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Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!dartvax!alexc
From: alexc@dartvax.UUCP (Alex Colvin)
Newsgroups: net.cse
Subject: CS students unexposed to C
Message-ID: <2460@dartvax.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 9-Oct-84 21:53:01 EDT
Article-I.D.: dartvax.2460
Posted: Tue Oct  9 21:53:01 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 11-Oct-84 04:12:46 EDT
Organization: Dartmouth College
Lines: 43

Some remarks made here recently reflect an attitude that  u--x  &
its  clones  are  the  universal operating systems, that everyone
should have used.  I have run  into  this  attitude  before.   It
bothers me.

I expect that there are a lot of serious programmers,  a  few  of
whom  may even be CS students, who have not been exposed to u--x.
I expect some of them wouldn't care for it.  Not only is it hope-
lessly  inadequate  in  some  areas,  but it is not intended as a
general-purpose system.  It succeeds at what it does by  not  at-
tempting to solve everyone's problems.

There are a number of decent operating  systems  out  there  that
people  use,  including  the  null one.  I would be suspicious of
anyone who had ONLY u--x exposure.  Such a one would be unexposed
to  APL, SNOBOL, ALGOL, etc.  For that matter, to almost anything
but C.  U--x lacks implementations of many significant languages,
and those that do exist are generally substandard.

A phenomenon I noticed once is that most folks are using such aw-
ful  operating systems that they don't realize what they're miss-
ing until they use u--x, after which they become dedicated  UN*X-
heads,  seeing  everything in u--x terms.  It's very hard to tell
someone like  that  that  someone  else  does  something  better.
They've  seen perfection.  This resembles the effect that APL and
FORTH have on folks who are used to FORTRAN.  I  understand  that
even  C  sometimes  has  this effect, though I find that scarcely
credible.

U--x is a 15-year-old operating system.  Has there been  no  pro-
gress?

Better that someone be conversant with  a  variety  of  operating
systems, programming languages, and (natural) languages.

Finally, as a former CS student, I advise you to take any  degree
with  a little salt.  After all, my alma mater (not here) doesn't
even have a language requirement for the CS Ph.D.

					alexc@dartmouth
					alexc%dartmouth@csnet-relay
					...dartvax!alexc
					Alex Colvin