Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!uupsi!sugar!peter
From: peter@sugar.hackercorp.com (Peter da Silva)
Subject: Re: 8-bit death
Message-ID: <1991May14.123928.8969@sugar.hackercorp.com>
Organization: Sugar Land Unix -- Houston, TX
References: <1991May10.005049.8355@NCoast.ORG> <1991May13.003426.259@sugar.hackercorp.com> <1991May13.224238.9296@NCoast.ORG>
Date: Tue, 14 May 1991 12:39:28 GMT

In article <1991May13.224238.9296@NCoast.ORG> allbery@ncoast.ORG (Brandon S. Allbery KF8NH) writes:
> So in other words, a "real OS" by your definition must have multitasking.

No "quotes". No "real this". An operating system must manage all the resources
of the machine. If it doesn't, it doesn't qualify as an operating system.

The CPU is the most important resource of all.

If the system software doesn't manage CPU time (which the Mac software doesn't,
even under Multifinder) it is no more an operating system than MS-DOS.

> OS types would disagree, as I said in the message you're responding to.

No, OS types would agree. I would recommend Comer's "Xinu" book... the
introduction contains one of the best definitions of an O/S I've ever seen.
-- 
Peter da Silva.   `-_-'
<peter@sugar.hackercorp.com>.
