What kinds of things would you want in the GNU OS?

[Peter da Silva]

In article <338 at arc.UUCP>, steve at arc.UUCP (Steve Savitzky) writes:
> In article <4315 at ficc.uu.net> peter at ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva) writes:
> >The Berkeley directory structure is, ahem, baroque. 14 character file
> >names are too short. 255 is ridiculous. Just increase the size of
> >struct dir to 32 bytes and use 30 characters. ..

> Personally, I like 255-character filenames (well, maybe 127), for
> filenames like "comp.unix.wizards-more.stuff.about.GNU.OS".

That's a problem hierarchical directories are better at solving. I'd call
that "news-junk/comp.unix.wizards/more_stuff_about_GNU-OS".

> I HATE
> arbitrary limits, especially when they're small.  The Macintosh :-( has a
> 32-character limit and I run up against it all the time.

Sounds like you have a problem with the Mac. Don't you know that you're
supposed to do everything with those cute little icons?

> This is
> especially true when you have a browser (like dired) that lets you
> point to a file and open it instead of having to type the whole name.

I have a program like that on the Amiga (called Browser). I still prefer
shorter file names because they allow me to fit more columns of files in
a convenient-sized window.

> For networking I rather like the way Apollo handles a networked name
> space (it's about the ONLY thing to like about Apollo :-) -- Root is /
> and the network layer above it is //, so a complete pathname looks
> like (e.g.) //steve/usr/bin

OpenNET does this, too. It's very convenient. No surprises.

> Also, device drivers and even file systems (meaning directory
> managers, not U*IX filesystems) ought to be ordinary processes that
> work by exchanging messages.

Sounds like the Amiga. Or, more conventionally (for the UNIX world) like
Mach.
-- 
Peter da Silva, Xenix Support, Ferranti International Controls Corporation.

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