Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!nrl-cmf!ames!ucsd!sdcsvax!ucsdhub!esosun!seismo!uunet!vsi!friedl From: friedl@vsi.UUCP (Stephen J. Friedl) Newsgroups: comp.misc Subject: Re: OS/2 is the result of anticompetitive practices by IBM and Microsoft Message-ID: <653@vsi.UUCP> Date: 11 May 88 03:35:38 GMT References: <1623@looking.UUCP> <1612@looking.UUCP> <3094@edm.UUCP> <3230@pasteur.Berkeley.Edu> Organization: V-Systems, Inc. -- Santa Ana, CA Lines: 25 In article <3230@pasteur.Berkeley.Edu>, faustus@ic.Berkeley.EDU (Wayne A. Christopher) writes: > When people say that PC's should run Unix, they don't care about the > filesystem code or the details of administration (as long as it's not > too bad). They want it to look like Unix, to have ^Z and vi, and for > their Unix application programs to run on it with no modifications, > which means system call compatibility. I would venture to say that the vast majority of multiuser computer users (UNIX included) are entirely unaware of *anything* inside their machine, and this includes filesystem code, admin, ^Z, vi, ls and date. When I was in school I assumed that people used computers for the same reason I did, and at least they were generally comfortable with the shell. In the time then it has been my overwhelming experience that this is false. Most of my customers run business applications, and many of them *never* see a shell and would be scared/confused if they did. Sure, there are some technical markets with smart users (like us :-) ) but I really think that when people say "Yes, I'll buy your accounting/payroll/whatever package" they very well may not have ever heard of UNIX. People buy computers to solve problems, and they are generally unconcerned about the details. As long as the package does what they need ans as long as the box has a nice, safe- sounding name on the outside (IBM, AT&T, etc.) they don't often look any further. Anybody else have something to say on this? -- Steve Friedl V-Systems, Inc. (714) 545-6442 3B2-kind-of-guy friedl@vsi.com {backbones}!vsi.com!friedl attmail!vsi!friedl