From: dillon@overload.Berkeley.CA.US (Matthew Dillon)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.advocacy
Subject: Re:	100 Mips Intel NeXT (moved from comp.sys.next.misc)
Distribution: world
Date: 19 Dec 92 10:51:46 PST
Organization: Not an Organization

>Perhaps you do not comprehend the magnitude of the problem.  You can't
>just say "OK were going to support every video, network, and
>hard-drive cards along with every motherboard, processor, bus, and
>peripheral that exists for PC's."  This just doesn't happen.  Somebody
>has to write the drivers.  About 500-600 people work for NeXT
>worldwide.  Of them, there are probably only 80 at _most_ who are
>software engineers.  Even if you put every one of them to the task of
>writing drivers, it would never happen.  Plus, nobody would be left to
>work on the rest of the system muchless implement anything new.

    I comprehend it just fine... IBM has (had) the same problem with OS/2.

    But I get the feeling that NeXT is going too far in its requirements,
    so much so that when NS486 is finally on the shelves it'l get nothing
    more then a ho-hum response because it will only work with a few very
    special and very expensive configurations.	At least IBM made a
    concerted effort to support as many PC's as possible with its OS/2.
    NeXT came out with all guns blazing telling people that it would only
    run on so and so type of machine, only work with so and so video
    standard that nobody has ever heard of before, etc...  Is it no wonder
    people are ignoring them?

>Computer companies for the most part don't give a shit about NeXTSTEP.
>Just because NeXT is coming out with a new operating system for PC's
>doesn't mean 3Com is going write a driver for their network cards.
>Look at Lotus.  They were an early believer in NeXTSTEP.  They claim
>Improv would have never really happened without NeXTSTEP.  But they
>just slapped each and every one of us, and _especially_ Steve Jobs, in
>the face by bringing out Improv 2.0 for Windoze only (which was
>probably largely prototyped on NeXSTEP).

    It just goes to show that much of the job writing software is platform
    independant.  That is, you can use interface-builder all you like to
    develop the source code, but once you are done there is no reason why
    the result can't be ported to another platform.  Just because Winblows
    isn't object oriented doesn't mean the programs running under it can't
    be.  Lotus isn't dumb... they need the sales to regain their market
    share and are going to where the money is.	What loyalty should they
    have to the NeXT?

>through Computer Shopper looking for the best deal.  Big Sales.  When
>you are as small as NeXT is trying to sell something as big as
>NeXTSTEP, you have to go for the big sales or you will loose.	NeXT
>can't go for both.

    Well, from what I understand, they've been doing the 'big sales'
    approach for years and look where it's gotten them!  They are alive,
    yes, but not very secure, and their market isn't any bigger.  They
    don't have enough software engineers to keep ahead of the game; they
    are going nowhere fast, and from reading the press releases they aren't
    willing to admit it or fix it.

					    -Matt

>andrew
>--
>andrew@cubetech.com	  |  "C++'s runtime sucks shit!  Virtual functions
>Andrew Loewenstern	  |   can go straight to hell!"  - Ron Pomeroy
>Cube Technologies, Inc.  |		      ForYourEyesOnly public key:
>0000000701B61D1ADF0DFC9C16185CEA055200000007EB4A9FEB1922065D471A89E905B5

--

    Matthew Dillon		dillon@Overload.Berkeley.CA.US
    1005 Apollo Way		uunet.uu.net!overload!dillon
    Incline Village, NV. 89451	ham: KC6LVW (no mail drop)
    USA 			Sandel-Avery Engineering (702)831-8000