Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: Notesfiles $Revision: 1.6.2.17 $; site uiucdcsb.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!hao!hplabs!intelca!qantel!dual!zehntel!ihnp4!inuxc!pur-ee!uiucdcsb!richards From: richards@uiucdcsb.UUCP Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards Subject: Re: Some Questions about personal prefer Message-ID: <14900019@uiucdcsb.UUCP> Date: Tue, 9-Oct-84 21:14:00 EDT Article-I.D.: uiucdcsb.14900019 Posted: Tue Oct 9 21:14:00 1984 Date-Received: Fri, 12-Oct-84 05:54:48 EDT References: <12728@sri-arpa.UUCP> Lines: 37 Nf-ID: #R:sri-arpa:-1272800:uiucdcsb:14900019:000:1734 Nf-From: uiucdcsb!richards Oct 9 20:14:00 1984 Re: Windows vs Job control There are two reasons I wouldn't consider windows to be equivalent to job control: 1) If you have windows, and not job control, you have not the freedom to change your mind about forground/background once you have started. You have committed yourself to using the resources required by a window (which in most cases is not insignificant e.g. bitmap memory, additional tty ports, perhaps a server process or shell for the window, display real estate), even if you don't intend to interact again with it, or do so only for an initial dialog. Additional processes don't require the same resources as opening new windows. (At least in the window systems I'm familiar with. I'm all for cheaper hardware, but it isn't *that* cheap yet.) 2) Job control gives you the opportunity to make a running program "pause", so you can check intermediate results (particularly helpful if debugging). Many a time I start jobs that work on big files in the background, then check up on them while they are in progress. Sometimes the result looks questionable, so I "stop" the process and do more detailed investigating. I appreciate the ability not to have to "kill" the job, then start it again if it really was working correctly. Also, I can use the job control facilities to decide what background jobs I want to run concurrently, and modify that decision after the original instantiation, without losing work already accomplished. I believe both have their place, and enjoy using systems that have the flexibility to provide both. Paul Richards University of Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign UUCP: {pur-ee,convex,inhp4}!uiucdcs!richards CSNET: richards.uiuc@csnet-relay