motherboard but they plan to run the BeOS on whatever hardware people want. The Be big advantage is that they are taking all of the technological advances of the past two decades and re-evaluating how they should be put together under one common interface. They've made their system tightly integrated yet very open for anyone to add to use. If any unix like derivative will take over the desktop, it will likely be Be. -joshy -- Joshy - wide eyed innocent a CS major who can cook