Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!mcdchg!chinet!saj
From: saj@chinet.chi.il.us (Stephen Jacobs)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: To seek or not to seek.
Summary: The man said something VERY provocative
Message-ID: <7078@chinet.chi.il.us>
Date: 4 Dec 88 21:11:02 GMT
References: <806@yugas.UUCP>
Organization: Chinet - Chicago Public Access UNIX
Lines: 25

In article <806@yugas.UUCP>, julius@yugas.UUCP (Julius OKLAMCAK) writes:

(As a joking aside in a discussion of disk drives)
> 
> What I want is one of those 1.2 gigabyte Priams with sub-18 millisecond
> seek times.  ;-)
> 
> Julius Oklamcak
> Atari (Canada) Corp.

Verrrry interesting.  A lot of us are noticing big high performance drives
out there at prices that once bought smaller & slower drives.  Since we've been
told that there are compelling reasons to limit TOS to partitions no larger
than 16 meg, and there are limits to the number of drive partitions available
at one time, what are the possibilities?  Can a replacement file system be
constructed as an optional add-on?  (Thought inspired by contemplation of the
MINIX file system, which runs as a user task).  How about ESDI controllers:
is it possible (and if possible, is it feasible) to put one on the DMA port
of an ST?  How about the expansion bus of a MEGA?  If the TOS file system
is a given, what about something like the programs which now select desk
accessories and auto folder programs at boot time---something that selects
which disk partitions from a much larger disk will be active for this 
session?
   I'm not volunteering to do any of this; no guarantees what's possible, but
it's certainly beyond me.  But maybe someone out there...