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To: jiho@sierra.net, terry@cs.weber.edu
Subject: Re: gnumalloc
Cc: chuckr@Glue.umd.edu, freebsd-questions@freefall.FreeBSD.org
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|>  > It still amazes me that, although most UNI* machines are single-user
|>  > workstations, it doesn't occur to people to reconsider the notion that
|>  > workstations should carry all the baggage that only multi-user servers
|>  > actually require.  This one-size-fits-all approach has limited the 
|>  > appeal of UNI*.  (The hardware margins of workstation vendors, 
|>  > however, have attracted a fair amount of envy in the PC clone market, 
|>  > where everyone is counting on Windows 95 to prop things up.)
|>  
|>  I don't think people are advocating that, though there is sufficient
|>  "cruft" in the minimal distribution that could be pared out (ala the
|>  SCO system component installation paradigm) that it makes me wonder
|>  sometimes.

Actually, it has occurred to someone.  Sun is working on a setup
where the machine will have the minimum necessary to boot and talk
to the network.  Everything else it gets from a server and caches
locally using the cache filesystem.  This solves the problem that
a typical un*x workstation only uses about 20% of the files in the
distribution; but not necessarily the -same- 20%.  They are thinking
mostly in terms of laptops and other portable/nomadic machines; but
it is a reasonable setup for typical sessile workstations as well.
(Note that the cache survives re-boot, so locally cached files are
still available even if the machine is not connected to the network.)



-Pat