290 lines
11 KiB
HTML
290 lines
11 KiB
HTML
<!--startcut ======================================================= -->
|
|
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
|
|
<html><head>
|
|
<META NAME="generator" CONTENT="lgazmail v1.1preB">
|
|
<TITLE>The Answer Guy 32:
|
|
The Five Flaws of <EM>the</EM> Unix System
|
|
</TITLE>
|
|
<!-- ORIGINAL SUBJECT:
|
|
---------
|
|
JTD SUBTITLE:
|
|
|
|
-->
|
|
</head>
|
|
|
|
<BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#0000FF" VLINK="#A000A0"
|
|
ALINK="#FF0000">
|
|
<H4>"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
|
|
</H4>
|
|
<P> <hr> <P>
|
|
<!-- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -->
|
|
<H1 align="center"><A NAME="answer">
|
|
<img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif" alt="" border="0" align="middle">
|
|
<a href="./index.html">The Answer Guy</a>
|
|
<img src="../gx/dennis/bbubble.gif" alt="" border="0" align="middle">
|
|
</A></H1>
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<H4 align="center">By James T. Dennis,
|
|
<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com">linux-questions-only@ssc.com</a>
|
|
<BR>Starshine Technical Services, <A HREF="http://www.starshine.org/">http://www.starshine.org/</A>
|
|
</H4>
|
|
<p><hr><p>
|
|
<!--endcut ========================================================= -->
|
|
<H3><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" alt="(?)"
|
|
width="50" height="28" align="left" border="0"
|
|
>The Five Flaws of <EM>the</EM> Unix System</H3>
|
|
<p><strong>From Ashley G. on 29 Jul 1998 </strong></p>
|
|
<!-- begin body -->
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p><strong>JIM,
|
|
HI I WAS WONDERING IF YOU CAN SEND ME SOME INFO.ALL I NEED IS THE
|
|
NAMES OF THE 5 FLAWS IN THE UNIX SYSTEM,JUST THE NAMES.
|
|
</strong></p>
|
|
<p><strong>IF YOU CAN SEND THEM TO ME I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE IT>
|
|
</strong></p>
|
|
|
|
<blockquote><img src="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
|
|
alt="(!)" border="0"
|
|
>I think some flames are in order here:
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>This is not the "We do your homework for you" service.
|
|
|
|
<li>I volunteer many hours per month answering
|
|
questions about Linux. There are others out
|
|
there who can answer your questions about
|
|
other forms of Unix. I frequently answer
|
|
questions about how to interoperate between
|
|
Linux and other OS' including many forms of
|
|
Unix. Most of what I say about Linux applies
|
|
to most other forms of Unix. However the
|
|
distinction is important.
|
|
|
|
<li>You need to learn where your <tt>[Caps Lock]</tt> key is
|
|
and keep it turned off if you plan to get
|
|
any co-operation or respect from anybody
|
|
on the 'net (in Usenet netnews or on any
|
|
technical mailing lists).
|
|
|
|
<li>There is no such thing as "the Unix System"
|
|
there are many different versions of Unix ---
|
|
and there have been for almost thirty years.
|
|
|
|
<li>If someone told you that there were "five"
|
|
specific "flaws" in Unix they were suffering
|
|
from horrible misconceptions.
|
|
|
|
<li>As likely it may be the case that you've
|
|
critically misundertood someone.
|
|
</ol>
|
|
|
|
<blockquote>Now to answer your question:
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
<blockquote>There is no list of generally held "flaws" in Unix or
|
|
Linux that I know of. There are a number of problems
|
|
with even postulating such a list.
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
<blockquote>First there isn't any one Unix system. C-Kermit claims
|
|
to support about 700 versions and implementations of Unix
|
|
(and Unix-like operating systems).
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
<blockquote>There is considerable ongoing academic debate about what
|
|
precisely is Unix. I won't bother trying to provide
|
|
my own definition --- it would just get me flame mail
|
|
and perpetuate the debate. There are many people who
|
|
will even deny that there's any doubt. They will say:
|
|
Unix is any system that has been "branded" by The
|
|
Open Group as conformant to the X/Open portability
|
|
guidelines (XPG4 or XPG3). Others will pipe in and
|
|
say that any thing that meets Spec1170 is Unix, while
|
|
others will claim that POSIX is the one true standard.
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
<blockquote>At that point we'll go through the whole debate as to
|
|
whether Unix is limited to just those systems which are
|
|
dubbed to be "Unix" by this or that standards body,
|
|
or whether it applies to Unix like systems --- such as
|
|
Linux.
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
<blockquote>Indeed we could argue for days about what precisely is
|
|
Linux. In the strict sense it is considered to be a
|
|
set of kernel sources and the ancillary device drivers,
|
|
and makefiles. In common usage Linux refers to any of
|
|
a number of collections of software that run under a
|
|
compilation of those (kernel) sources. Others, notably
|
|
Richard Stallman, argue that the term Linux should be
|
|
applied only to the kernel sources and that a different
|
|
term should be applied to larger aggregations of
|
|
software built around it.
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
<blockquote>His argument is valid -- since most Linux distibutions
|
|
are about 5% to 10% Linux kernel sources, and drivers
|
|
and about 25% GNU software. Since RMS is the principle
|
|
of the Free Software Foundation (the organization that
|
|
owns the copyright over the GNU sources) he has a
|
|
reasonable interest in seeing that people know where
|
|
some of the major components of their Linux based
|
|
GNU systems come from.
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
<blockquote>Eventually the FSF will have a full operating system of
|
|
it's own: the HURD. The GNU project was started to
|
|
build such a system and the fact that they released
|
|
a large number of vital components for public use
|
|
is what made Linux possible.
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
<blockquote>At the same time there are other bodies that have
|
|
produced major software subsystems that are
|
|
conventionally included in a Linux distribution.
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
<blockquote>The computer science research group (CSRG) at
|
|
University of California, Berkeley released a large
|
|
number of packages and a large body of source code
|
|
for public use (BSD). Many of the common utilities
|
|
under Linux (most of the NetKit, I think) are from these
|
|
sources.
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
<blockquote>The X Window system comes from MIT's Athena project and
|
|
the free implementation of that which we use under Linux
|
|
is principally from the XFree86 Project. XFree86 is the
|
|
X Window system that's used by a number of Unix
|
|
implementations including FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD.
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
<blockquote>So, if we were to try to fairly represent these parties
|
|
in our nomenclature we'd have to refer to our systems
|
|
as:
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
|
|
<blockquote>Linux/GNU/BSD/XFree86/"MIT X Window System" Systems
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
|
|
<blockquote>... which is why a respectfully decline to comply
|
|
with rms' desire for me to use the phrase Linux/GNU when
|
|
I mean "Linux" (in the common broader sense).
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
<blockquote>The other reason I choose not do to this most of the time is
|
|
that I find it more difficult to read in that form. This is
|
|
undoubtedly a horrible character flaw on my part but I find
|
|
that I sometimes subvocalize (mentally "sound out") passages
|
|
of technical text in my efforts to understand and proofread
|
|
it. So, if rms likes he can simply say that my refusal to
|
|
refer to this is symptom of my stupidity. I'll cop to that.
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
<blockquote>So, I suppose we could say that the "first flaw" of Unix
|
|
is that no one seems to know what Unix is.
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
<blockquote>While it is tempting to try to follow this line of logic
|
|
and devise four more for you --- I think it will be much
|
|
quicker and more amusing for you to read <em>The Unix-Haters
|
|
Handbook</em> by Simson Garfinkel, et al (IDG Books, (c) 1996).
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
<blockquote>Conveniently this book is in four "Parts":
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
|
|
<blockquote>Part 1: User Friendly?
|
|
<br>Part 2: Programmer's System?
|
|
<br>Part 3: Sysadmin's Nightmare
|
|
<br>Part 4: Et Cetera
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
|
|
<blockquote>... and I think that every serious student of Unix and Linux
|
|
should read this book. For one thing it requires an advanced
|
|
understanding of Unix to understand the complaints --- and
|
|
a really advanced knowledge to see how many of these
|
|
complaints don't apply to many "modern" Unix variants (Linux
|
|
in particular).
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
<blockquote>For the rest of it I found it amusing, frustrating and
|
|
significant that the many contributors to Unix_Haters did not
|
|
list modern available alternatives that exhibited the features
|
|
they preferred in an OS and environment (or at least that lack
|
|
the features that they hate). There were references to
|
|
the ancient "Lisp Machines" but there was no clear endorsement
|
|
nor were there any suggestions about how things "should be."
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
<blockquote>So, as the title suggests this is a curmudgeonly book without
|
|
constructive merit. However, the Unix and Linux enthusiast
|
|
should be thoroughly familiar with the material for the same
|
|
reason that a self-respecting agnostic should be thoroughly
|
|
familiar with the major religious works of whatever society
|
|
surrounds him or her.
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
<!-- end body -->
|
|
|
|
<!--startcut ======================================================= -->
|
|
<P> <hr> <P>
|
|
<H5 align="center"><a href="http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html"
|
|
>Copyright ©</a> 1998, James T. Dennis <BR>
|
|
Published in <I>Linux Gazette</I> Issue 32 September 1998</H5>
|
|
<P> <hr> <P>
|
|
|
|
<!--::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::-->
|
|
<table width="98%"><tr valign="center" align="center">
|
|
<td rowspan="3"><A HREF="./lg_answer32.html"><IMG
|
|
SRC="../gx/dennis/answernew.gif"
|
|
ALT="[ Answer Guy Index ]"></A></td>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_phreak.html">phreak</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_abandon.html">abandon</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_javaterm.html">javaterm</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_BBS.html">BBS</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_flaws.html">flaws</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_doslinux.html">doslinux</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_resume.html">resume</A>
|
|
|
|
</tr><tr valign="center" align="center">
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_softwindows.html">softwindows</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_convert.html">convert</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_apache.html">apache</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_emulate.html">emulate</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_database.html">database</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_distrib.html">distrib</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_proxy.html">proxy</A>
|
|
|
|
</tr><tr valign="center" align="center">
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_disable.html">disable</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_DVI.html">DVI</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_superblock.html">superblock</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_serial.html">serial</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_permission.html">permission</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_detach.html">detach</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_cdr.html">cdr</A>
|
|
|
|
</tr><tr valign="center" align="center">
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_rs422.html">rs422</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_modem.html">modem</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_notfound.html">notfound</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_tuning.html">tuning</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_libc5.html">libc5</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_startup.html">startup</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_clock.html">clock</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_ping.html">ping</A>
|
|
|
|
</tr><tr valign="center" align="center">
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_accounts.html">accounts</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_lilo.html">lilo</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_NDS.html">NDS</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_95slow.html">95slow</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_nonlinux.html">nonlinux</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_progenv.html">progenv</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_cluster.html">cluster</A>
|
|
<td><A HREF="tag_ftpd.html">ftpd</A>
|
|
|
|
</tr></table>
|
|
<P> <hr> <P>
|
|
<!--::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::-->
|
|
<A HREF="./index.html"><IMG SRC="../gx/indexnew.gif"
|
|
ALT="[ Table Of Contents ]"></A>
|
|
<A HREF="../index.html"><IMG SRC="../gx/homenew.gif"
|
|
ALT="[ Front Page ]"></A>
|
|
<A HREF="lg_bytes32.html"><IMG SRC="../gx/back2.gif"
|
|
ALT="[ Previous Section ]"></A>
|
|
<A HREF="./stemen.html"><IMG SRC="../gx/fwd.gif"
|
|
ALT="[ Next Section ]"></A>
|
|
<!--::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::-->
|
|
</body>
|
|
</html>
|
|
<!--endcut ========================================================= -->
|
|
|
|
|