Unbundling System V

BALDWIN mike at whuxl.UUCP
Thu Dec 27 10:17:45 AEST 1984


[Re: IWB]
> Even if you're outside AT&T?  The initial announcement of IWB was most
> definitely binary-only; if this has changed since, it hasn't been well
> publicised.
The initial announcement was binary only, but I asked the man if IWB
source was available to people outside of AT&T, and he said, "Yes."

-----

[Re: unbundling software]
> That's the way *who* sells operating systems?
IBM, DEC, etc, etc; you name it.  When you buy VMS, you think you get
everything with it?  Think again!  You buy C, Pascal, PL/I, Basic, FMS,
Bliss, etc, etc, all SEPARATE.  Others are the same deal.  You actually think
it's reasonable to sell every bit of UNIX software on one tape for one price?
And one of the main reasons UNIX became popular because it was "given" to
universities (which is still is).

> It's a sad day when UNIX is perceived as a monolithic system.
> For you newcomers, UNIX was conceived as a reaction *against* monolithic
> systems; it is a tribute to USG/USDL/...'s destructive power that they
> have made System V a monolithic system or at least made some people see
> it that way.
What are you talking about?  How is System V monolithic?  What has
USG/USDL/* destroyed?

> As System V is unbundled, I haven't noticed the price of the base system
> dropping, only the creation of expensive ``work-benches'' which are simply
> old code that's been hacked over by USG/USDL/...
The price does go up.  But the code has been packaged and new stuff added;
pic, S, basic, 68k sgs, 5620 (blit) are "old code"?  Just wondering, is price
the only disagreement there is with unbundling?
								Michael Baldwin



More information about the Comp.unix.wizards mailing list