Mail Archives: djgpp/2000/12/18/20:27:26
"Tim Nicholson" <djgpp_mail AT gizzy DOT co DOT uk> wrote in message
news:91lo3k$6t2$1 AT neptunium DOT btinternet DOT com...
> My company had abandoned windows as a viable platform for any software
that
> has to be certified as being 'fit for form and function' The totally
> unpredictable nature of the whole Windows family (Including Win 2000)
makes
> it impossible to get any form of certification from the bodies that
regulate
> our industry (Aerospace).
I don't doubt it. In fact I'm surprised an OS like Unix (or Linux) wasn't
chosen in its place...?
> Contrary to popular believe, Windows 2000 is extremely unstable and could
> never be used for any form of critical system.
And contrary to popular belief, Bill Gates is not the devil. ;}
> DOS, due to its deterministic nature is a dream when it comes to proving
> what is happening on and instruction by instruction basis - DOS has a long
> life left in it and, now that packages like DJGPP are utilising the full
> power of the machine (In general DOS code runs much faster than any C++
> equivalent for Windows, simply because it has 100% of the processors
> attention), I think that more and more bespoke software writers will move
> back to a stable world where GPF's are the fault of the programmer and not
> some virtual machine that has more bugs than the average ants nest.
>
> Long Live DOS
Long live DOS. I'll always think fondly of my own DOS days. I work in IT and
designed some utilities to test network performance on a Win95 machine using
a DOS boot disk. Why DOS? Because I cut out the possibility that something
in Windows is causing a machine's network woes. DOS is a very clean, safe,
stable, neutral (as opposed to user-friendly Win* or administrator-friendly
*nix) environment.
(rant mode on)
On the other hand, I'm probably never going to run Office 2000 in DOS, I'm
probably never going to play Unreal Tournament in DOS, and I'm almost
definitely never going to multi-task my NoteTab (with 3 separate .txt docs
open), my e-mail, 6 instances of Internet Explorer, and calculator all at
once in DOS. And that's just software. They don't make DOS device drivers
for half the hardware I'm using, presently.
DOS isn't a multi-user networked operating system, either. And who said
having 100% of the processor's attention is a *good* thing, anyhow? I also
remember fondly having to hit RESET my fair share of times back in DOS
because some runaway app did exactly that. Thank God for Ctrl+Alt+Del and
Task Manager. Better a GPF in one application than losing my work in all of
them.
DOS has its place. Win2k has its place. MacOS has its place. Unix has its
place. BeOS is really neat-looking. I don't know what the current trend is
for programmers in sectors where stability is priority 1, but I'd be willing
to bet there are just as many programmers whose priority 1 is usability and
a large potential market.
And yes, Win2k is buggy. I gasp in surprise. I think there was a book
written once - it was called "The Mythical Man Month" - that made some
points on how large-scale programming endeavors are generally doomed to be
flawed in at least some scope. I don't blame Microsoft. I blame the fact
that it was programmed by human beings. (I don't envy them. It must be the
least respected yet most demanding job on earth.)
(rant mode off)
Anyways, I'm done playing devil's advocate for today. I'm sure this isn't
the proper forum to be taking up that flag, anyhow. ;) The amount of
traffic in this group just goes to show how popular DOS still is - which
makes me happy, you happy, everyone happy. :)
Long live the freedom to choose.
David Frauzel
dragon AT weathersong DOT net
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