Subject: Re: Language Paradigms (was RTFM Resources Wanted)
From: Kevin McCarty (mccark@swbell.net)
Date: Tue Jul 03 2001 - 16:36:10 MDT
The innovation in Linux is the OpenSource software, databases, OS's, etc. Go buy
Trusted Solaris (not reg. solaris) for a 100(0's) workstation environment or
enterprise and see what it costs. Go buy Oracle for 12 ea 4 cpu Sun 450's and
don't faint when the sales guy smiles and says " ...that will be 2.1 million
dollars". Go and buy the software packages for monitoring networks, firewalls,
and intrusion detection. You will pay up the wazoo and *STILL* not get the
tailoring aspects needed for "your special situation". tailoring costs. And this
is not even mentioning Bill $$$ and company.
The main reason to use an OS is to do business or teach. (IMHO)
good day,
kevin
Patrick Callahan wrote:
> > Linux is revolutionary in one way: it leverages cooperation, and is
> > likely to result in more of a real revolution of the people than
> > anything we worked for in the 60s. But it is really lowest common
> > denominator stuff, at least the stuff of the core Linux community:
> >
> Where exactly is the innovation in Linux. Can anyone out there with more
> experience than me, name the things in Linux that are truly original in the
> last few years. Is there anything new in linux that is not found in other
> operating systems before it appeared in linux? What's the historical
> perspective?
>
> > 15 year old notions of user interface (where the user interfaces
> > exist!); 15 year old notions of control, piping and and messaging; A
> > blind adoption of the PeeCee conventions in web clients--not even one
> > minor innovation in the web! In developing word processors, what we
> > get is Word/WP clones. Where's the adventure?
>
> Most things are built on the base of previoius work. Same for Linux. Still
> there are times when I'd like to see a fresh take on the things that Linux
> does. Maybe Plan 9...(sigh) As for the adventure, try obtaining the source
> for anything, building it and installing it over your favorite distribution.
> It's an adventure for sure...
>
> > But worst of all (continuing this thread) is the drift to lowest
> > common denominator programming paradigm: object oriented. Now that's
> > well and good for workaday engineers I suppose. But there are some
> > wild and crazy ideas out there. Functional programming is the one I'm
> > going to pursue.
> >
> OO a lowest common denominator? I think LCD is straight procedural
> programming, structured or otherwise.
>
> People started talking about Object Orientation back in the Early 80's and
> maybe earlier. It took at least 10 years for the concept to become
> mainstream. At first it was hyped as "The solution to all our problems" Now
> its just another piece of the toolset. I expect something similar will
> happen with functional programming. Perhaps it too will build on every
> previous method.
>
> > I think the number of people interested in Haskell, in distributed
> > agents, and in OSX or Linux may be few indeed, because each
> > philosophy somewhat excludes the other. That's what I meant by
> > strange.
> >
>
> Often things that look mutally exclusive in one dimension turn out to be are
> the same thing when you view the whole in more than one dimension. I wonder
> if the object oriented apporach and functional programming will eventually
> look like two sides of the same thing.
>
> > Still, my impression is that the Linux world has the most life of any
> > community and I am already beginning to feel like I did when entering
> > the Mac world a decade ago (and communicating sometimes by fidonet!)
> >
>
> It certainly has a bit of public life to it. But is the body politic healthy?
>
> > Best, Pat
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