From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Message-ID: <464C6776.1010807@iontrading.com> Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 15:32:22 +0100 From: Dave Lukes User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.10 (X11/20070403) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Fans of the OS Plan 9 from Bell Labs <9fans@cse.psu.edu> Subject: Re: Warning: Rant. Please disregard. [Was: Re: [9fans] Is IBM References: <32a656c20705120143x3d461611t5a5abe9378bc2a13@mail.gmail.com>, <4649EA4C.2050809@iontrading.com> <464B17FF.29ED9A81@null.net> In-Reply-To: <464B17FF.29ED9A81@null.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Topicbox-Message-UUID: 6a3ed52e-ead2-11e9-9d60-3106f5b1d025 Douglas A. Gwyn wrote: > 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. To be specific: the _percieved_ _needs_ of _it's_ user base. > As time goes on, the popular platforms acquire a large number of apps that > become ever more essential "Essential"? AFAIK the list of human "essentials" still only includes air, water, food, shelter and sex*. All the rest is window dressing. The above may sound facetious but is seriously intended: what your user community views as essential is down to that community, not down to some perceived need for global conformity. > (PDF reader or MPG viewer, for example). Why does one _need_ an mpg viewer? > 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. I refer to my formula-1 analogy. a Ferrari _is_ "in effect unusable for ... everyday needs", yet I hear no-one decrying the imminent demise of the brand. > (There are similar problems in keeping up with device driver support > for new hardware.) Again, by analogy, F-1 teams don't suffer from this problem. i.e. there are solutions to this, but they involve lots of money .... > 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. Hmmm ... Bit like a formula-1 car, really ... D. * and chocolate or course. ******************************************************************** This e-mail and files transmitted with it are confidential. If you have received this e-mail in error please notify us immediately by return email or telephone +44 (0)207398 0207. You are not authorised to, and must not, disclose, copy, distribute or retain this message or any part of it. ********************************************************************