From: shendrix@PCS.CNU.EDU (Charles Shannon Hendrix)
Newsgroups: comp.os.coherent
Subject: Re: Priorities for Coherent 4.0 development features
Date: 16 Dec 92 03:04:03 GMT
Reply-To: "Coherent operating system" <COHERENT@indycms.bitnet>

> While the SLS is far better then what the Linux install used to be like,
> it still isn't as easy as COH's. Also, there is a lot more to Linux by
> way of "keeping up" to do, then with COH. I know they are trying to get
> everything done, but the patches are flying back and forth fast and
> furious. On the Internet, you have that luxury, while when you ship
> something on distribution media you have to solidfy the release.

        I found Linux easier to install.  Less problems, loads faster, few
questions to ask, and it worked with my keyboard right off the bat.  Coh
is horrendously slow during installation and simple screwups usually require
complete re-installation.  With Linux, I just reinstall the damaged parts
etc.

> While MS makes crappy enviornments, I was pretty impressed with the tools
> and extras they put in there. They got lax, and Borland started pounding
> them. I've seen the latest stuff; it does knock out some good code.

        I've always used Borland but tried many times to use Microsoft's
stuff.  Just didn't like it.  Actually, Borland's compilers can drive you
mad, especially the IDE (it breaks some programs, even small ones).

>
> Marketing is one thing that MS does well. The other is sell ideas. It
> took 3 versions of Windows until they had some success; most companies
> would have dumped a two-time loser, rather then taking a good idea and
> trying to fix the implementation.
>
        Be nice if they would push UNIX like they pushed Windows.  I guess
DOS users wanted a GUI so bad that they took whatever came their way and
that was Windows.  Who else could have challenged Microsoft?  DRI had GEM
but that was a long shot at best (though I prefer it in some ways... easy to
program...).



> I'm not absolutly sure, but I think that BSD is still pretty liberal with
> it's licence terms for educational institutions. I know that AT&T is
> begining to tighten up (and shoot themselves in the foot).

        Liberal if you got bucks or want 386BSD.

> Ah, but can Linux, in it's current form, be relied upon not to be
> flaky when given to programming students? I know that COH can't.
> There are too many "weird" things in COH, at least in the 3.x

        I use Suns and Linux.  Linux is a lot less flaky than SunOS which
can come up with the wierdest problems.  Sun gives you enough of X to run
Open Windows and nothing else.  They don't want you to write Xlib or
toolkit applications.  > version, and all of these haven't been fixed in 4.x.

> Nope. :-) Everybody has a product to slog, and they'll say nasty things
> about the competition. It's called creative marketing. At one show, a
> couple vendors got into a discussion about who slipped which product
> more. It's sad when you have to say that your product was less late
> then another product to get a leg up.

        Yeah.  Be nice to see them compete on technical merit instead of
layers too.

> --
> ---
> csoft!gerald@r-node.gts.org, gerald@csoft.uucp
> ^-- Use this one - more reliable.
> Right smack in the middle of Toronto, Ontario | Go JAYS Go!!!
>

=====================================================
Shannon Hendrix                |shendrix@pcs.cnu.edu
Christopher Newport University |---------------------
Newport News, VA               |** space for rent **
=====================================================