Re: No Microsoft Breakup

On Friday 07 September 2001 05:37 pm, Leif Svalgaard wrote:

> Chris, you are avoiding the issue with an almost vacuous statement.

Wrong. I was attempting to avoid an argument with a vacuous opponent.

> What comes installed on a Wintel-PC includes an operating system too.

Yes it does.

> Linux includes an operating system. Almost every computer system

Yes it does.

> includes an operating system.

Only if you define computer system as "what the vendor sells" instead of
"what the computer manufacturer makes." Of course, that would be because
without an operating system, the hardware wouldn't be worth much.

> You are correct that there are a lot of people (incl. you) that claim they
> know what is an operating system. The problem is that their knowledge
> often do not overlap to any degree of significance.

Then maybe they should just look it up. While my understanding of an OS came
from my father who said to me, "If you really want to understand a processor,
write an operating system for it." I can find a pretty good description in an
Encyclopedia of Computer Science. I'm sure there are lots of references. But
I would think that most people would see the fault in letting software
marketing houses define it.

--
Chris Rehm
javadisciple@earthlink.net
If you believe that the best technology wins the
marketplace, you haven't been paying attention.