On 11 Sep 2000, Gary Lawrence Murphy wrote:
> >>>>> "H" == Horst von Brand <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>
> H> In the end, this is Linus' game. If you want to play, you'll
> H> have to pay the admission price he sets.
>
> Is it fair to ask about the purpose of Linux?
>
> The purpose I most often hear talks about world domination and about
> having the best O/S on the maximum number of platforms, with appeals
> to "open source" to ensure quality control and technical progress.
> That goal says nothing about the grain of the wood or the vanity of
> the carpenter. It is all about being of service to a greater social
> good. Maybe I misunderstood.
>
> The analogy to typing hex codes or toggling code at the console is
> also apt. Unix ascended over Multix in no small part because of C,
> which drew sneers from the trad programmer of the day. Personally, I
That's "Multics" and while I agree that C is nicer than PL/I, the latter
is _not_ an assembler or autocode. Multics was written in HLL.
As for the "greater social good" (or world domination, for that matter)
- excuse me, but quite a few of us couldn't care less. It's a decent UNIX,
there is a lot of things making that kernel more interesting than other
ones and it's fun to work on. FSF is -> that way, if you need the "social
good" crap - take Hurd and enjoy the featuritis-ridden bloatware.
-
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