Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site brl-tgr.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!bellcore!decvax!genrad!panda!talcott!harvard!seismo!brl-tgr!gwyn From: gwyn@brl-tgr.ARPA (Doug Gwyn) Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards Subject: Re: kluge vs design Message-ID: <8821@brl-tgr.ARPA> Date: Fri, 1-Mar-85 11:46:37 EST Article-I.D.: brl-tgr.8821 Posted: Fri Mar 1 11:46:37 1985 Date-Received: Mon, 4-Mar-85 07:39:36 EST References: <8685@brl-tgr.ARPA> <1632@ittvax.UUCP> Organization: Ballistic Research Lab Lines: 21 > Unix(tm) will be truly popular when no one sees it. Yes, yes! The traditional UNIX interface (via shell) is not appropriate for Joe Q. Public. It is great for programmers. People do not buy home computers very often to program (or, if they do and are not professional programmers, they often learn the hard way that programming is not for everyone). Instead, they buy computers to get some specific job or jobs done, such as keeping financial records and recipe files, or text processing. UNIX makes a great base for applications that address these needs, and that is the only reason that Joe Q. Public should want a UNIX (since he can ultimately expect a wider choice of solutions if he has a UNIX-based PC). One problem remains, namely that software for the masses is supplied in hardware-dependent form. This tends to favor the few very-popular systems and the neglect of others. Fortunately UNIX applications can be cheaply ported (especially under an industry-wide system interface standard), so that the less- popular systems still have a better selection if they run UNIX.