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[utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!menlo70!sri-unix!mike at BMD70]

From:      Michael Muuss <mike at BMD70>
"UNIX is hardly `small'...all but the most simpleminded of I/O is mostly
difficult...doing a real time system is virtually impossible....  If you
want a klunky, minimal system...you'd be better off using something like CMOS."

Bernie is certainly not talking about any of the advanced UNIX systems that
I know of -- I'm not even sure he is talking about vanilla!

The BRL/JHU UNIX system ("High Performance V6") is no larger than most other
PDP-11 kernels (when you add in the ACP's, etc), does I/O faster than
any DEC software we have benchmarked, and can do real time, interactive
graphics, and all sorts of "impossible" stuff.  Our laboratory loves
just about everything about UNIX except TROFF (which is too hard), and
people keep muttering about trying to make UNIX an "Army Standard"!

"What we have here is a failure to communicate".

---------------

As far as a common command syntax goes, I am all for it.  Berkeley seems
to treat few things as "sacred", so that may be a good place to instil
changes to some kind of common command parser.  Somebody at JHU wrote
(yet another) command parser, table driven, to front end programs.
This is generally a nice idea, but no clear standard has emerged.

The Air Force (AFDSC I think?) re-wrote all the command parsing on every
command in their system, and this is now their "standard" UNIX system
for text processing.  There are many, many sites running it, too.
Does anybody know what they actually did?

One issue which we should not let get in our way, but should be given some
thought, is compatability.  Both for software (import tapes, old shell
files, user's stuff), and for mushware (people only change slowly, and
retraining the "casual" user can be a real chore).

Will all the primary members of this debate be at the USENIX conference?
I think having a meeting, perhaps including somebody from BTL Unix Support
Group (are they still USG?), would be most appropriate.
				-Mike