From: "Douglas A. Gwyn" <DAGwyn@null.net>
To: 9fans@cse.psu.edu
Subject: Re: Warning: Rant. Please disregard. [Was: Re: [9fans] Is IBM
Date: Wed, 16 May 2007 14:45:21 +0000 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <464B17FF.29ED9A81@null.net> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <4649EA4C.2050809@iontrading.com>
Dave Lukes wrote:
> Given a wonderful OS used by 10 people or a crap OS used by
> 10E6 people, I'll take the former.
The problem with that is that, except perhaps for research purposes,
an OS is not an end in itself, but rather a platform supporting
applications, which are what actually satisfy human needs.
As time goes on, the popular platforms acquire a large number
of apps that become ever more essential (PDF reader or MPG viewer,
for example). If the OS developer population is below some
critical mass, it can't keep up with such user requirements and
eventually the platform becomes in effect unusable for what have
become everyday needs. (There are similar problems in keeping up
with device driver support for new hardware.) Linux seems to
have reached the critical threshold, so it is "alive and well";
Plan9 seems to be well below that threshold, and has become
largely irrelevant, except perhaps as a testing ground for ideas
that may get adopted into more popular platforms.
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2007-05-16 14:45 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 55+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2007-05-12 8:43 Warning: Rant. Please disregard. [Was: Re: [9fans] Is IBM ThinkPad R60e notebook compatible with Plan9?] Vester Thacker
2007-05-12 14:36 ` Warning: Rant. Please disregard. [Was: Re: [9fans] Is IBM ThinkPad lucio
2007-05-12 21:56 ` Navin Johnson
2007-05-12 14:38 ` lucio
2007-05-15 17:13 ` Warning: Rant. Please disregard. [Was: Re: [9fans] Is IBM ThinkPad R60e notebook compatible with Plan9?] Dave Lukes
2007-05-16 4:10 ` Navin Johnson
2007-05-16 4:41 ` Warning: Rant. Please disregard. [Was: Re: [9fans] Is IBM lucio
2007-05-16 4:46 ` lucio
2007-05-16 7:29 ` Charles Forsyth
2007-05-16 12:00 ` Warning: Rant. Please disregard. [Was: Re: [9fans] Is IBM ThinkPad R60e notebook compatible with Plan9?] Robert Sherwood
2007-05-16 13:46 ` W B Hacker
2007-05-16 14:03 ` erik quanstrom
2007-05-16 14:56 ` Robert Sherwood
2007-05-16 17:54 ` Warning: Rant. Please disregard. [Was: Re: [9fans] Is IBM lucio
2007-05-16 18:38 ` Charles Forsyth
2007-05-16 18:42 ` lucio
2007-05-16 23:32 ` W B Hacker
2007-05-16 23:51 ` Uriel
2007-05-17 0:13 ` W B Hacker
2007-05-17 4:41 ` lucio
2007-05-17 11:34 ` W B Hacker
2007-05-17 18:01 ` lucio
2007-05-17 14:26 ` [9fans] Wearables john
2007-05-17 14:33 ` Gabriel Diaz
2007-05-17 14:33 ` David Leimbach
2007-05-17 15:20 ` john
2007-05-17 14:58 ` W B Hacker
2007-05-17 15:30 ` john
2007-05-17 16:38 ` W B Hacker
2007-05-17 15:24 ` ron minnich
2007-05-17 15:33 ` john
2007-05-17 16:00 ` Charles Forsyth
2007-05-17 16:14 ` ron minnich
2007-05-17 16:38 ` john
2007-05-17 16:45 ` Skip Tavakkolian
2007-05-17 16:51 ` W B Hacker
2007-05-17 17:04 ` Salva Peiró
2007-05-17 17:14 ` erik quanstrom
2007-05-17 17:18 ` ron minnich
2007-05-17 19:04 ` tlaronde
2007-05-17 17:24 ` Charles Forsyth
2007-05-17 18:43 ` Charles Forsyth
2007-05-17 18:07 ` lucio
2007-05-18 16:54 ` Warning: Rant. Please disregard. [Was: Re: [9fans] Is IBM Cranky Old Bat
2007-05-18 18:49 ` lucio
2007-05-18 18:58 ` Devon H. O'Dell
2007-05-18 19:32 ` David Leimbach
2007-05-18 19:35 ` ron minnich
2007-05-18 21:21 ` Skip Tavakkolian
2007-05-21 23:32 ` Enrico Weigelt
2007-05-18 19:54 ` Markus Sonderegger
2007-05-16 14:45 ` Douglas A. Gwyn [this message]
2007-05-17 14:32 ` Dave Lukes
2007-05-17 18:09 ` lucio
2007-05-18 12:36 ` Gorka Guardiola
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