🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <8605022009.AA03120@ucbvax.berkeley.edu> montnaro%chenengo.tcpip@GE-CRD.ARPA writes:
>Why Apple, Atari, and Commodore didn't see this light I am not sure. Since
>they now each have their own (proprietary) operating system, it's unlikely
>that they will change.
>
>What if you could pick and choose between three pieces of hardware, one
>unifying operating system (some dialect of Unix jumps to mind), and three
>(or more!) graphic shells?
>
>Mac -----\		    /----- Mac Shell
>	  \		   / 		   
>Amiga ---------- Un*x ------------ Intuition Shell
>	  /                \		     	 
>Atari ST-/       	    \----- GEM Shell     
>
>It sure would be nice! Perhaps we could all start off with a decent base of
>software tools: compilers, SCCS, make, {n,t}roff, etc. Oh well, someday
>maybe someone will market a PC with that kind of foresight...

I think the main reason is twofold -- firstoff, a machine like the MAC was
apparently conceived as more of a closed appliance computer, and as such 
didn't require a REAL operating system; it only has the MAC graphics
environment to work with.  As for there being no accepted standard 68000
operating system (which today seem a logical thing, especially considering
there are people using MACs for development who could really benefit from
a conventional CLI), that's mainly why none of the current big 3 used any
one system (MAC didn't have one, and the Amiga and ST were developed
concurrently.  Though why the ST couldn't stick to standard CP/M-68K I
don't know).  Anyway, UN*X would have been nice on all machines, and as
well my perference, but it wouldn't lend itself well to a basic 68000
based machine -- its too big to run completely from floppies, it like
demand paged virtual memory, etc.  Now if we had a minimal system with
10 Meg hard drive, 68010, and some MMU or other, then we'd be talking
UN*X (or we'd be fools if we weren't).  

As for these machines being locked into their current OSs, that's probably
true from the point of view of machine specific support; not that you 
couldn't write an OS-9 graphics shell that made Intuition calls, I just
don't think its likely to be commercially supported.  But like the 
workstation market, I think that the current manufacturers might decide
sooner or later to support a standard OS (if an acceptable one emerges),
just like Apollo has decided to also offer UN*X in addition to its
propriatary Ageis OS.
-- 

Dave Haynie    {caip,inhp4,allegra,seismo}!cbmvax!daveh
               "There, beyond the bounds of your weak imagination
                Lie the noble towers of my city, bright and gold"
								-Genesis