Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 25th May 2012 14:55 UTC
James Hague: "But all the little bits of complexity, all those cases where indecision caused one option that probably wasn't even needed in the first place to be replaced by two options, all those bad choices that were never remedied for fear of someone somewhere having to change a line of code... They slowly accreted until it all got out of control, and we got comfortable with systems that were impossible to understand." Counterpoint by John Cook: "Some of the growth in complexity is understandable. It's a lot easier to maintain an orthogonal design when your software isn't being used. Software that gets used becomes less orthogonal and develops diagonal shortcuts." If there's ever been a system in dire need of a complete redesign, it's UNIX and its derivatives. A mess doesn't even begin to describe it (for those already frantically reaching for the comment button, note that this applies to other systems as well).
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Member since:2007-02-18
Assigning "/" to the hardrrive the OS is installed in and make everything else appear as a subfolder is silly. Mounting a drive to a folder should be an option, not a requirement in order to use your drives.
The UNIX filesystem was designed to be network agnostic. You're not arguing anything profound: you're just arguing for one set of conventions over another which doesn't really change anything.
The "average" user doesn't even care how drives are represented. All they want is a window that they can open for the drive, which does not matter if it uses the UNIX / convention, or the DOS drive letter convention.
Member since:2011-08-13
Assigning "/" to the hardrrive the OS is installed in and make everything else appear as a subfolder is silly
Wow, you really don't understand the Unix filesystem. The drive mounted as / is specified in /etc/fstab, and the physical drive files are located in /dev/. Some people mount /usr separately, some mount /var separately, and a lot of people using *nix at home mount /home separately. The beauty of the Unix filesystem is that nobody freaking cares what your partition scheme is unless you're running out of room. Mounting remote filesystems is completely transparent once they're mounted. Even NT does this internally; it only keeps drive letters as links because people are retarded and incapable of change.
RE[2]: Comment by kurkosdr
by Alfman on Mon 28th May 2012 18:24
in reply to "RE: Comment by kurkosdr"
Member since:2011-01-28
tidux,
"Wow, you really don't understand the Unix filesystem."
I don't think that the OP's opinion demonstrates any lack of understanding. For some *nix filesystems can seem cumbersome and it's a valid opinion.
For me, linux mounting is a nice abstraction, but sometimes I'm put off by the lack of overlays in the mainline kernel. I shouldn't have to have to store all /home/ directories on one disk for example. Overlooking several caveats, we can mimic overlays manually using symlinks, but linux's mount capabilities are occasionally inadequate.
A bigger problem for me is the standard linux directory hierarchy. I prefer an application centric hierarchy rather than one where everything is dumped together in the big /usr/bin soup pot.
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:33 UTC
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
Linked by David Adams on 05/16/13 4:23 UTC
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/11/13 21:41 UTC
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/08/13 14:22 UTC
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/02/13 15:28 UTC
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/29/13 21:06 UTC
Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/24/13 22:24 UTC
They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/18/13 11:21 UTC
Nokia has posted its quarterly results for the first quarter of 2013, and just like the quarters that came before, there's not a whole lot of good news in there. The rise in Lumia sales still can't even dream of making up for the sales drop in Symbian phones, and when broken down in versions, the sales figures for Windows Phone 8 Lumias in particular are very disappointing. In North America, Nokia is getting slaughtered.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/16/13 9:29 UTC
The day has finally come: Google has started shipping Google Glass to the lucky few early adopters. Now that it's shipping, Google has also unveiled a lot more about the API and the specifications of the device itself. While the company had already given out substantial details at earlier occasions, there are still a few surprises here.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/15/13 22:44 UTC
Almost exactly three years ago, I wrote about why OSNews was no longer OSNews: the alternative operating system scene had died, and OSNews, too, had to go with the times and move towards reporting on a new wave of operating systems - mobile, and all the repercussions that the explosion of smartphones and tablets have caused. Still, I was wondering something today: why aren't we seeing alternative operating systems on mobile?More Features »
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Member since:
2011-04-11
I use Linux framebuffer to draw graphical stuff on my screen. With it I can run at least Links2 with graphics, mplayer, Netsurf and DOSBox. I like it because it has made me able to quit X which took about 65% of my RAM on normal use. (I have 64MB of RAM)
Yes, but do you have hardware acceleration and Gnome or KDE with all their bundled apps? "I have graphics without X" is different from "I managed to have some graphics without X, as long as I don't use Gnome or KDE or need hardware acceleration". From what i hear around, xorg is a neccessary evil.
As regards the dudes who try to convince people the Unix filesystem as it is is a good thing, I guess if all you used in your life are bicycles with the steering behind you instead of in front of you, you will eventually convince yourself and other people it's better than a normal bike. Assigning "/" to the hardrrive the OS is installed in and make everything else appear as a subfolder is silly. Mounting a drive to a folder should be an option, not a requirement in order to use your drives. Gnome and KDE know this and are trying to hide the issue, but due to dudes considering the Unix filesystem a good thing, the still have some button that exposes the nastyness.
Edited 2012-05-27 19:15 UTC