[GRLUG] What is Linux ?
Ron Lauzon
rlauzon at gmail.com
Sat Mar 24 19:43:24 EDT 2007
Bob Kline wrote:
> Your last line seems key. An extreme statement, put "everything" in
> to the kernel and call the result Linux.
No. "Put everything in the kernel" is Windows. That's one of the
reasons why something like a printer driver can destablize Windows.
> I don't doubt there are a lot of philosophical wars waged about this
> point. For most of us it's probably much ado about nothing, because
> in the end the issue of the usefulness of the result - OS +
> applications - and most of us probably don't care much how things are
> partitioned in achieving the result. One way or another, the
> "stuff" has to go somewhere. The argument for a smallish kernel,
> a.k.a. resource manager, based on standard system calls is the
> portability of applications of all kinds.
Computer science has already proven that building systems out of small,
easy to test, components makes for more robust and reliable systems.
By extension, building an OS from small, easy (relatively speaking) to
test, components makes for a more robust and reliable OS.
--
Ron Lauzon - rlauzon at acm dot org
Homepage: http://7lauzon.home.comcast.net/
Weblog: http://ronsapartment.blogspot.com/
DNRC: Lord of All Things That Are Fattening
"To be sure, conservative radio talk show hosts have a built-in
audience unavailable to liberals: People driving cars to some
sort of job." - Ann Coulter
Microsoft Free since July 06, 2001
Running Mandriva Linux 2007
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