From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.0 required=5.0 tests=MAILING_LIST_MULTI autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Received: (qmail 32697 invoked from network); 5 Feb 2023 10:43:29 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (50.116.15.146) by inbox.vuxu.org with ESMTPUTF8; 5 Feb 2023 10:43:29 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [IPv6:::1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2CA4440A78; Sun, 5 Feb 2023 20:43:20 +1000 (AEST) Received: from lists.tip.net.au (pasta.tip.net.au [203.10.76.2]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 5E47B40A62 for ; Sun, 5 Feb 2023 20:43:08 +1000 (AEST) Received: from [192.168.1.5] (ppp118-208-189-220.cbr-trn-nor-bras39.tpg.internode.on.net [118.208.189.220]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by mailhost.tip.net.au (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 4P8mDq6pWrz9QDn; Sun, 5 Feb 2023 21:42:34 +1100 (AEDT) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Mime-Version: 1.0 (Mac OS X Mail 12.4 \(3445.104.21\)) From: steve jenkin In-Reply-To: Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2023 21:42:31 +1100 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Message-Id: References: To: TUHS X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.3445.104.21) Message-ID-Hash: PSODAYQJGPTZFNOUZGIXKANBYHDKCHO5 X-Message-ID-Hash: PSODAYQJGPTZFNOUZGIXKANBYHDKCHO5 X-MailFrom: sjenkin@canb.auug.org.au X-Mailman-Rule-Misses: dmarc-mitigation; no-senders; approved; emergency; loop; banned-address; member-moderation; header-match-tuhs.tuhs.org-0; nonmember-moderation; administrivia; implicit-dest; max-recipients; max-size; news-moderation; no-subject; digests; suspicious-header CC: Bakul Shah X-Mailman-Version: 3.3.6b1 Precedence: list Subject: [TUHS] Re: Proper use of TUHS (was Re: Typesetter C compiler) List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list Archived-At: List-Archive: List-Help: List-Owner: List-Post: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: > On 4 Feb 2023, at 04:45, Bakul Shah wrote: >=20 > We still seem to be in the =E2=80=9CCambrian explosion=E2=80=9D phase > where every new complex system is a new species. You just perfectly described the computing world before 1965 & IBM=E2=80=99= s 360. A range with 10x - 20x (? recall failure) of compatible models. This was repeated with microprocessors - at each =E2=80=98process step=E2=80=99, one clock frequency option = for many years. Can=E2=80=99t recall who invented the range of CPU options we now have: server, desktop, laptop, tablet and =E2=80=98embedded=E2=80=99 Might=E2=80=99ve been two variants of 486, can=E2=80=99t recall. There was a tower of babel with Networking for decades, first the physical layer, then the packet layer,=20 then network / protocol layer. We ended up with cat-5/6 twisted pair as the most common physical layer (with RJ-45=E2=80=99), async packets framed with Ethernet, running IP protocols over the network layer. =E2=80=9CInternetwork=E2=80=9D is a give away in the name =E2=80=9CI.P.=E2= =80=9D. This, despite IBM & Microsoft=E2=80=99s (& others) considerable efforts = otherwise. Mature markets require =E2=80=9CStandard=E2=80=9D parts / services, so consumers can mix-n-match as they wish. Standards facilitate =E2=80=9Csubstitutes=E2=80=9D & competition = necessary to generate low-margin, high-volume commodity markets. By definition, commodity markets trade =E2=80=9Cfungible goods=E2=80=9D destined for consumers. So many of these, hard to list. Standards - where manufacturers agree on common designs - only appear when manufacturers agree they=E2=80=99ve a common interest in building =E2=80=9Cvolume=E2=80=9D, not locking customers in. This happened very early with bipolar TTL logic. Smart phones are mostly Linux / Android, with Apple still able to sell non-commodity designs at premium prices. Remember Microsoft=E2=80=99s foray, via Nokia, into Mobiles? =E2=80=9CPocket PC=E2=80=9D and =E2=80=9CWindows Mobile=E2=80=9D / = Windows Phone: Crashed and burned. Even Nokia, then largest phone seller, with the proven Symbian O/S, failed against Android. -- Steve Jenkin, IT Systems and Design=20 0412 786 915 (+61 412 786 915) PO Box 38, Kippax ACT 2615, AUSTRALIA mailto:sjenkin@canb.auug.org.au http://members.tip.net.au/~sjenkin