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Modern Unix is a catastrophe. It’s the “Un-Operating System”: unreliable, unintuitive, unforgiving, unhelpful, and underpowered. Little is more frustrating than trying to force Unix to do something useful and nontrivial. Modern Unix impedes progress in computer science, wastes billions of dollars, and destroys the common sense of many who seriously use it.

(...)

Deficient by Design

The original Unix solved a problem and solved it well, as did the Roman numeral system, the mercury treatment for syphilis, and carbon paper. And like those technologies, Unix, too, rightfully belongs to history. It was developed for a machine with little memory, tiny disks, no graphics, no networking, and no power. In those days it was mandatory to adopt an attitude that said:
• “Being small and simple is more important than being complete and correct.”
• “You only have to solve 90% of the problem.”
• “Everything is a stream of bytes.”
These attitudes are no longer appropriate for an operating system that hosts complex and important applications. They can even be deadly when Unix is used by untrained operators for safety-critical tasks.
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People have published some of Unix’s more ludicrous errors messages as jokes. The following Unix puns were distributed on the Usenet, without an attributed author. They work with the C shell.

Code: Select all

% rm meese-ethics
rm: meese-ethics nonexistent
% ar m God
ar: God does not exist
% "How would you rate Dan Quayle's incompetence?
Unmatched ".
% ^How did the sex change^ operation go?
Modifier failed.
% If I had a ( for every $ the Congress spent,
what would I have?
Too many ('s.
% make love
Make: Don't know how to make love. Stop.
% sleep with me
bad character
% got a light?
No match.
% man: why did you get a divorce?
man:: Too many arguments.
% ^What is saccharine?
Bad substitute.
% %blow
%blow: No such job.

These attempts at humor work with the Bourne shell:

Code: Select all

$ PATH=pretending! /usr/ucb/which sense
no sense in pretending!
$ drink <bottle; opener
bottle: cannot open
opener: not found
$ mkdir matter; cat >matter
matter: cannot create

Παράθεση:
Modern Unix is a catastrophe. It’s the “Un-Operating System”: unreliable, unintuitive, unforgiving, unhelpful, and underpowered. Little is more frustrating than trying to force Unix to do something useful and nontrivial. Modern Unix impedes progress in computer science, wastes billions of dollars, and destroys the common sense of many who seriously use it.

(...)

Deficient by Design

The original Unix solved a problem and solved it well, as did the Roman numeral system, the mercury treatment for syphilis, and carbon paper. And like those technologies, Unix, too, rightfully belongs to history. It was developed for a machine with little memory, tiny disks, no graphics, no networking, and no power. In those days it was mandatory to adopt an attitude that said:
• “Being small and simple is more important than being complete and correct.”
• “You only have to solve 90% of the problem.”
• “Everything is a stream of bytes.”
These attitudes are no longer appropriate for an operating system that hosts complex and important applications. They can even be deadly when Unix is used by untrained operators for safety-critical tasks.
...

minas wrote:Δεν ξέρω τι λες εσύ (ή μάλλον αυτοί) αλλά εγώ πιστεύω ότι μέχρι τα τέλη του 2002 οι μισές προτάσεις από το παραπάνω κείμενο θα μπορούσαν κάλλιστα να χρησιμοποιηθούν για την περιγραφή των Windows (διάφορες εκδόσεις) εκείνης της εποχής αλλάζοντας μόνο όπου υπάρχει Unix σε Windows.

Pipes are good for simple hacks, like passing around simple text streams, but not for building robust software. For example, an early paper on pipes showed how a spelling checker could be implemented by piping together several simple programs. It was a tour de force of simplicity, but a horrible way to check the spelling (let alone correct it) of a document. (...) Our favorite Unix-loving book had this to say about the Macintosh, which doesn’t have pipes:

The Macintosh model, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. The system doesn’t deal with character streams. Data files are extremely high level, usually assuming that they are specific to an application. When was the last time you piped the output of one program to another on a Mac? (Good luck even finding the pipe symbol.) Programs are monolithic, the better to completely understand what you are doing. You don’t take MacFoo and MacBar and hook them together.
—From Life with Unix, by Libes and Ressler

Yeah, those poor Mac users. They’ve got it so rough. Because they can’t pipe streams of bytes around how are they ever going to paste artwork from their drawing program into their latest memo and have text flow around it? How are they going to transfer a spreadsheet into their memo? And how could such users expect changes to be tracked automatically? They certainly shouldn’t expect to be able to electronically mail this patchedtogether memo across the country and have it seamlessly read and edited at the other end, and then returned to them unscathed. We can’t imagine how they’ve been transparently using all these programs together for the last 10 years and having them all work, all without pipes.

When was the last time your Unix workstation was as useful as a Macintosh? When was the last time it ran programs from different companies (or even different divisions of the same company) that could really communicate? If it’s done so at all, it's because some Mac software vendor sweated blood porting its programs to Unix, and tried to make Unix look more like the Mac.

X windows. A mistake carried out to perfection. X windows. Dissatisfaction guaranteed. X windows. Don’t get frustrated without it. X windows. Even your dog won’t like it. X windows. Flaky and built to stay that way. X windows. Complex nonsolutions to simple nonproblems. X windows. Flawed beyond belief. X windows. Form follows malfunction. X windows. Garbage at your fingertips. X windows. Ignorance is our most important resource. X windows. It could be worse, but it’ll take time. X windows. It could happen to you. X windows. Japan’s secret weapon. X windows. Let it get in your way. X windows. Live the nightmare. X windows. More than enough rope. X windows. Never had it, never will. X windows. No hardware is safe. X windows. Power tools for power fools. X windows. Power tools for power losers. X windows. Putting new limits on productivity. X windows. Simplicity made complex. X windows. The cutting edge of obsolescence. X windows. The art of incompetence. X windows. The defacto substandard. X windows. The first fully modular software disaster. X windows. The joke that kills. X windows. The problem for your problem. X windows. There’s got to be a better way. X windows. Warn your friends about it. X windows. You’d better sit down. X windows. You’ll envy the dead.

X windows. A mistake carried out to perfection. X windows. Dissatisfaction guaranteed. X windows. Don’t get frustrated without it. X windows. Even your dog won’t like it. X windows. Flaky and built to stay that way. X windows. Complex nonsolutions to simple nonproblems. X windows. Flawed beyond belief. X windows. Form follows malfunction. X windows. Garbage at your fingertips. X windows. Ignorance is our most important resource. X windows. It could be worse, but it’ll take time. X windows. It could happen to you. X windows. Japan’s secret weapon. X windows. Let it get in your way. X windows. Live the nightmare. X windows. More than enough rope. X windows. Never had it, never will. X windows. No hardware is safe. X windows. Power tools for power fools. X windows. Power tools for power losers. X windows. Putting new limits on productivity. X windows. Simplicity made complex. X windows. The cutting edge of obsolescence. X windows. The art of incompetence. X windows. The defacto substandard. X windows. The first fully modular software disaster. X windows. The joke that kills. X windows. The problem for your problem. X windows. There’s got to be a better way. X windows. Warn your friends about it. X windows. You’d better sit down. X windows. You’ll envy the dead.

Ethel wrote:

X windows. A mistake carried out to perfection. X windows. Dissatisfaction guaranteed. X windows. Don’t get frustrated without it. X windows. Even your dog won’t like it. X windows. Flaky and built to stay that way. X windows. Complex nonsolutions to simple nonproblems. X windows. Flawed beyond belief. X windows. Form follows malfunction. X windows. Garbage at your fingertips. X windows. Ignorance is our most important resource. X windows. It could be worse, but it’ll take time. X windows. It could happen to you. X windows. Japan’s secret weapon. X windows. Let it get in your way. X windows. Live the nightmare. X windows. More than enough rope. X windows. Never had it, never will. X windows. No hardware is safe. X windows. Power tools for power fools. X windows. Power tools for power losers. X windows. Putting new limits on productivity. X windows. Simplicity made complex. X windows. The cutting edge of obsolescence. X windows. The art of incompetence. X windows. The defacto substandard. X windows. The first fully modular software disaster. X windows. The joke that kills. X windows. The problem for your problem. X windows. There’s got to be a better way. X windows. Warn your friends about it. X windows. You’d better sit down. X windows. You’ll envy the dead.

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