Of my contention that Sequence Numbers (SNs) are obsolete, Edward Jeffe
writes:
| This is just not true! There is nothing obsolete about the use of sequence
numbers when creating | an SMP/E usermod. With this technology, it's
possible to write a modification to the behavior of a
| program without distributing the entire program. This does two important
things: a) it decouples
| the modification from past and future updates (enhancements, bug fixes,
etc.) that might be
| made to the module by its owner (e.g., IBM) and b) allows distribution of
such modifications via
| public fora or other similar public channel without violation of the
owner's copyright.
I am not quite sure how to respond.
Usermods cannot in my experience be decoupled from future modifications at
all automatically. It is of course possible to preserve one or many of them
by taking explicit, often ugly steps to do so; but that is a very different
matter.
I am as aware as EJ is of the historical use that has been made of SNs to
maintain source programs, and I mentioned this role for them explicitly in
the post he comments upon. We differ about the desirability of continuing
to use them. So be it.
John Gilmore
Ashland, MA 01721-1817
USA
_________________________________________________________________
FREE pop-up blocking with the new MSN Toolbar get it now!
http://toolbar.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200415ave/direct/01/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO
Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
