[ringzero] Re: The Unix Haters Handbook
- From: Michael Kjorling <michael@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ringzero@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2006 19:19:03 +0000
On 2006-06-14 18:40 +0100, ed@xxxxxxx wrote:
> Most of my early days were spent using Turbo Pascal and Turbo C++. I
> never could understand why C++ had such a huge following, the compile
> and execution times are way above that of generic pascal. String
> functions were a lot easier to work with too.
Personally, my first dab with C was using Turbo C (I think 1.5) on a
286 running MS-DOS. If I recall correctly, it had a whopping 40 MB
hard disk! These days 40 GB disks are small, and 400 GB ones are
coming strong...
TC was a pretty good compiler, and had a pretty good IDE. Of course,
it wouldn't stand up against most anything today, but if you did some
picking and choosing between the various memory models you could fit
the whole thing on a floppy disk. Ah, memory models. Nostalgia... I
even had a run-in with 16-bit Intel x86/MS-DOS assembler for a while,
then beat my head against embedded M68K ditto.
> Indeed. People who grow up using the telly-tubbies OS are bound to be
> missing out on this fun!
Oh, but they know that the Start menu has always had two columns! And
to turn off the computer you first must click on START. Very
intuitive.
I prefer the GNOME approach there, myself (even though I don't run
GNOME, only have the GTK+&Co libraries installed) - "System".
> How long can one last without alt-window dragging?
Myself: I can tolerate it for a few hours.
When I showed it to another family member who I recently converted to
Linux, it was "oh, how convenient!". Fairly low resolution means the
window title bar isn't always visible, but that doesn't mean you don't
want to move the window around to access hidden controls...
> That said, once shell access is given to a box, it's a tough job
> keeping the box safe. Is this the same in Windows land (I've never
> provided windows shell access)? I expect so.
Actually, since Windows doesn't provide a lot of functionality through
the shell out-of-the-box, and what it does come with is often woefully
underdocumented, I'd expect a bit of security through obscurity there.
> Anyone know if VMS is available on i386, if not, why not!
OpenVMS, maybe?
As for the book that was recommended earlier, The Cuckoo's Egg by
Clifford Stoll, I second that recommendation. It's a great book and
even has some session transcripts in it. A little bit of history.
--
Michael Kjörling, michael@xxxxxxxxxxxx - http://michael.kjorling.com/
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