🚀 go-pugleaf

[ Please consider a large 'IMHO' on all of this... :-) ]

In article <442@adiron.UUCP> richf@adiron.UUCP (Rick Fanta) writes:
>If ports were made to MS-DOS, (and maybe even the Mac, gasp!) that
>GNU products would gain nearly instant wide-spread acceptance and
>hurt the evil empire at their most vulnerable point - THEIR
>POCKETBOOKS!!!

  There are two problems with this that I can see.  First, MS-DOS (and
MacOS, currently) are too limited, and too different from Unix, to
support the major GNU products without lots of modification.  Large
GNU software (emacs, gcc) would be a lot of work to squeeze into, say,
640K or even 2MB.

  More important, I think, is that it would take a lot of time and
effort which could probably be directed elsewhere with more effect.
Having, say, GNU Pascal or GNU FORTRAN is more likely to help expand
the free software base for the Unix world, which is where GNU (by
their very name) seems to be working hardest and having (by far) the
most impact.

  On the other hand, if GNU is ever going to start attacking the huge
market for "user-level" programs, MS-DOS and the Mac might be good
places to start, simply because there are a lot of users there.  Both
of these markets already have a lot of free software around, though,
and the supply is growing steadily.  I suppose it depends on what
GNU's short-term goals are....

  Ah well.  Just a few thoughts.

	Anton
   
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| Anton Rang (grad student) | rang@cs.wisc.edu | UW--Madison |
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