The (superlow)quality of software (was Re: Python Popularity: Questions and Comments)

Cliff Wells logiplexsoftware at earthlink.net
Tue Jan 1 18:41:25 EST 2002


On Wed, 2 Jan 2002 01:49:25 +0300
Oleg Broytmann <phd at phd.pp.ru> wrote:
>    Neither UNIX nor TCP/IP are suitable for mass use. They are here by
> accident, not because they are mature.
>    Just a few points.
>    UNIX is old and outdated; there are many ideas that still does not
> appear in the UNIX world; UNIX has usability problems; UNIX lacks
standard
> desktop and office suite.

There is a fundamental difference in the approaches of Unix and Windows
that people seem to disregard:  Unix was never meant as a personal computer
OS.  Windows was never meant to work in a network environment with multiple
users.  They are growing towards each other (and each is still superior in
it's target environment) but there is still a long way to go before they
can really be considered direct competitors.  This is rapidly changing
(Unix vendors adopting GNOME, MS adopting TCP/IP [and giving up on the idea
of MSN replacing the Internet ;-) ] ), but at the moment, they each fill a
different need.

>    TCP/IP is vulnerable to many kinds of attacks; it lacks QoS
> (bandwidth-on-demand, e.g., or guaranteed connectivity).
>    (I am playing a devil advocate here, of course.)

Is there a better alternative? NETBEUI, IPX, SNA... Appletalk?  These show
their shortcomings quickly on anything outside a LAN.  Doesn't IPv6 support
QoS?

> > <dig>... and what do Microsoft have that's twenty years old and worth
> > keeping? ... </dig>
> 
>    The most important thing - the name. (If you follow my posts you know
I
> hate it, because I am afraid of its power. But it's still *the* name).

Agreed.  However, that name means two different things to two different
groups of people: to Microsoft's target audience it means ease-of-use and
features (and unfortunately, they have a larger target audience); to people
who manage networks it means reliability issues and inflexibility.

-- 
Cliff Wells
Software Engineer
Logiplex Corporation (www.logiplex.net)
(503) 978-6726 x308
(800) 735-0555 x308




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