Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!APPLE.COM!nli!jym From: nli!jym@APPLE.COM Newsgroups: gnu.misc.discuss Subject: Manifesto question Message-ID: <8908182322.AA11892@nlp9> Date: 18 Aug 89 23:22:08 GMT References: <13211@well.UUCP> Sender: news@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu Reply-To: gnu-misc-discuss@cis.ohio-state.edu Organization: Natural Languages, Inc. Lines: 15 > The notion that "system software" is "operating systems, editors, > and compilers" is dated, and belongs to the DEC-20 era. I'm afraid I don't follow you on this one. (But then, I'm one of those folks who's waiting for modern operating systems to advance to where TOPS-20 was years ago.) EMACS wasn't officially part of the TOPS-20 system, though I never ran into a system that didn't have it. It was an application that you added to the system. Yet I couldn't imagine using TOPS-20 without it. TOPS-20 without EMACS is not the same system. (Anyone confused yet about the distinction between system software and application software?) <_Jym_>