I have been lurking here for several months nw - just watching!!!
So - a few comments!!! And totally off-topic!!
A short time ago - (A mere 8 or 9 years) - a programer prided himself
in his ability to TOTALLY understand the machine for which his routine
was bound; in his ability to make his segment of code the smallest that
could be achieved. And last but not least that that segment of code was the
most efficient it could be in terms of cpu, memory, and of course i/o time and
utilisation.
He also made it possible that that small bit of code she/he had produced
was able to be used for a number of different but very similar functions -
such
that depending of what little bit of data you carried in and where you entered
or exited this wee segment of code - you got to use it's facilities...
Yes??? Who of you out there remember those days??
I rather suspect that there are not very many here at all who do...
So how about someone attempt to explain what changed!!!
The answer to that is so very simple - it used to be called Vision!!!
I beleive it really started in the Bell Labs way back there before
most of you were born.. I think they called it a transistor - Yes??
Then someone realised that if you patched a bunch of these transistor
thingies together and then buried them in a pot of something like bitumin
you could have something which was modular and could be joined
together with a bunch of other similarly constructed items to string
together a thing which eventually for some reason enabled a fellow
by the name of Armstrong to walk on the Moon. And some other mob
called Sony used these things to make a portable radio..
Also about the time that those Bell Labs people discovered their wee device,
a young couple somewhere else where experimenting in their new world
- the result of their experiments - in anyones' language - has made our world
of computers and technology what it is today!!!!
Come along - you who are bitching and carrying on about what Xyz Corp
should do for you - see if you can name that couple aforementioned and
what the result of their experimentation was!!!
You out there who Expect that a group of volunteers working almost in
isolation can produce perfect code everytime, which runs on every variety
of equipment - just think of the very small steps taken during these past
60 or so years.
Yes - folks Linux does have some holes. But I seem to remember a time
when not only Linux, but also Fortran, APL, LISP, PROLOG, SNA, Unix,
Xenix, Cobol, RPG, Algol, and even Basic - were declared full of holes
because the accountants didn't know what was involved in making them work!!!
If we wish to have an Operating System which does all for all then I guess
we should chose Windows and all of it's fishooks in the rapidly changing
hardware world.
If we wish to have an Operating System which does what we individually want
because we don't fit the same mould - then maybe a Unix - derivitive is for us
But let's face it folks - infinite flexibility - comes with a price !!! And
the price is
that you have to undestand that we are not all able to buy up the total of
the hardware available out there and marry it to your playstation !!!.
And last of all for all you males out there - Would someone please explain
A: What's a differential?
B. How's it work?
C. Why do we need it??
Cheers
