From: utzoo!decvax!wivax!linus!genradbo!mitccc!zrm
Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards
Title: Re: Is Unix Really This Bad?
Article-I.D.: mitccc.419
Posted: Thu Mar  3 09:57:01 1983
Received: Tue Mar  8 02:15:30 1983
References: rlgvax.1132

What has kept Unix responsive to real, important needs is the fact that
is was never responsive to niggling details. Throughout a long and
unsupported developement only things that were interesting and
worthwhile were done to Unix. Hence no "real time" support in an
operating system meant to run on non-distributed minicomputers, whereas
DEC's operating systems have always been subject to pressure from
their user community to be all things to all people. So VMS is not
"Software for the 80's", but "Software for the 60's" when all the grotty
little real time systems that VMS has to be compatible with were
designed. "You mean I can't hook up my U200 RJE station to my UNIX?"
Sorry.

The do-it-all philosophy sells machines, up to a point, and it provides
much ammunition for the creeping featurists. But now that hardware is
cheap enough so that any task requiring guarenteed response can have a
machine dedicated to it, there is no need to have your 11/780 be able to
ignore the 25 people using it to turn a valve off RIGHT NOW. Similarly,
if you want to run a very full blown LISP, buy a LISP Machine and don't
waste your time with a machine that can't support the most fundamental
LISP constructs anywhere near as efficiently. UNIX is a system for a
niche, and that niche happens to be quite broad. It is not all
encompassing however and I think you will see an explosion of real time
systems written in C to let a UNIX centered environment deal with real
time needs and you will also see, e.g., LISP Machines and other
specialized workstations harmonizing batter with UNIX.

Cheers,
Zig