Message-ID: <36118D7A.60EE2F3D@mailexcite.com> Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 21:46:34 -0400 From: Doug Gale X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.05 [en] (Win95; U) MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.djgpp Subject: Re: Optimizations References: <199809291424 DOT KAA14523 AT indy DOT delorie DOT com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit NNTP-Posting-Host: oshawappp42.idirect.com Organization: "Usenet User" Lines: 45 To: djgpp AT backup DOT delorie DOT com DJ-Gateway: from newsgroup comp.os.msdos.djgpp DJ Delorie wrote: > > The "junky old 486 with no L2 cache" is the hand held computer that > > my employer manufatures. > > I've got a "junky old 486" in my laptop - 25Mhz. Runs just fine, and > I'm running an X server on it! > Heck, I recall my old 5 Mhz Z100 (8088) and it ran fast too, as the > software was designed for that platform and wasn't bloated. > I recall an old 12Mhz 286 that I had that was powerful enough for me to write a MOD player that put out 22kHz audio on the PC speaker (ie. 22,000 IRQ's/sec!). > The fact that people think that a Pentium II 400MHz processor is > *needed* for any software today is an insult to all the programmers > out there for writing their software that way. Sure, there are some > tasks that take advantage of the faster CPU (3D video games, > rendering, simulations, etc) but 95% of your need for a faster CPU is > to support *bloat*. > I agree 100%. > Maybe it's good that the cost of getting into the software development > business is a lot lower now, and DJGPP is certainly doing its part to > draw people to programming, but *good* software design is still an art > that eludes most programmers. Rather than flame someone for their > choice of platforms, why not try to help that person achieve their > goals instead? Hey guys. Slow down! I didn't say that 486's are junky! *I* run an Amd486DX2-66!!! Mr. Fine was trying to get screaming performance out of a 486, and was not happy with the compiler output. He said that the platform didn't have an L2 cache. I (mistakenly) referred to a 486 with no L2 cache as junky because you can get a used 486 motherboard (WITH L2 cache) for peanuts. My statement was not intended to be a *flame*. My appologies!