Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2021 21:35:40 -0600 From: Bob Melson <melson.r@att.net> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: OS to replace FreeBSD Message-ID: <645921e7-a119-3a8d-9679-31441c33ddab@att.net> In-Reply-To: <20210320005341.19ae7728abc9ebf1eb48b895@sohara.org> References: <20210319101040.00005c35@seibercom.net> <CA%2BD9QhsjLtVui6exPDyG2CO5H8X-=YckFjCehHusG7eH_kk2sg@mail.gmail.com> <6054BE1B.50706@gmail.com> <20210319130249.000042a1@seibercom.net> <5a8cf0be-646a-a433-2428-9700a47c1bf0@att.net> <20210319140448.00007521@seibercom.net> <c9ca4862-199a-5c6b-1282-18cc32d3486f@johnea.net> <20210319213214.4f8ddf55@archlinux> <CAGBxaXnwqXMBjp0i6Qd6SzbjCq13wFPOo1mjMUucNKw%2BPC1KFw@mail.gmail.com> <259fba3aa7665be79a056fb9f5bc1825@riseup.net> <CAGBxaXnbovsb7g9OghJ5g70zcDROuFV1YWmgMtG3ipDuU19Ngg@mail.gmail.com> <20210320005341.19ae7728abc9ebf1eb48b895@sohara.org>
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On 3/19/21 6:53 PM, Steve O'Hara-Smith wrote: > On Fri, 19 Mar 2021 19:41:09 -0400 > Aryeh Friedman <aryeh.friedman@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Unix was not designed for end users, it was designed by technical people >> for other technical people doing technical work (development and other >> infrastructure related tasks). > > The first major role for Unix was a document preparation system at > AT&T which is the reason for troff, eqn et al which are what remains of > "Documenter's Workbench". So you are incorrect, unix was originally > designed for end users - it's just that end users have become less > sophisticated over the decades. > I've forgotten the guy's name, but one of the researchers at AT&T wrote a couple of books about "tiny" languages/tools and made the point that Unix was designed to make use of them, usually in a pipeline - the output of one tool feeds into the input of the next, whose output feeds the input of next+1, etc., each tool in the pipeline being designed to do one thing well Still, granted that the technology of the time was limited to black and white character only terminals, it's unsurprising that Unix began as a command-line oriented OS - it was the only game in town until DEC, Xerox and Silicon Graphics introduced (independently?) usable GUIs and the X Consortium was formed - I want to say this occurred in the late 70s/early 80s, but won't bet the farm. But a funny thing happened on the way to today: the GUIs matured and spawned imitators and competitors and X11/X86 matured to the the point that there's scarcely an OS out there that doesn't sport a GUI of greater or lesser sophistication. As well, from within the graphical desktop, you can call a terminal emulator that provides access to the command line without requiring that you leave the graphical environment and while also running graphics heavy applications like LibreOffice or cad/cam software or a web-browser in separate windows/workspaces. So, just because Unix began as a command-line oriented OS, with a plethora of useful single task tools, doesn't mean it has remained static or mired in its command-line beginnings. This whole conversation has become a big-endian vs little-endian contest that serves no useful purpose beyond the airing of personal animosities. Neither side is absolutely correct or absolutely wrong. The OP - Jerry - is concerned about a possibly fatal bug in FBSD12 that has gone uncorrected for - maybe - too long and is considering dumping FreeBSD for something else that may or may not solve his problem. Personally, I think his reasoning is suspect but it's his decision to make. Others, not unreasonably, have suggested that he attempt to work around the problem, though I find their language condescending and abrasive in the extreme. -- Robert G. Melson | Dept of Paleocomputing, Whatsamatta U | El Paso, TX -- Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open. Sir James Dewar
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