From owner-freebsd-chat Fri Nov 30 21: 1:44 2001 Delivered-To: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Received: from y3k.shacknet.nu (ts6m-pool0-112.gti.net [208.216.115.112]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 954D637B41A for ; Fri, 30 Nov 2001 21:01:40 -0800 (PST) Received: from shacknet.nu (localhost.gti.net [127.0.0.1]) by y3k.shacknet.nu (8.11.6/8.11.6) with SMTP id fB158aY35810; Sat, 1 Dec 2001 00:08:37 -0500 (EST) (envelope-from y3k@gti.net) Received: from 208.216.115.112 (SquirrelMail authenticated user mark) by y3k.shacknet.nu with HTTP; Sat, 1 Dec 2001 00:08:37 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <4237.208.216.115.112.1007183317.squirrel@y3k.shacknet.nu> Date: Sat, 1 Dec 2001 00:08:37 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Feeding the Troll (Was: freebsd as a desktop ?) From: "Mark Yeck" To: anthony@freebie.atkielski.com In-Reply-To: <020c01c178a1$bea114e0$0a00000a@atkielski.com> References: <020c01c178a1$bea114e0$0a00000a@atkielski.com> Cc: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG X-Mailer: SquirrelMail (version 1.0.6) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Sender: owner-freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk List-ID: List-Archive: (Web Archive) List-Help: (List Instructions) List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: X-Loop: FreeBSD.org [moved to freebsd-chat] > Mark writes: > >> Being purpose-built isnt in and of itself a >> technical advantage ... > > I disagree. All else being equal, a purpose-built system is always > superior to a generalized system. This is not always true. A popular topic in engineering circles these days is Design Reuse. There are many advantages to modify a proven system to meet the requirements of a similar task, or using proven elements of an existing system in a new system, over designing a purpose built system completely from scratch. >> ... and it could be argued that it's offset >> by the fact that UNIX was on the desktop years >> before Windows existed. > > Being around for years has nothing to do with technical suitability for > a specific purpose. Mere existance for a longer time means nothing, of course, but constant refinement over a longer period time is a definate advantage. I'm not sure of the exact length of time, but my estimates are that UNIX has been on the desktop for at least 13 years, Windows for about 8 and Windows NT for about 6. >> As far as I can recall, the only strictly technical >> arguement you've offered was the tighter integration >> with the hardware (mostly for games). > > Plus a single-user design, and native GUI support. I've never seen an advantage for the end user due to either of these. -mark To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message