Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!watmath!att!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!ginosko!uunet!mcvax!ukc!strath-cs!nott-cs!ucl-cs!S.Usher
From: S.Usher@ucl-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: ST and Multitasking
Message-ID: <359@ucl-cs.UUCP>
Date: 9 Aug 89 12:17:47 GMT
Sender: S.Usher@ucl-cs.UUCP
Lines: 41

From:     Stephen Usher 


I can see one or two major problems with TOS if you try to make it
multi-task. The biggest problem is the file system. What happens when two
tasks want to access the same file at the same time? What error message do
you return? TOS cannot handle such things and there are no error returns
which mean "in use". Working out which process gets access is difficult,
it's fine if both the processes want to read (you give both shared access,
again not possible with TOS), but what if one wants to write?

Another problem (though it should be under the same heading) is device
access. This MUST be exclusive, after all you don't want two programs trying
to write to the printer at once.


Fixing the above would also allow for true networking possibilities, after
all, if you can have two processes accessing resources at the same time, why
not two machines?

This brings me to my next point.

If the ST could multitask, then a true network system could be built VERY
simply using a server task on each machine sitting on the network (it could
use the MIDI port to start with). In this way there would not have to be ANY
fileserver machine and ALL resources could be shared.

All of the above can be done on a Sinclair QL, even the networking! I know
what I'm talking about, Multitasking is great, I REALLY miss it on the ST,
so much so that I prefer the QL for doing assembler program developement for
the ST!

                        Stephen Usher

Addresses:-
(JANET)

S.Usher@uk.ac.ucl.cs		or	UCACMSU@uk.ac.ucl.euclid
				or	ford@uk.ac.ed.cs.tardis

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