Re: LINUX is obsolete Linux Inside
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Re: LINUX is obsolete

 In article <1992Feb5.145630.759@wpi.WPI.EDU> entropy@wintermute.WPI.EDU (Lawrence C. Foard) writes:
 > Actually my main problem with OS theorists is that they have never tested
 > there ideas!
 
 I beg to differ... there are many microkernel operating systems out there
 for everything from an 8088 (QNX) up to large research systems.
 
 > None of these ideas (with a partial exception for MACH) has ever
 > seen the light of day. 32 bit home computers have been available for almost a
 > decade and Linus was the first person to ever write a working OS for them
 > that can be used without paying AT&T $100,000.
 
 I must have been imagining AmigaOS, then. I've been using a figment of my
 imagination for the past 6 years.
 
 AmigaOS is a microkernel message-passing design, with better response time
 and performance than any other readily available PC operating system: including
 MINIX, OS/2, Windows, MacOS, Linux, UNIX, and *certainly* MS-DOS.
 
 The microkernel design has proven invaluable. Things like new file systems
 that are normally available only from the vendor are hobbyist products on
 the Amiga. Device drivers are simply shared libraries and tasks with specific
 entry points and message ports. So are file systems, the window system, and
 so on. It's a WONDERFUL design, and validates everything that people have
 been saying about microkernels. Yes, it takes more work to get them off the
 ground than a coroutine based macrokernel like UNIX, but the versatility
 pays you back many times over.
 
 I really wish Andy would do a new MINIX based on what has been learned since
 the first release. The factoring of responsibilities in MINIX is fairly poor,
 but the basic concept is good.
 
 > The general consensus that Micro kernels is the way to go means nothing when
 > a real application has never even run on one.
 
 I'm dreaming again. I sure throught Deluxe Paint, Sculpt 3d, Photon Paint,
 Manx C, Manx SDB, Perfect Sound, Videoscape 3d, and the other programs I
 bought for my Amiga were "real". I'll have to send the damn things back now,
 I guess.
 
 The availability of Linux is great. I'm delighted it exists. I'm sure that
 the macrokernel design is one reason it has been implemented so fast, and this
 is a valid reason to use macrokernels. BUT... this doesn't mean that
 microkernels are inherently slow, or simply research toys.
 -- 
 -- Peter da Silva,  Ferranti International Controls Corporation
 -- Sugar Land, TX  77487-5012;  +1 713 274 5180
 -- "Have you hugged your wolf today?"