UNIX Futures

[Griff Smith]

> 
> Job control is pretty neat, if all you have is a dumb terminal.  But an
> even better solution is virtual consoles, or windows.  ...
...
> 
> The nice part about virtual consoles or windows is that they don't
> require special Berkeley-esque signals and terminal drivers and whatnot.
> Programs are completely unaware anything is going on;  you don't have
> to hack your screen editor to repaint the screen when you reenter it.
> -- 
> Larry Campbell                                 The Boston Software Works, Inc.
> ARPA: maynard.UUCP:campbell at harvard.ARPA       120 Fulton Street
> UUCP: {harvard,cbosgd}!wjh12!maynard!campbell  Boston MA 02109

Sigh.  Just what we need to convince AT&T that their (our) imitation of
job control is all we need, or that when windows come it will be
completely unnecessary.  I have a 5620, a nice 8.5 x 11 bit-mapped
display with mouse and windows; I still use job control once in a
while.  For one thing, it's easier to move something to the background
instead of drawing a new window.

It's also nice to be able to stop things some times.  If I have just
gotten part way into a "make" and I remember that I missed something, I
just stop the "make" while it fix the problem.  I also like having the
option of stopping a suspected run-away process instead of blowing it
out of the water.  Would you drive a car without brakes?
-- 

Griff Smith	AT&T (Bell Laboratories), Murray Hill
Phone:		(201) 582-7736
Internet:	ggs at ulysses.uucp
UUCP:		ulysses!ggs  ( {allegra|ihnp4}!ulysses!ggs )