From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 To: 9fans@cse.psu.edu From: "Douglas A. Gwyn" Message-ID: <3A8A2443.E49CAF52@null.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit References: <20010214014018.3E196199D5@mail.cse.psu.edu>, <20939.982115789@dstc.edu.au> Subject: Re: [9fans] hardware acceleration Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2001 09:41:19 +0000 Topicbox-Message-UUID: 6328d388-eac9-11e9-9e20-41e7f4b1d025 George Michaelson wrote: > ... I used to wonder how ls in UNIX could tell the input wasn't a tty > and decide not to columnate the listing, ... Actually that is still a sore point with many of us -- UNIX "ls" did *not* automatically columnate its output if it was attached to a tty; that was added in some version of BSD. A difference in a utility's operation based on what is sensed about the environment is exactly opposite of the direction Plan 9 headed in. I have to say, it would be a real pity to tailor Plan 9 very much to accommodate the vagaries of the hodge-podge known as the "PC architecture". Video cards designed to support Quake aren't the only approach to graphics, nor ultimately the best. The more one ties fundamental aspects of a system to today's commercial junk, the less its long-term influence on computing.