A/UX concerns

[Jim Jagielski]

Hell, I might as well put my 2 cents worth in...

In article <8570 at etsu.CMI.COM> kevinh at cmi.com (Kevin Hegg) writes:
}Mark Bartelt writes                                             
}   My real concern is more general than just a complaint about A/UX's cc.
}   I get the feeling that Apple doesn't really have much of a commitment
}   to UNIX.  Ten or so years ago, DEC had a small (tiny!), but talented....
}
}I am also concerned about Apple's commitment to Unix. They are very much 
}behind the rest of the Unix community.

Well, I wouldn't say that they are "very much behind" the others. True, A/UX
is based on V.2, but it DOES have alot of the functionality of V.3 due to
its "enhancements." I personally believe that if worked on a straight V.2
or V.3 machine (or straight BSD), you'd miss some of A/UX's perks. IMHO
A/UX is a very nice merging of the two systems with minimal fuss. As a point
of record, AIX (IBM RISC UNIX :) also is a nice marriage; I don't like the MIPS
approach which is simply to have two sets (AT&T and BSD) of libraries,
executables, etc...

I LIKE the MacOS interface, so as far as GUI's are concerned, I feel that Apple
is at-the-least trying to keep pace. Although it is true that many GUI's are
very jazzy (SGI for one) in a lot of way's it's a personal preference.

}                                       The feeling I get from Apple these 
}days is "Don't worry, we know whats best for you". That attitude is fine 
}when you can keep pace with the rest of the community. However, over the 
}last couple of years Apple seems less and less capable of doing this.  

As far as A/UX is concerned, I think that they fulfilled A LOT of wishes with
2.0. I DO wish that Apple had higher-powered platforms, so in this case, they
are lagging behind the other Unix boxes.

}
}Another concern I have is Apple's suppresion of information on Mach for 
}the Mac. Here's what I have heard. CMU ported Mach to all Mac II's except 
}the ci and fx. Apple took it from there and is possibly negotiating with 
}mt. xinu for distribution rights. OK Apple, what are you going to do? Are 
}we going to see a commercial product with Mach? If not, how about relaxing 
}your stranglehold on Mach. 

Yeah, it's hard to remember that this is the same company that included the
entire ROM code of the Apple][ IN THE MANUAL! And just look at OnBoard...

}
}I started using the Mac about 6 years ago because you could feel that it 
}was going to have a strong impact on the computer world. It was fun to be 
}involved with something that was towards the leading edge. I think a lot 
}of people gravitated towards the Mac for this reason. I think a lot of 
}people will gravitate away from the Mac if this ceases to be true. Solving 
}problems that the rest of the Unix community has already solved doesn't 
}top my list of fun things to do. I don't mean to make this an Apple 
}bashing session. There are a lot of things that I like about Macs. I still 
}use the Mac as my primary computer, but I find myself using other ones 
}more and more.    

Well, there are times when I need more performance too, and that's when I hit
a SGI or VAX or whatever. But I also use my Mac (running A/UX) for about
98% of my work... Once the 68040 Mac comes out, that should be close to 100%.
Hard to believe that I've got the equivalent of several 780's on my desk and
just a few years ago (okay, maybe 7 or so) I thought the speed of a VAX was
incredible! Man, I remember running Unix on a PDP-11/45 (64K, of course :)
and LOVING it!

What "problems" that have been solved in the community but not on the Mac
are you speaking about? If you mention them then:

   1. The may have been fixed, either by Apple or elsewhere and therefore
      be available to you

   2. The problem will be known and then it can be worked on

Have you tried porting stuff to the IBM-6000? Or Next? In ALL cases, there will
be problems that need to be resolved and other cases which shouldn't even
be problems... alas, nothing's perfect.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not an Apple employee in disguise :). I wish that
the Macs were cheaper and faster and more powerful. Not everything that Apple
does sits well with me. But, God Help Me, I really enjoy my Mac and I am
impressed with A/UX. Yeah, I got a "wish list" of improvements and a list
of "grudges", but I'd have that with ANY machine. But, I choose my Mac. I
simply like it. It does what I want, the way I want and doesn't get in my
way too often... for me, that's enough.


Boy oh boy... am I gonna get feedback about this :):):)
--
=======================================================================
#include <std/disclaimer.h>
                                 =:^)
           Jim Jagielski                    NASA/GSFC, Code 711.1
     jim at jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov               Greenbelt, MD 20771

"Exploding is a perfectly normal medical phenomenon. In many fields of
 medicine nowadays, a dose of dynamite can do a world of good."