Re: [tlug] Unix's 40th Birthday

[Curt Sampson <cjs@example.com>]

On 2009-08-22 20:28 +0900 (Sat), Stephen J. Turnbull wrote:

> Curt Sampson writes:
> 
>  > Another way to put it is that admins care not very much about Linux, or
>  > any Unix kernel, but about the tools. Given the choice of Windows with a
>  > full cygwin installation, or a Unix where you had to use the DOS shell,
>  > which would you take?
> 
> When did we drill down to kernels?  I musta missed it.

Your argument seems to be that Linux is used in so many embedded
platforms because it's a Unix, and Unix has great command line tools.

I disagree; the embedded systems vendors are using what's free. If
something with poor command line tools were free, and Linux cost a
dollar, they'd be using that other thing instead. With few exceptions,
neither they nor their developers care much about command-line tools.

I also think that we can trace this back into the minicomputer days; for
many years one of the cheapest systems you could get to support a dozen
users was a VAX-11/780, Fujitsu Eagle drives, and BSD Unix. All three
were the price leaders in their categories.

cjs
-- 
Curt Sampson       <cjs@example.com>        +81 90 7737 2974
           Functional programming in all senses of the word:
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